Ex-GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist GILBY CLARKE Announces South American Tour, Including Two Shows With SLASH

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke has announced a string of dates in South America, two of which will be supporting SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS.

Clarke will kick off the tour with his solo band — drummer Troy Patrick Farrell (WHITE LION, TANTRIC) and bassist EJ Curse (SILENT RAGE) — on February 2 at the world-famous Whisky A Go Go with Glenn Hughes.

This will mark the first time in nearly 10 years that Clarke has performed in South America, where Slash joined Gilby on stage in Brazil back in March 2015.

The dates are as follows:

Feb. 07 - Antel Arena - Montevideo, Uruguay (opening for SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS)
Feb. 09 - Yield Rock - Lima, Peru
Feb. 10 - Terravale Tennis Club - Quito, Ecuador (opening for SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS)
Feb. 11 - Ace of Spades - Bogota, Colombia
Feb. 13 - Caupolican - Santiago, Chile
Feb. 15 - Trotamundos Terraza - Quilpue, Chile
Feb. 17 - Teatro Vortrix - Buenos Aires, Argentina

This past November, Clarke underwent surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive stress condition that happens when a person does repeated movements with the hand and wrist.

The 61-year-old Clarke, who was a member of GUNS N' ROSES three decades ago, underwent the procedure under the watchful eye of Dr. Stuart Kuschner, an orthopedist in Los Angeles, California who is affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Clarke wrote on social media: "I was diagnosed with CP [in 2022] after many years of numbness in my fingers, hands & forearm. I thought it was from riding rigid motorcycles & general abuse, but no. it was Carpal Tunnel. I do have it in both hands, but my right was much worse."

Clarke replaced Izzy Stradlin in the GUNS lineup in 1991, during the "Use Your Illusion" tour, and stayed with the band for three years. After exiting GUNS N' ROSES, Clarke continued as a producer and solo artist, while also playing in SLASH'S SNAKEPIT, ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, HEART and other acts.

Clarke, along with fellow GUNS N' ROSES members Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, played three "Appetite For Destruction" songs with Myles Kennedy at the band's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in April 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, although Gilby himself was not inducted as part of the group. Kennedy, who handles lead vocals in Slash's solo band and ALTER BRIDGE, sang "Mr. Brownstone", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City", with "Use Your Illusion"-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on "Brownstone" and the man he replaced in GN'R, Adler, pounding the skins for the other two songs.

In 2021, Clarke addressed his non-participation in GUNS N' ROSES' reunion tour, which features three-fifths of the group's classic lineup — singer Axl Rose, Slash and McKagan — during an interview with "The SDR Show". He said: "They didn't ask me to join the band; they asked me to come out and do [a guest appearance] with the band. And it just happened to be the day that I was in Chicago with my daughter. Her band was playing Lollapalooza [in July 2016]. And I'm actually her roadie. I don't think anybody would know how to tune the guitar if I wasn't there. Just kidding. But, yeah, it was just bad timing. I just said, 'Look, I think it's a great idea. I'm up for it. I just can't do it today.' And they literally asked me that day. And I never heard back from them after I said that."

Gilby also confirmed that he only had a week to learn the entire GUNS catalog when he first joined the band three decades ago. "That's true," he said. "They told me on a Monday, that 'You have the gig,' and the next week we were flying to Boston for our first show. And I literally had a week. And remember, this is before YouTube. I was glued to their records with the headphones on, trying to learn the catalog. And the last song I learned was a song called 'Estranged', which was a really long ballad piece. And if you listen to it, it's kind of one-dimensional guitar-wise — it really just features Slash. So I was listening to it, and I really couldn't figure out what I should do in that song. So I went to Dizzy [Reed, GUNS keyboardist]. I go, 'Hey, man, can you sit down with me, and let's work on 'Estranged'.' I go, 'I just wanna kind of figure it out.' And he goes, 'Oh, well, here's the music book.' And he handed me the music book. And I went, 'There's a music book? I just spent a week learning every note by ear when I could have just grabbed the freakin' music book…' I mean, I read charts — it would have taken me an hour. I was a little pissed off that I didn't ask. They could have offered it to me."

Clarke's latest solo album, "The Gospel Truth", was released in April 2021 via Golden Robot Records.

Gilby released his solo debut, "Pawnshop Guitars", in 1994.