Classic Rock
Duff McKagan recalls his reaction after Bob Dylan praised him
The Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan is currently promoting his new solo album “Lighthouse” and he recalled in an interview with Spin what was like to hear that Bob Dylan praised his songwriting.
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When Dylan was promoting his book “The Philosophy of Mordern Song” he mentioned many artists that no one would imagine he listened to like Ronnie James Dio and of couse, Duff McKagan. He told Wall Street Journal in 2022: “There’s a Duff McKagan song called Chip Away, that has profound meaning for me. It’s a graphic song. Chip away, chip away, like Michelangelo, breaking up solid marble stone to discover the form of King David inside. He didn’t build him from the ground up, he chipped away the stone until he discovered the king,” Bob Dylan said.
Duff McKagan recalls his reaction after Bob Dylan praised him
The Bob Dylan thing was such an epic surprise to me. Imagine waking up one morning and having a link to a Bob Dylan interview in your email where he keys in on your songwriting! I work hard on my lyric writing and coupling a good turn of a phrase with a strong or unusual melody. The Dylan thing let me know, at least in his eyes, that I am on the right track,” Duff McKagan said.
“Chip Away” was featured on Duff McKagan’s second solo album “Tenderness” released in 2019. The bassist recently revealed that he sent Dylan a deluxe edition of that album and wrote a note saying that he is available anytime if he wants to try to write something together someday.
Duff McKagan was born in Seattle, Washington in 1964, starting his musical career in 1979. He first achieved fame as a member of Guns N’ Roses from 1975 to 1997. He also did successful albums with the supergroup Velvet Revolver which had Slash, Scott Weiland, Dave Kushner and Matt Sorum.
