Former Guns N’ Roses and current Velvet Revolver guitarist, Slash, is working on a solo album along the lines of Carlos Santana’s recent work. Slash, who has worked as a guest guitarist with many well known singers, is now calling on them to come work with him on his album.

Slash is expected to be recording a new Velvet Revolver CD in 2009, but unless a singer is found to replace Scott Weiland, that won’t be happening. Weiland left the group earlier this year under less than friendly circumstances, and has rejoined with former band Stone Temple Pilots. Velvet Revolver was approached to do “Rock Star,” a reality show search for a new singer, but the band declined. So, with free time on his hands, Slash is preparing to go into the studio to record with several different, as yet unnamed, rock singers.

The guitarist told Billboard that he’s “at the very tail end of the demo phase” for the solo project, which he hopes to start recording early next year.

He began creating material during Velvet Revolver’s last tour and said that while it will have references to his work with that band and Guns N’ Roses, “there’s really no particular direction. I just wanted to take a little bit of a break from all the politics and the democracy that is a band and just sort of do my own thing for a little bit. There will be a lot of stuff I don’t have the freedom to do in a band situation.”

Slash plans to use different singers for each of the album’s songs but isn’t divulging who’s on the list yet. “They’re all sort of well-known singers,” he said. “It’s sort of like how I go play on a lot of other people’s records, so other people will just play on this one.”

[From Reuters]

Slash has guest-guitared with a wide variety of singers, so this album could have something to interest everyone. Having worked with such a range of people as Alice Cooper, Paulina Rubio, Daughtry, Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson, just to name a few, it could prove to be quite the eclectic set of tunes. Slash is a great guitar player and song writer, expect some equally great music to come from this endeavor.

[Information on Slash's guest appearances from Wikipedia]

Slash is shown out with his wife,Perla Hudson, at the grand opening of Lavo Restaurant and Nightclub in Vegas on 9/13/08. Credit: PRPhotos

Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland has been sentenced for his DUI incident on November 21st 2007, to 192 hours in prison, which is about 8 days.

Weiland, 40, entered a plea of no contest, the functional equivalent of a guilty plea in California, to a single misdemeanour count of driving under the influence of alcohol - his second DUI conviction in nearly four years.

The plea, stemming from his November 21 arrest following a traffic collision on a ramp to a Los Angeles freeway, was entered by Weiland’s lawyer on his behalf.

Weiland was also placed on four years’ unsupervised probation, ordered to enrol in an 18-month alcohol program and fined roughly $US1600, City Attorney’s Office spokesman Frank Mateljan said.

Weiland last month pleaded innocent to a charge of driving under the influence of drugs. Prosecutors did not make clear why the nature of the offence was changed in the final plea.

stuff.co.nz

Scott actually seems to have larger problems than simple drug and alcohol abuse issues. He has been in rehab in 1999, under a program where you can avoid a jail term in California by spending the sentence in rehab. He didn’t succeed, overdosing on heroin and being sent to jail by a judge trying to “show that this will not be tolerated…[and] to help him make up his mind to stop killing himself.” Scott’s brother Michael died of a drug overdose, and he needs to take care that something similar doesn’t happen to him.

Scott is bi-polar and says he doesn’t take his medication, resulting in manic and depressive episodes.

Scott will probably serve his sentence before the 28th of May, as his newly reformed band Stone Temple Pilots begin touring on May 17th. In is in his best interests to carry on with the tour – Velvet Revolver kicked him out of the band (check out his blog for the rant he goes into about that incident here)because of his erratic behavior, and those $40,000 bail fees aren’t going to pay for themselves.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Scot Weiland is shown looking rough at the All-Star Gala benefiting the AROD Family Foundation on 1/19/08, thanks to Splash News.

He’s been called the Jim Morrison of a new generation, but Scott Weiland’s bandmates in Velvet Revolver consider him a giant pain in the ass. The supergroup, made up of members of Guns N’ Roses and Stone Temple Pilots, has been more than patient with the temperamental front man, even during his well publicized fall off the wagon and rehab stint last year. But when Scott started slamming band members in the media after their recent European tour, and expressing interest in getting back together with newly formed version of Stone Temple Pilots, the rest of Velvet Revolver decided that enough was enough.

The announcement came in a terse statement from the group’s management company as Weiland, 40, and his recently reunited original band, Stone Temple Pilots, were set next week to announce plans for a highly anticipated summer tour.

The Pilots, also known by their acronym, STP, already have confirmed a handful of upcoming dates, beginning with the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio, on May 17-18.

For Weiland, whose career has long been overshadowed by heroin addiction, Rock on the Range will mark his first show with STP since the band played 13 concerts to promote its last album of new material, 2001’s Shangri-La Dee Da.

Following the breakup of STP, Weiland was welcomed as lead singer for Velvet Revolver, the newly formed grunge rock band founded by three former members of Guns N’ Roses - guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum - along with second guitarist Dave Kushner.

Velvet Revolver was confronted from the start with Weiland’s drug and legal problems as it juggled performance schedules, recording sessions and promotional work to accommodate his court dates and rehab.

Last month, Weiland pleaded innocent to a charge of driving under the influence of drugs stemming from his arrest on a Los Angeles freeway ramp in November.

He is free on $US40,000 bail and is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on Friday.

A public feud between Weiland and Velvet Revolver’s drummer already had cast doubt on the band’s future when the statement on behalf of Sorum, Slash, McKagan and Kushner was issued under the headline “Velvet Revolver to Part Ways with Singer”.

“This band is all about its fans and its music, and Scott Weiland isn’t 100 per cent committed to either,” Slash was quoted as saying.

“Among other things, his increasingly erratic on-stage behaviour and personal problems have forced us to move on.”

[From Stuff.nz]

Well, I say good riddance. I’ve always thought Weiland was overrated, and definitely the weakest link in every band he’s been in. The question now is, will Velvet Revolver continue without him- and who will replace him? There’s been speculation that Axl Rose will rejoin the fold, thus reuniting the original lineup of Guns N’ Roses (without Traci Guns), but given the animosity between Axl and guitarist Slash, there is no way that’s gonna happen. My vote for the new frontman is former Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell. THAT would be a supergroup.