The Cars’ self-titled 1978 debut record changed the world of power pop forever. Guitarist and co-vocalist Ric Ocasek penned all the tunes, but lead guitarist Elliott Easton transformed them with his tasteful 6-string stylings. This time on Shred With Shifty, Easton sits down with Chris Shiflett to show him how to play the solo from “My Best Friend’s Girl.”

Born in Brooklyn before winding up in Long Island, Easton washed dishes to save up for his first 1971 Fender Telecaster, and after high school he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he picked up key theory and technique that he still holds dear. Reared on country and rockabilly players like Roy Buchanan, Jesse Ed Davis, Gram Parsons, James Burton, and Roy Nichols, Easton brought a slick twang to Ocasek’s new-wave gems.

Easton tells Shifty how the band came to work with producer Roy Thomas Baker in London, while crashing at a label-provided mansion nearby and driving a loaned Jaguar and Land Rover to the sessions. Easton’s celebrated leads didn’t take long to come together. “On my mother’s memory, I did all my guitar parts in a day and a half,” he says. All he had with him was a 1978 or ’77 Telecaster with a Bartolini Firebird-style mini humbucker in it, a red Les Paul, a Martin acoustic, and two effects: the brand-new Boss CE-1 and a Morley EVO-1 Echo Volume pedal. His amp of choice in those days? An Ampeg VT-22 or VT-40.

After running down his giddy-up guitar parts from “Best Friend’s Girl,” Easton talks about which modern players impress him, why he doesn’t consider himself a shredder, and the experience of working with Mutt Lange: “I spent as much time tuning with him as playing!”

If you’re able to help, here are some charities aimed at assisting musicians affected by the fires in L.A: 

https://guitarcenterfoundation.org

https://www.cciarts.org/relief.html

https://www.musiciansfoundation.org

https://fireaidla.org

https://www.musicares.org

https://www.sweetrelief.org

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Jon Romeo, Michelle Yoon, Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

The Georgia-born, Nashville-based roots-rock outfit Larkin Poe have had a busy year. Last summer, they toured across the U.S. supporting Slash, and released their seventh studio album, Bloom, on January 22. With a bit of downtime back in Nashville, co-shredders-in-chief Megan and Rebecca Lovell joined Shred With Shifty to deconstruct their face-melting leads on “Summertime Sunset,” off of their 2022 record Blood Harmony.

The Lovells grew up reading sheet music and learning violin via the Suzuki method—there was little room for going off the beaten path until they fell in love with Jerry Douglas’ dobro playing on Alison Krauss records. Rebecca took up the mandolin, while Megan went for the dobro and the slide side of things. It took a while for them to get comfortable turning up from their bluegrass roots, but eventually they built Larkin Poe’s amplified, blues-rock sound.

First up, Rebecca, playing a pristine ’60s SG, shows how she put together her stinging, fuzzy solo by “hunting and pecking out” melodies in her mind, building up the chops to follow her intuition. Then Megan, playing a Rickenbacker-inspired lap steel of her own design through a Rodenberg TB Drive, details her dizzyingly fast slide acrobatics, and her particular “rake” technique that she copped from Jerry Douglas and Derek Trucks.

Tune in to hear them talk about how to sustain family relationships while going professional, keeping music community-minded, and whether or not they’ll go back to bluegrass.

If you’re able to help, here are some charities aimed at assisting musicians affected by the fires in L.A: 

https://guitarcenterfoundation.org

https://www.cciarts.org/relief.html

https://www.musiciansfoundation.org

https://fireaidla.org

https://www.musicares.org

https://www.sweetrelief.org

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Jon Romeo, Michelle Yoon, Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

The Georgia-born, Nashville-based roots-rock outfit Larkin Poe have had a busy year. Last summer, they toured across the U.S. supporting Slash, and released their seventh studio album, Bloom, on January 22. With a bit of downtime back in Nashville, co-shredders-in-chief Megan and Rebecca Lovell joined Shred With Shifty to deconstruct their face-melting leads on “Summertime Sunset,” off of their 2022 record Blood Harmony.

