Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators is a rock supergroup formed in the early 2010s, responsible for concentrating most of the solo career of the iconic Guns N' Roses . But how SMKC come about?
From the start of their career under this name, the supergroup gained fans worldwide, going beyond the previous fame of its members, all already known in the rock 'n' roll circuit from other projects: vocalist Myles Kennedy came from Alter Bridge , while Todd Kerns (bass), Brent Fitz (drums), and later Frank Sidoris (guitar) already had their own bands and shared the stage with other icons before partnering with Slash.
Under the name Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, the supergroup has a discography with four studio albums released to date: Apocalyptic Love (2012), World on Fire (2014), Living in the Dream (2018), and 4 (2022). With over a decade on the road, SMKC has toured Brazil extensively and will return to the country between January and February 2023 for shows in Belo Horizonte (January 29th), São Paulo (January 31st), Rio de Janeiro (February 1st), and Porto Alegre (February 4th). Tickets are on sale at the Eventim . Find all the details here .
Slash and Myles Kennedy: how did the partnership begin?
After the end of Velvet Revolver , Slash's band with Duff McKagan and Scott Weiland , Slash began a solo career with the release of a self-titled album in 2010. The album features a series of guest vocalists, from Ozzy Osbourne to Fergie, but two songs were still without a vocalist: "Starlight" and "Back From Cali".
That's when fate put Myles Kennedy on the radar. At that time, the vocalist was invited to take over vocals in a possible Led Zeppelin reunion that, later, never happened. “I had heard a lot about Myles for years, but I had never met him, and I wasn't really familiar with his voice. I said, 'Well, maybe this guy, because he must be good. If Jimmy [Page] called him, he must be really good.' So, I called him without warning…”, he told Loudwire .
After being surprised by Myles Kennedy's "amazingly awesome" voice, Slash decided to invite the singer to tour with him to promote his first solo project. Despite his responsibilities with Alter Bridge, the singer agreed, and the partnership that was established there continues to this day.
Even after a decade of partnership, Kennedy said he's still fascinated by the fact that he works alongside Slash. "There are these moments when you realize, like, 'How did all this happen? This is incredible,'" he told the Talkin' Rock With Meltdown , transcribed by Ultimate Guitar .
The Conspirators: Who's in Slash's band?
The band, called The Conspirators, consists of Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass), and Frank Sidoris (guitar), who have accompanied Slash and Myles Kennedy on tours and albums since Apocalyptic Love .
When he decided to tour with his first solo album, Slash assembled a band to accompany him on the shows. Initially, he was to be accompanied by Bobby Schneck (rhythm guitar), Henning Dave (bass), and Brent Fitz (drums), but he realized that the guitarist and bassist "weren't right" for the project. It wasn't long before Todd Kerns secured a position on bass, and on the following tour, Frank Sidoris officially joined the group.
