Chris Shiflett has reflected on performing alongside Queen’s Brian May, and how the legendary guitarist reminded him of one important guitar lesson – that tone is in the hands.
May, along with drummer Roger Taylor, joined Shiflett and the Foo Fighters crew on stage in Brixton, London for a show back in 1999. Together, they played Queen’s Now I’m Here from their third studio album, Sheer Heart Attack (1974). The track was written by May.
In an interview with Guitar World, Shiflett is asked who of all the legendary players he’s shared stages with has been the most memorable: “Brian May would be a big one – that was when I first joined Foo Fighters and we played at Brixton Academy,” he begins.
“Brian came out and played a song with us. All of a sudden you’re standing next to that dude and you’re like, ‘It’s Brian May! That sounds like Brian May!’ I love when you play with some of these folks and it reminds you of how much of it’s in the hands. It’s who they are; it’s how they play and it’s that tone.”
Also in the interview, Shiflett opens up on his guitar-focused podcast Shred With Shifty, revealing what his biggest takeaway has been from the experience so far. He states, “Over the course of a couple of seasons – and we’ve got most of season two in the can now – the idea has been that there’s so much information out there on how to play anything, but it’s almost always wrong!
“The mission was, ‘Let’s go to the source and find out exactly what was played.’ But you do that, and you realise they don’t know! They played it on a record at one point and they don’t remember it exactly.” He concludes, “The biggest takeaway is that it doesn’t matter; that’s not the point of playing guitar. It’s not about learning anything exactly; but I love putting myself in somebody else’s mindset to try to understand what they did.”
Episodes for season two of Shred With Shifty are landing every week. The latest episode features Derek Trucks, and you can check it out now below (or wherever you get your podcasts):
The post “It’s Brian May! That sounds like Brian May!”: The important guitar lesson Chris Shiflett learned from playing with a Queen legend appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.