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ing a song right now like that ,” he says . “ It ' s like banjo , but on guitar . If people listen to certain guitar players of that ( Hee Haw ) era , it will terrify anybody . These guys were beyond love for my new guitar that I said I ' m going to write a song about my new guitar and everything it can do and what it sounds like and all that stuff . It ' s just such a monster . I wanted to create a song just for the guitar . I ' m always writing new music and I ' m going to be probably putting out another song in a few months .”
PART OF THE FAMILY With the announcement of guitarist Mick
Mars ’ retirement from touring with Mötley
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( great musicians ). It ' s wonderful , and the music ' s great too . I am just a lover of all genres of music . I just love music in general .”
John 5 ’ s latest contribution to iconic country singer Dolly Parton ’ s recent rock-oriented album Rockstar further proves his musical flexibility . John 5 explains : “ Here ' s the story … So Nikki was ( asked to ) play on this Dolly Parton track , and then Nikki goes , ‘ Hey John , why don ' t you pick up a guitar and play on this ?’ I know the Dolly people , and they were happy . So , me , Rob Halford , Dolly , and Nikki did the song (“ Bygones ”), and it was just incredible . We just had a blast , and I ' m very proud to be a part of that Dolly history .”
Recently , John 5 released a new track and video , “ The Ghost ,” inspired by his new custom-built , all-white Fender Telecaster . Although John 5 ’ s last instrumental solo album was 2021 ’ s Sinner , he plans to release a few songs one at a time before compiling enough tracks to complete a full album . “ The Ghost is what I call my new guitar ; it ’ s completely all white ,” John 5 beams . “ The neck is white , everything is white , and I have red binding and red hardware . We put it on sale , and it sold out in a little over an hour . I have such a
Crüe in late 2022 , John 5 was asked to step into the empty guitarist slot . “ Me and Nikki are very close , we talk umpteen times a day ,” he explains . “ We ’ re always on the phone and chitchatting about our life and about things we have to do during the day and just what friends do . I first got the call near the last show of the Freaks on Parade tour when I was with Rob Zombie . Mötley was still touring , so I got a call saying , ‘ Hey , Mick ' s gonna retire . Is this something you ' d be interested in ?’ And I was like , ‘ Yeah , I would love to .’ I was working on The Dirt ( movie , 2019 ) with them . I worked on that song “ The Dirt ” and the other songs that were on that ( movie soundtrack ) album they released . I ' ve worked with Nikki on a bunch of other collaborations in the past , and I ' ve worked with Tommy in the past , too . So , I ' ve always been kind of in the family .”
Mick Mars is one of the most underrated guitarists with such a distinctive guitar tone . Stepping into the Crüe , John 5 was more than willing to change his gear and guitar tone to adjust to the Crüe ’ s already established sound . “ Mick ' s tone is incredible , and his playing is incredible ,” John 5 admits . “ I had to change ( guitar amp ) heads ; I adjusted my sound . I still