The Lovells grew up reading sheet music and learning violin via the Suzuki method—there was little room for going off the beaten path until they fell in love with Jerry Douglas’ dobro playing on Alison Krauss records. Rebecca took up the mandolin, while Megan went for the dobro and the slide side of things. It took a while for them to get comfortable turning up from their bluegrass roots, but eventually they built Larkin Poe’s amplified, blues-rock sound.

First up, Rebecca, playing a pristine ’60s SG, shows how she put together her stinging, fuzzy solo by “hunting and pecking out” melodies in her mind, building up the chops to follow her intuition. Then Megan, playing a Rickenbacker-inspired lap steel of her own design through a Rodenberg TB Drive, details her dizzyingly fast slide acrobatics, and her particular “rake” technique that she copped from Jerry Douglas and Derek Trucks.

Tune in to hear them talk about how to sustain family relationships while going professional, keeping music community-minded, and whether or not they’ll go back to bluegrass.

If you’re able to help, here are some charities aimed at assisting musicians affected by the fires in L.A: 

https://guitarcenterfoundation.org

https://www.cciarts.org/relief.html

https://www.musiciansfoundation.org

https://fireaidla.org

https://www.musicares.org

https://www.sweetrelief.org

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Jon Romeo, Michelle Yoon, Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

This time, Chris Shiflett sits down with fellow west coaster Craig Ross, who calls in from Madrid equipped with a lawsuit-era Ibanez 2393. The two buddies kick things off commiserating over an increasingly common tragedy for guitarists: losing precious gear in natural disasters. The takeaway? Don’t leave your gear in storage! Take it on the road!

Ross started out in the Los Angeles band Broken Homes, influenced by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and the Beatles, but his big break came when he auditioned for Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz phoned him up the next day to tell him to be at rehearsal that evening. In 1993, they cut one of their biggest hits ever, “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” Ross explains that it came together from a loose, improvisatory jam in the studio—testament to the magic that can be found off-leash during studio time.

Ross recalls his rig for recording the solo, which consisted of just two items: Kravitz’s goldtop Les Paul and a tiny Gibson combo. (No fuzz or drive pedals, sorry Chris.) As Ross remembers, he was going for a Cream-era Clapton sound with the solo, which jumps between pentatonic and pentatonic major scales.

Tune in to learn how he frets and plays the song’s blistering lead bits, plus learn about what amps Ross is leaning on these days.

If you’re able to help, here are some charities aimed at assisting musicians affected by the fires in L.A: 

https://guitarcenterfoundation.org

https://www.cciarts.org/relief.html

https://www.musiciansfoundation.org

https://fireaidla.org

https://www.musicares.org

https://www.sweetrelief.org

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Jon Romeo, Michelle Yoon, Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

When you imagine the tools of a guitar shredder, chances are you see a sharp-angled electric 6-string running into a smokin’-hot, fully saturated British halfstack of sorts—the type of thing that’ll blow your hair back. You might not be picturing an acoustic steel-string or a banjo, and that’s a mistake, because some of the most face-melting players to walk this earth work unplugged—like Molly Tuttle.

The 31-year-old Californian has been performing live for roughly 20 years, following in a deep family tradition of roots-music players. Tuttle studied at Berklee College of Music, and has gone on to collaborate with some of the biggest names in bluegrass and folk, including Béla Fleck, Billy Strings, Buddy Miller, Sierra Hull, and Old Crow Medicine Show. Her 2023 record, City of Gold, won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.

The furious flatpicking solo on “San Joaquin,” off of that Grammy-winning record, is the subject of this unplugged episode of Shred With Shifty. Shiflett can shred on electric alright, but how does he hold up running leads on acoustic? It’s a whole different ballgame. Thankfully, Tuttle is on hand, equipped with a Pre-War Guitars Co. 6-string, to demystify the techniques and gear that let her tear up the fretboard.

