One of the best rock guitarists from his era is seated on a tour bus, peering into an iPad screen and waiting on me. As I connect via video call with Tracii Guns, he and his band L.A. Guns are out on the road as part of a tour headlined by Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer and also featuring Faster Pussycat. The mix of bands is perfect. Three acts that play blooze-y, slinky music, with a pile of beloved songs between them.
These musicians made their names during the 1980s, but they’re not stuck there by any means. All three acts have released strong music in recent years. Particularly L.A. Guns, who’ve been on a roll since the 2016 reunion of Tracii, a Los Angeles native and founding member of Guns N’ Roses (yep, he’s the G in GN’R), and British singer Phil Lewis, who had a great band called Girl with future Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen before joining L.A. Guns around 1987.
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The last three L.A. Guns records are excellent. The most recent of which is 2021′s “Checkered Past,” which boasts gems like “Zep III”-style strummer “Get Along” and sauntering rocker “Better Than You.”
There have been more than a few musicians through L.A. Guns over the decades. But the current lineup’s core of Guns, Lewis, bassist Johnny Martin and guitarist Ace Von Johnson have been together a while now and their musical chemistry is obvious, both onstage and in the studio. Shawn Duncan, who’s previously worked with the likes of BulletBoys and Odin, is on drums for this tour. Producer, recording engineer and multi-instrumentalist Adam Hamilton is the group’s resident studio wiz.
L.A. Guns, which originally featured GN’R’s Axl Rose on vocals (there was some intriguing back-and-forth among these two Los Angeles bands), have sold more than 6 million records. The band’s early Lewis-fronted albums, including the 1988 self-titled debut and 1989 masterpiece “Cocked & Loaded” are stone-cold classics now. Shapeshifter “Hollywood Vampires,” the group’s 1991 LP, is another gem. Rockers like “Electric Gypsy,” “Sex Action,” “Rip And Tear,” “Never Enough” and Stones-like “Ballad of Jayne” hold up as well as any tracks from that era.
During my interview with Tracii, he was relaxed and smiling. An American Spirit cig was in his hand. His answers to the interview questions were as articulate and spirited as his guitar playing always is. Edited excerpts from our conversation are below. A list of tour dates can be found at lagunsmusic.com/tour.
Tracii, for you, what’s the easiest part of putting together a setlist and what’s the most challenging part?
It’s kind of unique on this tour because we have a headlining set, we’ve got to put together, an hour set and a 45-minute set and, not very often a 40-minute set. So there’s those standards that we have to do, right? The “Never Enough,” “Rip And Tear,” Ballad of Jayne,” “Sex Action,” “Electric Gypsy” … there are like seven we have to do no matter what or we get a bunch of hate mail. So that’s about the 45-minute set. And then once we get into a headlining set it’s brutal, because there’s so much stuff and we have those three new albums and people really like those albums. [Laughs] So, what do you do? So, the headlining sets the toughest and the short sets the easiest because on the short set people don’t expect you to do special favors. That’s what I call the new stuff, special favors. We’re kind of like two bands that way, right? An old band and a new band, so it’s tough.
It’s interesting. I’m seeing lots of photos of these packed houses from this L.A. Guns tour with Tom Keifer and Faster Pussycat. The crowds and the venue sizes are kind of when I was a kid and imagined what would a rock show would be like, it’s that. You’ve played all kinds of different places, different sizes. What’s special about playing rock & roll at these kinds of venues and for these kinds of crowds?
It’s really the energy you know, because like a club gig has a certain kind of energy and kind of youthful energy, where I’m not young anymore. [Laughs] So I don’t like that energy. I like the big places, you know, the high ceiling and massive amount of people. And I feel like I can connect better, I’m more comfortable and I can hear better. I can hear the band better, and I can hear my guitar better. Nightclubs, man, they are so loud and it’s so hard to hear and have clarity, but the energy is definitely there.
But what you’re seeing online right now, this is the ideal situation because without Tom Keifer we’re almost big enough to play these venues on our own, but not quite. So having Tom headline really puts it over the top and these shows sell out. Like, 1,500 people a night, 2,000. And it’s awesome. Last night we played an arena in the United States for the first time in like 20 years, and it was f--king awesome. It felt so natural and normal, and the sound quality is just amazing.
