RON 'BUMBLEFOOT' THAL Shares Music Video For 'Moonshine Hootenanny' From 'Bumblefoot ...Returns!' Album

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has released the official music video for the song "Moonshine Hootenanny". The track is taken from his latest instrumental album, "Bumblefoot ...Returns!", which came out in January 2025. Thirty years after his debut solo instrumental album, Bumblefoot revisited his roots with a 14-track masterpiece that spans genres from metal to orchestral to blues.

The album's opening track, "Simon In Space", served as its first single, delivering an electrifying ride through chaos and intensity. In addition to the single, an animated music video created by Bumblefoot and animator Radek Grabinski was maade available, as well as a retro-inspired video game.

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" featured collaborations with iconic musicians, including Brian May, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Derek Sherinian, Jerry Gaskill and others, showcasing Bumblefoot's innovative guitar techniques, such as his signature fretless guitar and "thimble technique."

On the album, Bumblefoot shared: "It's been 30 years since releasing the debut 'Adventures Of Bumblefoot' on Shrapnel Records, and I haven't done a fully instrumental album since. Writing during the pandemic, these songs became a soundtrack to my life — from heavy fretless growls to bluesy tributes to legends like Lonnie Johnson. It's a reflection of the moments that shaped me."

He added: "Working on WHOM GODS DESTROY's album inspired growling heavy fretless parts like 'Simon In Space'. Watching a blues documentary inspired 'Moonshine Hootenanny'. Losing loved ones led to writing 'Funeral March'. Songs become a soundtrack to our lives."

In an interview Decibel, Bumblefoot stated about his decision to make another instrumental album: "My pursuits from the beginning were as a singer, songwriter, guitarist, founding bandmember, doing our own music. I wasn't looking to be an instrumental guitarist. I signed a record deal in the mid-'90s to do music with vocals, but they asked me to do an instrumental album to start things off. I did 'The Adventures Of Bumblefoot' album [1995], which opened the door to doing video game soundtracks, TV and film music. After that I went back on the path, proggy, quirky hard rock with vocals, and over the decades released albums that would have some instrumental songs, but more in the way a VAN HALEN album would have some between the vocal songs. Since the last Bumblefoot album, I did the first ART OF ANARCHY album in 2015 with Scott Weiland, another in 2017 with Scott Stapp, SONS OF APOLLO's debut that same year, the live SONS OF APOLLO album/video in 2019, an instrumental single that year, released the next SOA album in 2020, while touring and producing bands every moment in-between, including fronting the band ASIA. Then the 2020 lockdown hit, and there was suddenly time, lots of it. I often thought, 'Someday when there's time, I'd like to do another instrumental album like the first 'Adventures' one, another lounge-metal album like 'Uncool' (2002),another acoustic EP like 'Barefoot' (2008).

"During the lockdown I put out an instrumental single, 'Planetary Lockdown', did two acoustic 'Barefoot 2' and '3' EPs, was busy in the studio every day mixing people's songs and albums, laying guest solos, doing online teaching, lots of the things I had missed doing while touring so much. And then got the itch to do another fully instrumental album, and started writing and demoing ideas… It was the gift of time that made it possible, being forced off the touring 'hamster wheel' and having focus and momentum being in the studio every day."

Regarding what had changed about his approach to writing and playing music in the decade after his previous solo album, Bumblefoot said: "In the past ten years there's been lots of collaborating in bands, where I've been a contributing songwriter, co-writer, guitarist, producer, mixing the albums… Now getting back to doing another full album of my own, the big difference I'm feeling is based on now having the guitar as the voice of the song, which allows more possibilities for the melody, more range, different tones. Singing has limits with all of that, you have just one voice, although you also have words to tell the story.

"The previous album, 'Little Brother Is Watching' [2015] was all vocal songs, and having the same voice on the songs makes the overall direction feel more focused. With instrumental music, I tend to get more experimental and every song tends to have more of its own identity. And the guitar lines aren't limited to solo sections; there's a whole song where the guitar gets to do it all, make singable lines, experimental sounds…"

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" track listing:

01. Simon In Space
02. Planetary Lockdown
03. Moonshine Hootenanny
04. Chopin Waltz Op64 No2
05. Monstruoso (featuring Steve Vai)
06. Monstruoso II – Departure
07. Cintaku
08. Once in Forever (featuring Brian May)
09. Andalusia
10. Anveshana (featuring Guthrie Govan)
11. Funeral March (featuring Ben Karas)
12. Griggstown Crossing
13. The Thread
14. Liftoff

Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and appeared on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an effort which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller, moving just around half a million copies.

Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014.

Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career and other projects after spending eight years playing in GUNS.

Thal spent a few years recording and touring with SONS OF APOLLO, which also featured drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20),in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony.

Photo: Andre Tedim