Getting his start with Guns N’ Roses, Slash is widely considered among the best rock guitarists of all time. These days, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer is broadening his horizons, even joining Chris Stapleton last year for a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well.” And recently, he joined outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings’ son for a tribute to another of the genre’s greats.
Watch Slash Try His Hand at Pedal Steel Guitar
During an April 24 appearance at Desert 5 Spot, a popular rooftop bar in Los Angeles, Slash swapped out his Les Paul for a steel pedal guitar. He has apparently been taking lessons, and it shows. The 59-year-old rocker joined Shooter Jennings for a cover of the Hank Williams Jr. classic “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound.”
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Celebrating the return of Sho-Bud, a well-known name in the pedal steel guitar world, the pedal steel guitar’s “sweet moans” perfectly accentuated Shooter Jennings’ raw vocal performance.
Footage of the performance found its way to YouTube, where listeners delighted in the meeting of outlaw country and hard rock. “2025 Slash playing a slide guitar with Waylon’s son singing a Hank Jr song in a small venue was definitely not on my bingo card,” one YouTube user wrote. (Others quickly corrected them: steel pedal, not slide guitar.)
Another added, “This is one of those moments where you can say ‘my life is complete now.’”
[RELATED: 5 Albums You Didn’t Know Shooter Jennings Produced]
“There Are So Many Nuances To It”
Speaking with Music Radar last year, Slash admitted that his otherworldly guitar skills did not automatically translate to the world of steel pedal. “It’s something that you have to practice all the f—ing time,” the British-American rocker said.
Slash began learning the instrument in 2022 following his tour with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. In May 2024, he revealed that he was committing “two to three hours a day, no matter what” to his lessons.
“There are so many nuances to it,” he said, adding, “I’ve been at it for two years, and I’ve only scratched the surface with this thing, but I f—ing love it. It’s a great instrument.”
Despite his time-consuming efforts, Slash said he had no “professional aspirations” for the steel pedal guitar. Instead, he is simply enjoying practicing his craft for it own sake.
“It’s not something I’m doing because I want to put out a pedal steel record,” the guitarist said. “It’s just really for my own personal enjoyment.”
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