Does DUFF MCKAGAN Feel Underrated As A Bass Player?

In a brand new interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, GUNS N' ROSES' Duff McKagan was asked if he ever feels underrated as a bass player. He responded (hear audio below): "I don't know where I'm rated. I don't pay attention to that. I'm really so just all into my craft. It's not a contest. I try to play the best…

"Any musician in any band — for a really good band — you know your part in the band," he continued. "If you're a drummer, be the best drummer you can be. If you're a bass player, make yourself as valuable as you can to that band. If you're a rhythm guitar player, lead guitar player, singer…

"I didn't start off as a bass player, and GUNS was the first band I really, like, 'Oh, I'm gonna be a bass player. This is what I'm gonna do,'" he added. "And I really dove into it head first. And [I] listened to Prince, I listened to John Paul Jones, I listened to Paul Simonon from THE CLASH and Lemmy, and KILLING JOKE — all these cool, different bands that really inspired my bass playing. And I just kind of took it from there."

Duff 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.

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.