Chris Shiflett

One Liner:  Countrified current Foos guitarists yeehaws around on his own.

Wikipedia Genre: country rock
Home: Santa Barbara, CA

Poster Position: 18

Weekend Two Only

Thoughts: I finally watched A Star is Born last night, so now as I listen to this, I can't help but seeing the Bradley Cooper character as this guy, jamming western-tinged rock and roll with grandiose guitar solos as he drinks himself to death.  Sure hope Chris doesn't make friends with a young waitress blessed with a powerful voice!

The crazy thing about this dude?  He's the freaking Foo Fighters guitarist.  No, really, he is.  He's been in several other bands, including Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (who do a very rad cover of "Take Me Home Country Roads" you should hear), but joined the Foos in 1999 in time for 2002's One by One.  He's been their guitar man ever since.  But he still plays with other bands and apparently does this solo stuff.  Fun fact - he has a tattoo on the inside of his bottom lip that says Gimme Gimme.

But his solo stuff couldn't be further away from the punk and alt rock of those other bands at all - it has a ton of good guitarwork, but it is unmistakably country music.  Like track names like "The Girl's Already Gone," "I'm Still Drunk," and "Mrs. America," and a load of pedal steel guitar to go with his own solo shreds.  It's actually pretty good - if a little bit trite in the lyrical department.

Just one album, 2017's West Coast Town, and then a few new singles (hinting at a future new record coming soon).  Top streamer is "West Coast Town," from that album, with 239k streams.

Starts out like Dwight or Steve Earle, and then comes on like an Old 97's track.  Pretty good.  I've made it through all of his stuff a few times now, and its pretty solid.  Nothing great - but enjoyable drinking tunes and such.

His currently most popular is single "This Ol' World," with 40k streams.

That one comes on like a Foo Fighters track, before the pedal steel slides into the room and starts boogie-ing around.  By the time the chorus kicks in its a stomper, some outlaw country rock and roll party music.

I could be talked into going to this show - I doubt I'd circle it in pen on my spreadsheet, but depending on who he is up against, I'd go drink beer and yeehaw along with this cat.