Slash Reflects On His Blues Roots And Upcoming Tour

Following the chart-topping success of his latest album, Orgy of the Damned, Slash is reminiscing about his early ventures into blues music, though he admits many memories from that time are hazy.

In a conversation with PEOPLE, the guitarist opened up about “not remembering” much from his time with Slash’s Blues Ball, the band he formed in 1996 in Los Angeles. The group included Teddy “Big Bag Zig Zag” Andreadis, Johnny Griparic, Alvino Bennet, Bobby Schneck, and Dave McLaurin.

“It was such a drunken kind of thing, and it was just for the fun of it. I do not recall any of those gigs,” he stated.

Diving into the origins of Slash’s Blues Ball, he recalled, “When I first met them, a couple of the guys, they were playing in a band called The Screaming Cocktail Hour, which was a great blues band that used to play at the local Rogie’s and Baked Potato and Cozy’s and all these small little blues dives around L.A. And I would go and hang out with them and get there 10 or 11 o’clock at night and jam until two o’clock in the morning.”

After getting to know the group, Slash decided to start a band with two of the members, calling it Slash’s Blues Ball. “I got a couple of other guys. And so we started doing the same circuit, but then that turned into an actual tour, and we did it for on and off for a couple of years, even managed to make it to Europe,” he stated.

From 1996 to 1998, Slash’s Blues Ball was active, performing covers of blues records live at various venues both domestically and abroad. Despite not releasing any recorded music, Slash fondly remembers the fun of touring and indulging in his love for the blues.

“And fortunately, Teddy kept the set list, which gave us where I picked some of the songs from,” Slash shared, referring to the tracklist of his current Billboard chart-topping album Orgy of the Damned. This collection features classic blues covers reinterpreted by Slash and an all-star team including Iggy Pop, Chris Stapleton, and Demi Lovato.

To support Orgy of the Damned and his enduring passion for the blues, Slash is embarking on the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival tour. The tour kicks off on July 5 in Montana and wraps up on August 16 in Arkansas. The award-winning musician expressed his excitement about the tour, saying he is “looking forward to really being able to open up and play my a– off for two hours every day for a couple months.”

Reflecting on his experiences, Slash noted, “I can’t remember that much about the Blues Ball, but [S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival] is not the same as just a drunken club band that was touring around for beer.”