Slash says one instant connection built a band that is still rolling 16 years later

Before the albums and years on the road, Slash says the whole thing began with a connection that felt obvious almost immediately. As he looks toward a busy 2027 with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, the Guns N' Roses guitarist is reflecting on how unusually easy the band came together.

It started with a spark, then never really stopped

Slash is now well past the 15 year mark with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, and he is already looking toward 20 years of partnership and friendship with the group. What stands out to him is not a long, difficult build but how quickly the foundation appeared.

He says the first clue came at the very beginning, when he and Kennedy worked together on his 2010 solo album, Slash. Kennedy, in his telling, was the singer who could handle the broad vocal demands of material that had been recorded with a range of guest artists. That first collaboration gave him what he describes as an immediate spark, and the relationship grew from there.

That long run now has another chapter in sight. A new album, Flying Blind, is due on Feb. 26, and 2027 plans also include extensive touring in multiple regions. In the clip below, the new song "Flying Blind" is presented with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.

How a solo project turned into a real band

Once Kennedy was in place, Slash still needed the rest of the lineup. He has said that the search for a drummer took an unexpected turn, especially because he already knew so many players in Los Angeles. Even so, someone pointed him toward Brent Fitz, a drummer based in Las Vegas whose name was new to him.

Slash connected with Fitz, brought him out to Los Angeles and played with him. The session made the decision easy. In Slash's account, Fitz turned out to be exactly the drummer he needed.

Fitz then helped fill the next opening too. When he told Slash he knew a bass player, Slash was not instantly convinced, because, as he saw it, everybody knows a bass player. But Fitz had someone specific in mind, Todd Kerns, also from Las Vegas.

Kerns flew to Los Angeles, and Slash says the result was immediate. He has recalled that Kerns seemed to understand the assignment right away, and that the chemistry among the players felt natural from the start. With Kennedy, Fitz and Kerns in place, they began touring.

That part of the story matters because the group was not originally assembled as a band with a long blueprint already mapped out. It came together around live needs connected to a solo record, then kept proving itself in real time.

Why the lineup stayed together

For Slash, the turning point was what happened once they were onstage together. He has said the touring was so enjoyable, and the atmosphere so comfortable, that he quickly started thinking beyond the initial run of shows.

That comfort level was especially important to him because he sees himself as a spontaneous live performer. A band that can react in the moment is not just helpful under those circumstances, it is essential. He has described the connection inside the group as cohesive, easy and symbiotic, the kind of musical relationship that does not need to be forced.

That is what led to Apocalyptic Love. Rather than treating the lineup as a temporary road unit, Slash decided he wanted to make a proper record with them. In his version of events, that next album was less a reinvention than a natural consequence of how well the group was already working.

He also makes the reason for the band's longevity sound refreshingly simple. They have kept going, he says, because it feels good to do it. For a project that began in support of a solo album, that may be the most revealing part of the story. The band lasted because the music and the dynamic made continuing seem like the obvious choice.

The last member to click into place

The final piece arrived in 2012, when guitarist Frank Sidoris joined the Conspirators. Slash has said that before Sidoris came in, there had been a steady stream of other guitar players auditioning in Los Angeles over a couple of days.

He does not claim to remember every detail of how Sidoris entered the picture. He has said the trail is a little blurry, and that Brent Fitz and Todd Kerns may have known him, or that Slash himself may already have met him. What he does remember clearly is the moment of hearing him play.

For Slash, that was the test that mattered. He has said you do not really know until you hear it, and when he heard Sidoris, the choice fell into place. Fans who know Sidoris from his work with Wolfgang Van Halen and Mammoth already know the other side of that resume, but in Slash's telling, the essential fact is how naturally he fit once he was in the room.

A big 2027 is already mapped out

The next phase is not small. Slash and the band are preparing for a 2027 schedule that stretches across South America, North America and Europe, with dates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well.

The itinerary begins April 2 in Santiago, Chile, and continues through Argentina and Brazil before moving into the United States and Canada. Among the North American stops are two nights at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on April 26 and 27, the Beacon Theatre in New York on May 12 and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on May 17.

The overseas leg includes dates in Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, along with shows in Cardiff, Scarborough, Belfast, Halifax and London. The run closes July 26 in Ghimbav, Romania.

All of that arrives alongside Flying Blind, which lands Feb. 26. Taken together, the calendar suggests a band that is not coasting on history but still building on it.

Another reunion matters to him too

Slash also has another stage date on his mind. He is set to return with Guns N' Roses for the California, Dream On concerts featuring Aerosmith, which begin Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Hollywood Bowl.

That appearance clearly means something personal. Slash has said Aerosmith ranks among his all time favorite rock and roll bands and had a major influence on him. He has gone even further than that, saying the group was integral to his picking up the guitar in the first place.

That makes the larger picture especially interesting. While he is planning the next album and a far-reaching tour with the band that grew out of a solo project, he is also stepping back onto a stage connected to one of the groups that helped set his own path in motion. For a guitarist whose current band started with one immediate creative spark, it is a fitting reminder that some musical relationships begin fast, then last far longer than anyone might have predicted.