I saw some footage from that, and it was stunning how good you guys sound still. How crucial is having good recent albums to a “legacy” band still being good live? People are always like waiting for the next new rock band and I’m like bands like L.A. Guns already know how to do it and they’re doing it.
You know, the thing is, we started our farewell tour in 1988. Every show, anything we do, has to be on the very top shelf. It has to be. Where a lot of people my age, you know, at this point it’s their living. It’s turned into a job. For the most part they have a good time but maybe they don’t feel they have anything to prove. Phil and I always feel like we’ve got something to prove. And that’s what keeps us spending the extra five minutes on a recording or writing a song or putting a setlist together. It’s that extra five minutes that makes things special.
For a long time, years ago, 20 years ago, when L.A. Guns was kind of like ... nobody gave a shit. We had like one guy on tour with us, we used other people’s gear, just went up and played the songs and that sucked. The band was good live, but it was awful. Like how you say, what you picture in a rock band and rock show, we weren’t doing that. We were just kind of like, “Oh man, I need to make this 200 bucks so bad.” And we were lucky to be able to, but it didn’t, what’s the word, portray L.A. Guns as the visionary band that it is.
But to answer your question, to have great new music and a great live performance, for us it’s crucial. Can’t put out a great record and then go play live and just be lackluster. Because it’ll be like, “I like the record but they’re real boring live.” Like that’s my biggest fear.
You mentioned Phil Lewis earlier. I love guitar and frontman duos, from Keith Richards and Mick Jagger to Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, and so on. For you as a guitarist, what’s fun and cool about being part of a duo with Phil in L.A. Guns?
I mean, it’s a dynamic duo. That’s what you’re describing and it’s the dynamics between two people. And Phil and I, with him it’s probably more Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart, with me it’s more Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and Van Halen and David Lee Roth and Tyler and Perry obviously. Last night I described us as Led Zepplinsmith. I was watching the video, and it was like the Yardbirds meets Aerosmith.
But yeah, Phil and I, we appreciate the dynamic duo thing and I think for years we didn’t realize that we really have that until we got back together. And the first rehearsal we ever did (after reuniting), for this celebration for the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas, when we rehearse, we were playing, I don’t know, “Some Lie For Love” or something, and we just looked at each other like, “F—k, this doesn’t sound like when I play it with somebody else.” That kind of thing. And that was a revelation for us, and it still took us a year later to start actually thinking about doing it, getting it rolling.
Look, it’s not easy getting a band rolling. It takes a minute. But once we got into recording the “Missing Piece” record that’s when it got real. Like, alright, this is sounding great.
And I think this version of L.A. Guns is a current rock band and our record sales show that. And half of our audience now is younger and guys our age. Hopefully, you learn after 30 years some tricks.
Like Steven and Joe from Aerosmith, to this day, you and Phil both sound great. Some other guitarist-frontman duos, maybe the guitar player still has it but the singer not as much. Both of you guys are still on your game.
Well, we compete with each other, right? That’s the healthy thing, that’s what keeps the motivation up. If my game was down and Phil would be like, “Tracii’s a lazy sack of shit so I’m just gonna get through these songs.” And if Phil was just kind of phoning it in, maybe I wouldn’t have that fire and excitement. He excites me onstage live, so that the fuel for the fire.
What’s the most challenging of your classic solos to nail every night for you?
Well it’s weird, the harmonic minor lick in “Electric Gypsy,” it’s the only thing that when I’m about to play it my brain thinks … [Laughs] You’ve got to play this really weird shape and I nail it but sometimes I’m like one note off, because it’s just a brain fart. I think that if we were playing “Killing Machine” live right now, I think that that solo might be tough. It’s got some trills in it. And I don’t practice as much as I should offstage. So I really rely on doing like 10 shows for getting back in shape and tonight’s our 11th show. Last night was pretty smooth.
