DUFF McKAGAN (ex-GUNS N' ROSES / VELVET REVOLVER) is the new bass player for JANE'S ADDICTION. A portion of his blog for Seattle Weekly, posted earlier today, reads as follows:

"?Never before have I been in a situation where I had to play bass lines written by someone else for a whole set. It is a challenge for sure, and an eye-opening experience as far as pushing my style in a different direction.

On June 9th and 11th, I will be playing two European shows with Jane's Addiction. These gigs come at a time when we have been writing new songs for a while, and it's a chance to get outside the studio and sort of shake off the dust. But first I had to learn some of their old catalogue.

In all the bands I've been in, we have always done covers of other artists. GN'R did DYLAN's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' and 'Mama Kin' by AEROSMITH. NEUROTIC OUTSIDERS did 'New Rose' by THE DAMNED; VR did 'Surrender' by CHEAP TRICK and 'Wish You Were Here' by PINK FLOYD. And LOADED has done everything from 'TNT' by AC/DC to 'Purple Rain' by PRINCE. But all these covers were played by bands I had already been playing with for some time. They were simply our interpretations of these songs... good or bad.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was in the Jane's rehearsal room going through a set of JA classics, I found myself feeling really uncomfortable and unsettled. I couldn't figure it out. Was my bass rig not sounding right? Could I not hear Steven Perkins' bass drum well enough? Was I playing in the right groove and at the right volume? These are not things one should be thinking while playing. You should be in the moment and let things flow. And suddenly it dawned on me: I was playing bass parts for a whole set of songs that were written by someone else WITH the band that had recorded them. Oh... this is new!

JA's founding bassist, Eric Avery, was always a guy whom I very much respected as a bass player. Back in the mid-'80s club days in L.A., I remember going to see JA just to watch Avery and Perkins. The way they interwove rhythm was ridiculous, and a bit groundbreaking. For some reason over the years, he and I never actually met. This added to his mystique for me. So now as I am playing some of those bass lines, I feel the pressure that I perceive is probably out there. You know: Everyone will be looking at ME to see how I play those beloved bass lines, an integral part of the JA sound."

To read the rest of Duff's article, click here.