Duff McKagan - This is the Song

As a founding member of both Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, Duff McKagan has certainly seen more than his share of lives going off the rails, and has glimpsed the underlying mental illnesses that were at the root of those shattered lives. So it's not surprising that McKagan's new three-song EP, his first new solo music in four years, honors Mental Health Awareness Month, which has been observed every May since 1949. And there's personal experience behind the new music. McKagan, speaking through his publicist, says, "This is the Song was written in the middle of a panic attack. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't see straight. I have thankfully found my acoustic guitar as a refuge. If I just hold on to that guitar, play chords and hum melodies, I can start to climb my way out of that hole." That notion plays out in the EP's title cut "This is the Song," a mournful-sounding yet positive tune where McKagan plays his acoustic and sings "This is the song that's gonna save my life, don't need no sympathy." The song is powerful and all the more so if you know the story behind the words. "Pass You By," also acoustic and wistful, sounds very much like something that Guns N' Roses might do in an unplugged moment. The slow and funky EP closer "It Can't Come Too Soon" uses organ as the lead instrument, rocks a little and is another song about triumphing over a bad situation. More information on Mental Health Awareness Month can be found here. Get the EP here.

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