Yeah, but they’re not tough. As far as overall physicality, you’re getting limber again. You know what I mean? When I’m home I’m recording, which people might think you’re practicing because you’re playing so much. But you’re trying to play the same thing over and over again, for hours at a time. And I always feel like my muscle memory kicks in.
But live, it’s kind of like how my rig’s set up, to where I have almost like a country rock sound and then like a hard rock sound, and then a metal sound. I have to play those styles too, so it’s like switch to the sound, switch to the style, try not to think about it and just play. And sometimes if we play “Speed” right before “Ballad of Jayne” it’s a really hard transition. It’s like woah! My fingers are still doing this, and they just need to take a nap and just play and feel that stuff.
And “It’s Over Now,” it’s just this major [sings guitar melody] and if we play it right after “Sex Action” or something it’s really awkward to get in that melancholy kind of very bendy guitar licks all the way through the song. And sometimes I nail it, and sometimes I’m the whitest guy on the planet when we play it.
You’ve been doing a bow solo during the shows, and I saw a clip of you working the “Iron Man” motif in there. What’s the key to composing a bow solo on guitar and pulling it off live? With that technique it’s almost like you’re composing for a string section instead of putting together a traditional guitar solo.
There’s a lot of mystery in the bow solo, right? There are so many elements that go into it because number one it’s extremely difficult to do. It’ really hard to play with a flat bridge on a Les Paul with a pickguard under the strings. The bow just doesn’t want to do what you’re trying to get it to do. So that’s the first element, of just like God this really is not easy to do.
And then you just straight up pretend you’re Jimmy Page. I mean, really. You’ve got to picture (Led Zeppelin concert film) “The Song Remains The Same” and get into the vibe because that is the vibe.
There a really interesting video of (Eagles/James Gang guitarist) Joe Walsh not using a bow, but it’s “Turn To Stone” and like 1970, ‘71 and his solo band and he does all those effects before Page did those effects with the bow. So when I stumbled upon that, I kind of figured that Page saw that and said oh that’s a little more organized and put something together.
So depending on how my rig is working that night, really dictates what I’m going to do. And I don’t know until I pull the bow across the low E string the first time in front of people. It’s like, OK, I have this much control or this little control.
The funny thing about it is, I can’t believe I don’t get tons of shit for it. I mean, I’ve been doing it for years, and a couple of people are like, “Oh, Jimmy Page!” No, I’m completely stealing this from Jimmy Page, and then presenting it to the L.A. Guns audience, you know? And for me, it’s just a super moody, dark tribute to the rightful owner.
And for composing it, that’s a whole different thing. The middle strings you can’t get to, so it’s balancing high strings, low strings. Low notes on the low strings, that sounds really ominous when it pops out, when it really comes through the speakers and I’m doing it efficiently. That’s pretty cool.
But the “Iron Man” thing, it’s really easy to do and it blends those two guys (Page and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi) together in some kind of alchemy.
Page, Randy Rhoads, Johnny Thunders, I can hear those influences in your tone and your playing. Who are a few guitarist people might not guess that you love, that have impacted you a lot?
The one I mention the least is really Dave Murray. When I was a kid, I was so into those first two (Iron) Maiden records, and I think it has more to do with like live. Like with the “Over The Edge” solo, the way I do the vibrato is very Dave Murray, and I never really connected that until a bunch of years ago. A lot of people say it’s like a (Michael) Schenker kind of thin. And I’m a huge Schenker fan but the way I do that slow vibrato really sounds more like Dave Murray to me.
And then obviously (late Irish guitarist) Gary Moore. (Jimi) Hendrix to the max. I mean, a lot of the improvising I do live is more Hendrix than Page really. My tone is way more on the overly distorted side than Page live. Page was like almost in control, almost. [Laughs] But Hendrix and Randy are very out of control, the guitar sound. And so when it’s like slow Zeppelin blues jam it’s still more like “Red House.” I still phrase it more like Hendrix would.
But yeah, I do have a weird palette. Because it’s Johnny Thunders and (The Germs guitarist) Pat Smear on one end and then it goes Gary Moore, Page and Hendrix right in the middle. It’s a weird combination but those are the guys I like.
