When I share photos with guests who join my Airbnb Experience, \u201cThe Sunset Strip: Stories With a Music Journalist,\u201d<\/a> the first one I show is a shot of me with Dizzy Reed<\/a> outside the Whisky in 1989. It was taken a few months before Reed joined Guns N\u2019 Roses as their keyboard player, a role he has held for 35 years and one that makes him the band\u2019s longest-serving member after its figurehead, Axl Rose.<\/p>\n In those long-ago days, Reed was one of the Strip\u2019s hair metal hopefuls, a regular at the neighborhood\u2019s iconic clubs with his band, the Wild. Our friendship extended beyond nightlife into the \u201cnormal\u201d daytime activities, as I recount in this story<\/a> when we reconnected in 2016 after a 27-year hiatus.<\/p>\n At that time, Reed had already finished his first solo album, Rock \u2018N Roll Ain\u2019t Easy<\/em>, which had been in the works for eight years, though it would take another two before it came out. Its follow-up, Rock \u2018N Roll Chose Me<\/em>, was completed soon after with co-producer Jason Achilles Mezilis<\/a>, but that record also took a few years to surface. It finally appeared this August as a limited-edition package featuring an orange LP, autographed sleeve, collectible poster, and custom bumper sticker, with the streaming version following in September.<\/p>\n Rock \u2018N Roll Chose Me<\/em> is a musically joyful album with an unforced feel that shrugs off the impulse to \u201crawk\u201d at every turn. It marks a shift from Rock \u2018N Roll Ain\u2019t Easy<\/em>, which featured members of Guns N\u2019 Roses. Says Reed, \u201cFor this record, I removed any restrictions and tried to do what I want to do. Then, if it needed it, I brought in some guys to round it out with some killer guitar stuff. It\u2019s still me singing, and it\u2019s still based on the rootsy stuff I\u2019m into. Keyboard-wise, I wanted to add a lot of ear candy.\u201d<\/p>\n This approach softens some of the album\u2019s more sensitive themes, particularly the mental health struggles Reed shares with his daughter Shade. She and his wife, Nadja, join him on \u201cMy Wounds Don\u2019t Bleed,\u201d a track Shade partly wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it\u2019s time to talk about my mental illness, while also throwing in the view of someone who doesn\u2019t, but supports someone who does,\u201d he says. \u201cShade came over and goes, \u2018I have poetry. It could be lyrics.\u2019 She handed it to me, and it was really baring her soul about the issues she has. It was the last song we recorded, and it was hard to get through because it was all these emotions and feelings about things I buried.<\/p>\n \u201cI came from a time where mental illness and depression was something you just dealt with. Most people wouldn\u2019t recognize it. You bury it, you move on, and you try to be strong. I got to the point where I couldn\u2019t do that anymore. I needed to seek out help, and I did. Shade, luckily her mom and I, we recognized it early on. With kids, it\u2019s important that they get that help. I wanted to make people aware.\u201d<\/p>\n
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