Shred With Shifty

As the premier season of the show comes to a close, Richie Sambora sends it off with a fun, free-wheeling episode that looks at his high-drama fingerwork on “Only Lonely” from Bon Jovi’s second record, 1985’s 7800° Fahrenheit. (The song’s music video is everything you’d ever want from mid-’80s hard rock.) Richie joins Shifty subterranean-style, from his mother’s basement in New Jersey, where he’s equipped with a reverse-headstock Charvel, complete with a Floyd Rose system. It’s a busy time for Sambora: His first new single in 11 years, “I Pray,” dropped in late April, alongside a brand new, four-part Bon Jovi documentary.  For “Only Lonely,” Sambora recalls that he used just a 50-watt Marshall and a yellow Boss overdrive pedal to push it to the limit. Producer Lance Quinn captured the performance at the Warehouse in Philly in spring 1985, and Sambora hasn’t slowed at all since that day. Shifty takes a run at a few of Sambora’s blistering lead screeds before Richie takes the reins and brings it home. They don’t leave it at “Only Lonely”; as an added bonus, they run through Sambora’s famous licks from “Bad Medicine,” too. Between solo runs, Richie talks about his current rig (no modelers for him, just old-school tube-amp goodness) and addresses the rumors: Will he rejoin Bon Jovi after 11 years gone? See you on the next season of Shred With Shifty! Click below to subscribe to the podcast! Full Video Episodes: http://volume.com/shifty  Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1690423642 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4B8BSR0l78qwUKJ5gOGIWb iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shred-with-shifty-116270551/ Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/shred-with-shifty/PC:1001071314 Follow Chris Shiflett: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisshiflettmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shifty71 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.shiflett Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisshiflett71 Website: http://www.chrisshiflettmusic.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tv5SsSRqR7uLtpKZgcRrg?si=26kWS1v2RYaE4sS7KnHpag Producer: Jason Shadrick Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis Engineering support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudoin Video Editors: Dan Destefano and Addison Sauvan Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

The Aerosmith axeman recounts how he ripped the blazing lead on the Rocks hit, dishing some critical history along the way. Behind Steven Tyler’s unhinged howls, Aerosmith’s twin-guitar attack with Joe Perry and Brad Whitford cemented them as one of the greatest hard-rock bands of the ’70s. “Last Child,” the street-strutting, hard-blues hit off their breakout 1976 record Rocks, is one of the greatest demonstrations of this dangerous duo’s interplay. While Perry holds down the funky rhythmic chord stabs, Whitford burns through a volcanic, first-take solo. Did any pedals help snare that screaming tone? Nope. Just a ’57 goldtop Les Paul and a 100-watt Marshall. That combo just “makes you play real good,” Whitford says with a grin on this week’s episode. Whitford gives Shifty the background story on how Rocks came together between the band’s Massachusetts rehearsal space and the Record Plant in New York. They dig deep on Aerosmith’s influences and the guitar players that shaped Whitford’s lead style, including the shredders that knew when to pause. “Whatever you play, you’re still replicating the human voice for the most part, and you have to take a breath,” Whitford notes. Later on, Brad’s son Graham—an established player in his own right—joins the episode to talk about raiding his dad’s guitar and amp vault, and Brad muses on a big question: Will Aerosmith’s upcoming tour be their last? Click below to subscribe to the podcast! Full Video Episodes: http://volume.com/shifty  Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1690423642 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4B8BSR0l78qwUKJ5gOGIWb iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shred-with-shifty-116270551/ Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/shred-with-shifty/PC:1001071314 Follow Chris Shiflett: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisshiflettmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shifty71 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.shiflett Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisshiflett71 Website: http://www.chrisshiflettmusic.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tv5SsSRqR7uLtpKZgcRrg?si=26kWS1v2RYaE4sS7KnHpag Producer: Jason Shadrick Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis Engineering support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudoin Video Editors: Dan Destefano and Addison Sauvan Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

The influential British shredder talks about how he formed his playing style and demonstrates how to rip one of his most iconic leads. To hear Phil Collen tell it, he joined Def Leppard almost by accident. He had loaned the band one of his amps, and when they asked him to play some leads on their upcoming record Pyromania, Collen thought he was just doing his friends a solid. The rest is history. He and Shifty talk through Collen’s formative years on guitar, where he soaked up the scorching playing of classic guitar heroes: Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Ronson, Michael Schenker, and Gary Moore all played a hand in Collen’s high-flying fretwork.  Collen’s solo on “Photograph” is a perfect example of the sort of “ear candy” that producer Mutt Lange encouraged the band to chase in the studio—and yes, he did record individual notes to build a single guitar chord on Pyromania. But there weren’t many tricks to Collen’s sound on the solo. His Ibanez Destroyer and a 50-watt Marshall were all he needed to get the job done for the slick, Blackmore-inspired solo. Tune in to see how he worked that two-piece setup to record one of the most influential guitar solos of the ’80s. Click below to subscribe to the podcast! Full Video Episodes: http://volume.com/shifty  Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1690423642 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4B8BSR0l78qwUKJ5gOGIWb iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-shred-with-shifty-116270551/ Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/shred-with-shifty/PC:1001071314 Follow Chris Shiflett: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisshiflettmusic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shifty71 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.shiflett Twitter: https://twitter.com/chrisshiflett71 Website: http://www.chrisshiflettmusic.com Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tv5SsSRqR7uLtpKZgcRrg?si=26kWS1v2RYaE4sS7KnHpag Producer: Jason Shadrick Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis Engineering support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudoin Video Editors: Dan Destefano and Addison Sauvan Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

The well-known heir of rock royalty breaks down his own takes on his father’s fiery techniques—and gives an up-close look at rock’s most infamous guitar.

Blues shredder extraordinaire Joe Bonamassa joins Shred With Shifty for an extra-long, Les Paul-powered episode.