How cool has been for your to be a part of the reboot of Kramer Guitars with Gibson. I think of back in the ‘80s, Kramer players like Eddie Van Halen and Mick Mars, and now you have your own signature Kramer guitar, the Gunstar Voyager.
So in all fairness, I never played a Kramer guitar in my life until I hooked up with Gibson. And the head of Epiphone at the time, at NAMM in 2018 maybe, he said, “Hey do you want to a signature Kramer?” At first when he brought me in the room, I was like what the hell is this? All these Kramer guitars.
And he was like, “We’re relaunching Kramer and we want you to spearhead it with a signature model.?” I was like I think I understand why but I was confused, and I had to come up with something that made sense as. The collaboration was fun and the guitars are great. People really like the guitars and we’re selling the last of them on this tour. It was a limited run of 500, so now they’re almost all gone.
So a little something different about your history, with the Motley Crue “Stadium Tour” recently launching, I was watching a video of Brides of Destruction, your supergroup with Nikki Sixx, playing the Motley classic “Live Wire” and sounded awesome. What do you think is brilliant or underrated about those early Motley songs? Because those first couple of records are just so great.
It’s the innocence, isn’t it? It’s these guys that are kind of from working-class families. Nikki’s kind of a terror and wants to be a rock star so bad to validate him as a human being, right? So, number one, the chemistry. Those four guys, man, the chemistry is undeniable. And the great thing about (Motley Crue’s debut album) “Too Fast For Love” is they really wore their influences on the sleeves. It sounds like Sweet, but it sounds like Motley Crue, this new band.
And the way it was recorded, that’s really what they sounded like live back then. Really raw and really loud. And Vince (Neil) was a really special vocalist. Nobody sounded exactly like Vince, and it was really coming out of the L.A. punk scene. New wave was done pretty much.
And there was W.A.S.P., and I loved W.A.S.P. too but Motley Crue just seemed to have … more chicks. [Smiles] More chicks went to the Motley Crue shows at the Troubadour, you know? So for me, it was like a lifestyle. That was my lifestyle when I was 15, 15-years-old, going to see Motley Crue, dyed my hair black, wore leather 24 hours a day, going to high school thinking I was cool and all that stuff.
And so when I got to do Brides, I didn’t really give a hit about Brides, I just really wanted to play Motley Crue music. [Laughs] And I only wanted to play stuff off “Shout At The Devil” and “Too Fast For Love” and that’s what we did. Nikki was like, “We’ve got to play some L.A. Guns” and I’m like, “No!” and we did, and it was so cool watching Nikki each night play the intro to “One More Reason” because “One More Reason” I got that from (Motley Crue song) “Take Me To The Top.”
There was a lot of that going back and forth between Nikki and I. He liked L.A. Guns and I liked Motley Crue. And as much as I have a f--ked-up relationship with Nikki, and I really don’t care at this point, I love that music. I love that image. And if it wasn’t for him and his vision for that band, I wouldn’t have done L.A. Guns. I might not even be a successful musician if not for that band. And that the truth.
In closing and back to the present, for you, what’s the commonality that runs through all three acts on this current L.A. Guns tour with Tom Keifer and Faster Pussycat?
Nice ‘N Easy black number one hair dye. [Laughs] No, I think you have three bands loosely based in kind of the Aerosmith, Yardbirds rock band format. You know, two guitars, dirty rock, a lot of emotion. Not a lot of happy music. [Laughs]
Which you kind of associate these bands maybe with happy music but none of us really have any happy ‘80s pop music. [Sings a line from a classic Cinderella song] “Shake me, all-all night!” that’s about some violent sex, man. So, I think all the bands have that kind of attitude. The other thing that’s great about this tour is how nice everybody is. All the band members in all the bands, all the crew guys. Man, what a nice tour.
The Tom Keifer, L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat tour hits Atlanta’s Buckhead Theatre July 28, Nashville’s Marathon Music Works July 29 and Knoxville’s Bootlegger Harley-Davidson July 30. L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat, sans Keifer, have a July 31 show at Lafayette’s Music Room in Memphis. Tickets start at around $32 plus fees at most shows. More info at lagunsmusic.com.
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