Duff McKagan Responds to Unsolicited Bob Dylan Shout Out

No matter how massive a star you get to be, for a lot of musicians there’ll all the time be a reverence for the musicians that got here earlier than them. In this case, a member of Guns N’ Roses obtained the final word praise from Bob Dylan, and it had nothing to do with “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” That could be Duff McKagan who was on the receiving finish of an unsolicited shoutout from Dylan in a uncommon 2022 interview.

At the time, Dylan was talking with the Wall Street Journal when he was requested how he found new music these days. “Mostly by accident, by chance. If I go looking for something I usually don’t find it. In fact, I never find it. I walk into things intuitively when I’m most likely not looking for anything,” remarked Dylan, earlier than rolling by way of plenty of artists, some extra well-known than others, which can be amongst his present favorites.

It was throughout this part when he talked about McKagan, noting, “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. It’s like my own songwriting, I overwrite something, then I chip away lines and phrases until I get to the real thing. Shooter Jennings produced that record. It’s a great song.”

Duff McKagan, “Chip Away”

The track appeared on McKagan’s Tenderness album, and it did not take lengthy earlier than the bassist realized of the reward from the long-lasting singer-songwriter.

“I started getting texts from friends,” recalled McKagan to Classic Rock. “Axl [Rose] went: ‘Hey dude, have you seen this?’ I was a little stunned because… [shakes head] Bob Dylan?! I don’t know him, so for me to be recognized by him as a songwriter was great. I’m still a little blown away.”

The bassist says he reached out to Dylan with a thanks, explaining, “I sent him a deluxe version of Tenderness, and I sent a handwritten card saying: ‘Thank you very much for your kind words, here’s my record. And if you ever want to write a song together…'”

READ MORE: Duff McKagan Names His Favorite Guns N’ Roses Song to Play

What Duff McKagan Is Currently Promoting

While McKagan is usually recognized for his work in Guns N’ Roses, he has discovered time for his solo music, and this 12 months he issued the brand new album Lighthouse. It’s presently obtainable in each streaming and bodily codecs.