Biography

Punk rock veteran. Rock & Roll Hall of Famer. Songwriter. Modern-day guitar hero. For more than 25 years, Chris Shiflett has blurred the lines between genre & generation, balancing his fulltime band commitments with a thriving solo career. Shiflett has played a crucial role in shaping the sound and scope of modern-day rock music as a longtime member of the Foo Fighters. He's also an alum of California-based punk rock bands No Use For a Name and Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Shiflett’s latest releases refocus his attention on a mix of country twang and rock & roll bang. “It’s kind of classic country chords” says Shiflett about “Dead And Gone.” The two-step-ish feel is there, as are the sweet dobro playing of Charlie Worsham and the swampy tremolo guitar tones of Tom Bukovac, but a wildly fuzzy electric guitar fills the space between Shiflett’s vocal lines. Shiflett’s solo splits his guitar into 3 whole octaves of in-your-face chicken pickin’ licks. That’s country, for sure, but it’s also very rock & roll. Produced by Jaren Johnston (Cadillac Three) “Dead And Gone” touches on some old friends Shiflett grew up with who, as the first verse goes, “Passed away, just another Saturday night mystery.” “My hometown was an odd mix of luxury paradise and working-class grit and continues to be a bottomless pit of lyrical inspiration,” says Shiflett. “Sad to say there’s been more than a few friends who’ve left us too soon, so there are lots of stories there; kind of a lost generation.”