Tune in to hear plenty of insider knowledge on how to amplify and EQ acoustics, what instruments can stand in for percussion in bluegrass groups, and how to improvise in bluegrass music.

If you’re able to help, here are some charities aimed at assisting musicians affected by the fires in L.A: 

https://guitarcenterfoundation.org

https://www.cciarts.org/relief.html

https://www.musiciansfoundation.org

https://fireaidla.org

https://www.musicares.org

https://www.sweetrelief.org

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Jon Romeo, Michelle Yoon, Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

From Ozzy Osbourne to Black Label Society to Zakk Sabbath to, most recently, his stint filling in for his old friend “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott in Pantera, Zakk Wylde has left an unmistakable mark on the hard-rock and metal music worlds. Fresh off performing “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Cleveland Browns game in October, and paying homage to his boss Ozzy at the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Wylde joins this episode of Shred With Shifty to share his teachings from the book of rock.

When he was learning to play, Wylde studied Frank Marino, Al Di Meola, and John McLaughlin along with Sabbath shredder Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page, and “King Edward”—Eddie Van Halen—but Osbourne’s original right-hand guitar-man Randy Rhoades was top of the crop. Little did Wylde know he’d go on to replace him after his tragic death, following up the work of Rhoades, Brad Gillis, and Jake E. Lee. He got to join his favorite band, but it wasn’t an easy gig. “What’s expected of you as an Ozzy player?” says Wylde. “The bar that Randy set was lights out.”

After a quick pinch-harmonics tutorial, Wylde lays out how he used a Marshall JCM800 and Boss SD-1 with his “holy grail” bullseye Gibson Les Paul Custom to track the alternate-picking intensive on “Miracle Man,” a mix of “ingredients” from all the players Wylde loves. (“Pass the Ritchie Blackmore, boss!”) For those thinking of skimping and swapping in some hammer-ons and pull-offs, Shifty warns: “There are no shortcuts! Pick every note!”

Along the way, Wylde discusses the inner workings of his tenure with Osbourne, including being the longest-running player in the group—like “working at the deli,” according to Wylde. And tune in to hear about Wylde’s relationship to Ozzy’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne, who he refers to as “mom”—a role she performed well when she busted him at a nightclub while he was underage.

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

Break out your glass, steel, or beer bottle: This time on Shred With Shifty, we’re sliding into glory with southern-rock great Derek Trucks, leader of the Derek Trucks Band, co-leader (along with wife Susan Tedeschi) of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and, from 1999 to 2014, member of the Allman Brothers Band.

Reared in Jacksonville, Florida, Trucks was born into rock ’n’ roll: His uncle, Butch Trucks, was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, and from the time he was nine years old, Derek was playing and touring with blues and rock royalty, from Buddy Guy to Bob Dylan. Early on, he established himself as a prodigy on slide guitar, and in this interview from backstage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Trucks explains why he’s always stuck with his trusty Gibson SGs, and how he sets them up for both slide and regular playing. (He also details his custom string gauges.)

Trucks analyzes and demonstrates his subtle but scorching solo on “Midnight in Harlem,” off of Tedeschi Trucks Band’s acclaimed 2011 record, Revelator. In it, he highlights the influence of Indian classical music, and particularly sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, on his own playing. The lead is “melodic but with Indian-classical inflections,” flourishes that Trucks says are integral to his playing: It’s a jazz and jam-band mentality of “dangling your feet over the edge of the cliff,” says Trucks, and going outside whatever mode you’re playing in.

Throughout the episode, Trucks details his live and studio set ups (“As direct as I can get it”), shares advice for learning slide and why he never uses a pick, and ponders what the future holds for collaborations with Warren Haynes.

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

This episode has three main ingredients: Shifty, Schenker, and shredding. What more do you need?

Schenker was just 11 when he played his first gig with The Scorpions, and recorded on their debut LP, Lonesome Crow, when he was 16. He’s been playing a Gibson Flying V since those early days, so it's only natural that both he and Shifty bust out the Vs for this occasion.

