DUFF MCKAGAN Talks About Inspiration For 'Tenderness' Solo Album (Video)

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan will release his new solo album, "Tenderness", on May 31. The disc sees McKagan reflecting on his experiences traveling the globe over two and a half years on GUNS N' ROSES' "Not In This Lifetime" tour. Encountering heartbreak, anger, fear, confusion and divide on his travels during this tumultuous time in our world history, McKagan channeled a collective hurt into songs of monolithic power.

A two-and-a-half-minute video about the inspiration for "Tenderness" and the making of the album can be seen below.

"We're becoming divided at a time when we need each other most," McKagan previously said. "When huge industries get replaced because of modernization, it's time to retrain and bolster up those who get swept aside. Homelessness and drug addiction are avoidable in this country if we come together and get private and public cogs turning together in a positive direction. We can at least try to tackle mental illness while we're at it. But alas, we stump and lie, point fingers and divide. We're way better than this. As a father, I must say and do something now because I love my girls and my wife, and I love my country, and I feel I must be strong and use my voice now, do it while I'm able or perhaps never get a chance ever again."

McKagan and producer Shooter Jennings began recording "Tenderness" more than a year ago, working out of Station House studios, located in Echo Park, California, where they wrote and recorded in-between McKagan's tour with seminal rock band GUNS N' ROSES and the release of Jennings's eponymous album, "Shooter". "Tenderness" features Jennings and his band along with appearances by The Waters and The Suicide Horn Section (which features Duff's brother Matt McKagan on trombone),amongst others.

More than a year later, they're gearing up to take these songs on the road for a North American tour that kicks off May 30 at TLA in Philadelphia.

McKagan told Billboard about the musical direction of "Tenderness": "I've been dabbling with this kind of songwriting for the last 20 years. I'm good friends with guys like Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli, and both of those guys have influenced me tremendously. The thing is right now we have this huge rock band going [with GUNS], so I don't feel the need to peel off a rock record right now. It is the perfect time for me to do a record of whatever the fuck I want. I mean, I could have done it at any time. I've done a bunch of cool stuff in the past like WALKING PAPERS and the NEUROTIC OUTSIDERS, but it was more like aggressive punk rock. For this one, though, I really took my time with Shooter to get the right arrangements and the right instrumentation. It didn't have to be perfect. I didn't want any part of this record to be perfect; I wanted it to be real."