Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan has officially released his third solo album, Lighthouse, featuring 11 all-new tracks and guest appearances from his longtime GN'R bandmate Slash, the always-enigmatic Iggy Pop, and Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Hosted by Jerry himself, listen as he and Duff discuss their storied past, behind-the-scenes details about the making of the record, and more -- plus, listen along with them to three tracks from Lighthouse.
LISTEN NOW: Duff McKagan Lighthouse Podcast w/ Jerry Cantrell: Ep. 1
In the first episode, Duff McKagan and Jerry Cantrell discuss their past as fellow musicians touring the world together with Alice in Chains and Guns N' Roses, as well as their time working with famed producer Shooter Jennings on Lighthouse, and Duff's guest performers on the new offering -- Slash and Iggy Pop. Plus, the duo discuss their shared collaboration on the album, "I Just Don’t Know."
“Our bands together, you know, you guys have had a slew of great artists out with you guys as you deserve, but I think there's an extra little edge with our bands together. I really dig it,” Cantrell tells McKagan at the beginning of their chat, before diving into Lighthouse.
The title, Duff explains stemmed from writing music during the height of the pandemic, when he had no one else around besides his wife, Susan. “We've been together for so long... and we were like, watching people get divorced," Duff explains. “We hear stuff like, 20 year relationship getting divorced and we were just getting closer and closer. We're like, ‘this is f***ing rad.’"
“Susan's really been this beacon of light for me through all kinds of stuff, she's just so genuine and sweet,” he adds. “The song is like, I will get to that lighthouse somehow somewhere and I use the sea and I use the rocks and I use the wind and, what s*** you gotta go through out on a life boat or something and you're trying to get to the lighthouse... and that's her.”
“It's nice to have those people,” Jerry agrees, adding “in turn... you don't realize a lot of the time when you're being maybe a lighthouse for somebody else.”
“When I hit upon ‘I Just Don't Know,’ the song you and I did and you were gracious enough to come and put your lead and your energy on that song, and your backing vocals... for you to come in on that song was so perfect because you and I have so much in common.” Walking his dog, Duff says the lyrics came upon his swiftly enough that he had to cut the walk short to return home and get the pen to paper. “Like what's next? What is this thing? We all had this period to reflect... You thought it was gonna be two weeks and then four weeks and six.”
LISTEN NOW: Duff McKagan Lighthouse Podcast w/ Jerry Cantrell: Ep. 2
In episode two, Jerry and Duff discuss the long road of sobriety, coping with anxiety, and their songwriting process. Also featured in this episode is a discussion about the second track on Lighthouse, "Longfeather."
Discussing the track “Longfeather,” Duff remembers getting sober and immersing himself full in martial arts because he wanted what was in his sensei’s eyes. "He's the legend man, and this guy with this knowledge and very calm in his eyes. I'm like, ‘how the f*** do you get that?’ So, I dove in and I was doing two a days in the dojo and at the end of the day we would do this meditation just to go someplace and build my own little house... Keep your house clean, keep your body clean, keep your clothes clean."
"So I use that in the song," he says. "That's really the meaning of the song, getting through that. But I used Crazy Horse and General Custer and you know, 'Manifest Destiny' and poison pill, poison blankets. and all that stuff. It's like saying, ‘Well, I've done everything right today. So, if it's today, today's a good day to die.”
LISTEN NOW: Duff McKagan Lighthouse Podcast w/ Jerry Cantrell: Ep. 3
Lastly, in episode three, Duff and Jerry take a few questions from fans and we hear the title track to the new album, Lighthouse.
Listen to the special, three-part Lighthouse podcast series with Duff McKagan and Jerry Cantrell above -- produced for Audacy by Ryan Castle at 99.9 KISW in Seattle -- and download the free Audacy app now to keep up with tons of your favorite podcasts, music, sports, and more.
Duff McKagan’s third solo album, Lighthouse, is out now featuring special guests Slash, Jerry Cantrell, and Iggy Pop. Pick up your copy NOW, and check out the full tracklisting below.
Duff McKagan - Lighthouse
1. “Lighthouse”
2. “Longfeather”
3. “Holy Water”
4. “I Saw God on 10th St.”
5. “Fallen”
6. “Forgiveness”
7. “Just Another Shakedown”
8. “Fallen Ones”
9. “Hope” (feat. Slash)
10. “I Just Don’t Know” (feat. Jerry Cantrell)
11. “Lighthouse (Reprise)” (feat. Iggy Pop)