While gigging with Scorpions in Germany, Schenker met and was poached by British rockers UFO, with whom he recorded five studio records and one live release. (Schenker’s new record, released on September 20, celebrates this pivotal era with reworkings of the material from these albums with a cavalcade of high-profile guests like Axl Rose, Slash, Dee Snider, Adrian Vandenberg, and more.) On 1978’s Obsession, his last studio full-length with the band, Schenker cut the solo on “Only You Can Rock Me,” which Shifty thinks carries some of the greatest rock guitar tone of all time. Schenker details his approach to his other solos, but note-for-note recall isn’t always in the cards—he plays from a place of deep expression, which he says makes it difficult to replicate his leads.

Tune in to learn how the Flying V impacted Schenker’s vibrato, the German parallel to Page, Beck, and Clapton, and the twists and turns of his career from Scorpions, UFO, and MSG to brushes with the Rolling Stones.

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

Next up on this action-packed season of Shred With Shifty, country superstar Keith Urban joins Chris Shiflett to walk through some of his most iconic solos and unpack some fine details behind his successful music career.

Strapped with the ’51 Fender “Nocaster” that he used to record the solo on “Tumbleweed,” Urban walks Shifty through some of his guitar secrets, like how he came to own Waylon Jennings’ iconic, leatherbound 1950 Fender Broadcaster (hats off to his wife, Nicole Kidman, for that one). Urban tells avid surfer Shiflett why he never got into surfing while growing up in Australia, and remembers his earliest influences in the country’s music scene.

Low-gain players like Mark Knopfler, Ray Flacke, and Lindsay Buckingham helped shape Urban’s lead-guitar tastes, imprints you can hear in the capoed, drop-D solo on “Stupid Boy.” (Urban says his new solo record, High, features more of these theatrics.) Amid the fretboard analysis, Urban talks about his “love-hate relationship” with his Fractal amp-modeling unit, which he still leaves at home when he plays live—a 100-watt Marshall Super Lead and PRS J-MOD 100 still reign supreme for Urban’s concerts.

Tune in to learn how Urban’s unique pick grip gave his solos some extra percussive edge, how he keeps his chops up, and which artist he’d want to “gunsling” for.

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. That’s right: Shred With Shifty is back, and your beloved host Chris Shiflett is kicking off season two of the podcast with a super-special episode.

Shifty’s Foo Fighters shredders-in-arms Dave Grohl and Pat Smear join him for this season premier that reveals some of the magic and maneuvering behind the Foos’ triple-guitar attack. The three friends and bandmates start off with some history lessons, discussing their earliest influences and how they learned to play before covering Grohl’s early days with Nirvana, Smear’s time in the Germs, and Shiflett’s invitation to join Foo Fighters—followed promptly by a trip to a guitar store to build out his arsenal, courtesy of Grohl’s AmEx. (Plus, Dave tells how he conned his mother into buying his first distortion pedal.)

The trio cover their current and historical favorite pieces of gear—like Dave’s famed Gibson Trini Lopez, Mesa Boogie's Rectifier series, and Fender's all-tube, '90s-era Tone-Master amps—before getting into how they apply those tools in the studio between three players. “I think it took 15 to 20 years to figure out the recipe of what we do,” admits Grohl.

Running through tunes like “Rope,” “Hey, Johnny Park!,” “La Dee Da,” and “A Matter of Time,” Shiflett, Grohl, and Smear demonstrate the evolution of the band’s rhythmically unique and tonally tiered guitar arrangements. From Melvins-inspired drop-D slammers to delay-driven, polyrhythmic riffs, Grohl likens the band’s 6-string components to the various elements of a drum beat. Once a drummer…

Tune in for tons of hilarious stories (including Grohl’s “worst tour ever”), fascinating tidbits, and Dave’s guitar-store riff when he’s trying a new axe. It might sound familiar.

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 Beaudion

Video Editor: Addison Sauvan

Graphic Design: Megan Pralle

Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.