Duff McKagan has shared LONGFEATHER, the latest single from his eagerly awaited third solo album, LIGHTHOUSE, arriving everywhere on Friday, October 20. An official music video – directed by Connor Ellmann, Kuj Durollari, and Arben Durollari.
“‘Today is a good day to die’ refers not to a macabre yearning for death,” says McKagan, “but rather a lust for life and the learned habits of a good and honest daily striving. Longfeather was protecting his home. He couldn’t hold up ALL of the Western wave….but he did his everything to keep his family safe. O Longfeather is gone. And O, Longfeather is home. I see you. I see you. Thank you Longfeather for giving me hope and a solid place to stand.”
LIGHTHOUSE will be available in a wide range of formats, including streaming, download, CD, cassette, and LP. A number of deluxe versions and bundles are also available, including official Certificates of Authenticity signed by McKagan. In addition, two webstore exclusive vinyl variants – “Transparent Green & “Black Marble” and “Black Velvet” – of the deluxe packaging are on offer, including three lithographs, a 12-page booklet, a sticker, and a guitar pick, all enclosed in a transparent PVC sleeve allowing interchangeability of the graphics displayed on the cover of LIGHTHOUSE. Pre-orders – as well as an exclusive line of brand-new LIGHTHOUSE merch – are available now at www.duffonline.com. All pre-orders from the official store or email subscribers to the official Duff McKagan newsletter will receive access to a special online album release event featuring an exclusive Q&A with McKagan and Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell (who guests on the LIGHTHOUSE standout, I JUST DON’T KNOW).
LIGHTHOUSE sees Duff McKagan baring more of his artistic spirit than ever before, fusing acoustic elements with hard-edged rock ‘n’ roll to land at the sweet spot between soul-searching reflection and pure energy. The album was first announced earlier this spring alongside its title track, LIGHTHOUSE. LIGHTHOUSE was met by critical applause from the likes of Rolling Stone, which wrote, “‘Won’t you be my lighthouse?’ (McKagan) sings over a gospel backdrop of organ and backup vocalists. ‘Give me sight and lead me on/Oh, shine on me, my lighthouse/And dry my aching bones.’ The music then shifts gears and becomes more uplifting as McKagan leads a choir singing ‘Shine, shine, shine,’ building bigger and bigger.”
LIGHTHOUSE was soon followed by I SAW GOD ON 10TH STREET, also joined by an official visualizer streaming now. I SAW GOD ON 10TH ST received immediate praise from such outlets as Kerrang!, Revolver, and American Songwriter, the latter writing, “It all seems like such a joke / Are we going up in smoke / I see disaster up around the bend sings McKagan on the acoustic-punk track. The song picks up more than a minute in with bass and drums, as McKagan ponders some of the disparities in religion – Some say we will end in fire / Repent now or there is no hope.”
For more than 40 years, Duff McKagan has been an unstoppable creative force, spanning a multitude of bands, tours, collaborations, and writings. Now, with his long awaited new solo album, LIGHTHOUSE, the veteran musician proves to be, at his heart, a gifted singer-songwriter with a distinctive knack for authenticity and introspection.
In 2019, McKagan opened his own recording studio, allowing him a long hoped-for opportunity to “finally explore songs that I may have written the night before or some of those old riffs from years ago. This is a big deal for me.” He spent much of the next two years working with longtime producer/collaborator Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan, Brandi Carlile), chipping away at a series of intensely personal new songs.
LIGHTHOUSE now marks the first full length collection born in McKagan’s studio. Songs like HOPE (featuring veteran Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr and melodic lead guitar from Slash) and the philosophical I JUST DON’T KNOW (featuring contributions from McKagan’s longtime friend, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains) see McKagan baring more of his artistic spirit than ever before, fusing acoustic elements with hard-edged rock ‘n’ roll to land at the sweet spot between soul-searching reflection and pure energy. The 11-song collection is further highlighted by an additional take on the title track, LIGHTHOUSE (REPRISE), joined by the one and only Iggy Pop.
McKagan first unveiled his new music earlier this year with THIS IS THE SONG, a three-song EP honouring Mental Health Awareness Month alongside a call to action on Propeller. The EP – which was met by critical applause in Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Loudwire, and American Songwriter, to name just a few – includes the deeply moving title track, THIS IS THE SONG, joined by an official companion video streaming now on YouTube.
Starting at just 15, McKagan has been a part of such diverse and influential bands as The Vains (1979), The Fastbacks (1980), The Living (1982), The Fartz (1990), 10 Minute Warning (1993), and Loaded (1998), along, of course, with his historic role as founding member of both Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver. Produced by 3x GRAMMY® Award-winner Shooter Jennings, McKagan’s 2019 second solo album, TENDERNESS, marked a powerful new chapter for the ever-evolving artist, taking on societal ills and his own personal transgressions against a rich sonic backdrop of Americana-fueled arrangements. Named by Loudwire as one of that year’s “50 Best Rock Albums” and hailed by Rolling Stone in a three-and-a-half (out of four)-starred rave as “an album full of beauty and heart…It’s music of conscience, heavy songs with a light touch,” the album includes the volatile rocker, “Chip Away,” which earned extraordinary praise from the Maestro himself, Bob Dylan, who recently declared the song a personal favorite.
“There’s a Duff McKagan song called ‘Chip Away’ that has profound meaning for me,” Dylan told The Wall Street Journal. “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.”
Along with his prolific musical efforts, McKagan is the New York Times best-selling author of 2011’s It’s So Easy: And Other Lies and 2015’s How to Be a Man: (And Other Illusions), and the co-host (with Susan Holmes McKagan) of the popular Three Chords & The Truth radio show, airing in North America on Sirius XM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard (Ch. 38). In addition, Three Chords & The Truth airs weekly on stations around the globe including Denmark’s myROCK, the UK’s Planet Rock, Finland’s Radio Rock, Ireland’s Nova, Norway’s Radio Rock, Sweden’s Rock Klassiker, Germany/Switzerland/Austria’s Rock Antenne, Iceland’s x977, and Poland’s Antyradio. For more information and showtimes, please visit duffmckagan.ffm.to/
McKagan also currently serves as a core member of a modern day “Wrecking Crew” alongside GRAMMY® Award-winning musician/producer, Andrew Watt, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, recording and co-writing on such recent albums as Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man (2020) and 2x GRAMMY® Award-winning Patient No. 9 (2022) and Iggy Pop’s acclaimed Every Loser (2023). What’s more, McKagan – with Watt, Smith, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Josh Klinghoffer – is part of the recently unveiled Iggy Pop & The Losers lineup, who made a high-profile televised debut earlier this year with an electrifying performance of the feverish “Frenzy” on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! (streaming HERE).
McKagan is currently traveling with Guns N’ Roses on an epic global tour currently traveling North America with dates slated through mid-October.
