The Ides Have It

MYLES KENNEDY — THE MAN WHO ONCE AUDITIONED FOR LED ZEPPELIN — TALKS US THROUGH THE BLISTERING PENTATONICS AND VINTAGE GEAR HEARD ON HIS SECOND SOLO ALBUM, THE IDES OF MARCH

- Amit Sharma

CONSIDERING HIS DUTIES fronting Alter Bridge and Slash’s solo band, Myles Kennedy could very well be one of the busiest musicians in rock. Especially when you factor in his solo work, which began with his 2018 debut, Year of the Tiger, and continues on this year’s The Ides of March. Unlike his first album, however — or, indeed, any of his projects over the years — the new record showcases a different side of his guitar playing, proving he’s not merely a talented singer and songwriter. Talking to GW from his home studio, Kennedy explains how different situations call for different strengths.

The opening track, “Get Along,” has some blazing-fast pentatonic runs that are reminiscent of Eric Johnson and Joe Bonamassa.

Eric Johnson is a big one for me, so I’ve definitely been trying to chase through certain patterns that he kinda invented, and that Joe Bonamassa took to a new level. I figured after all the time I’ve spent working on that stuff, it would be fun to throw in ideas like that here and there.

There are a couple of moments like on the album where it sounds like groups of five using a mixture of economy and alternate picking.

There’s definitely some economy going on. Some of that I incorporated from Frank Gambale, who was at the forefront of sweep-picking in the late Eighties. I saw him perform with Chick Corea and remember thinking, “Wow, what is