Courtney Devores from The Charlotte Observer conducted a Q&A; with legendary guitarist SLASH (VELVET REVOLVER, ex-GUNS N' ROSES) recently. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

The Charlotte Observer: For so long you were the guy behind the guitar, the hat or hair. Has social media let more of your personality or sense of humor out?

Slash: "I don't know. I don't really have an idea as to what I'm supposed to be from any kind of real perspective. People develop their own idea. The cool thing about Twitter or Facebook was it's given me a chance to reach out to anybody who is interested as opposed to having to issue press releases.... or leaking stuff out to reliable sources. It puts you more in control of your own promotion or just to be more square with fans in general."

The Charlotte Observer: Your experience with notorious singers is well known. Is personality something you consider?

Slash: "Beggars can't be choosers. The first most important thing is to find individuals who are musically capable and then you have to take into account whatever their personality is.... It's something you need to accept within reason if they play the way you want them to play. A lot of musicians are crazy and that's what makes them great musicians."

The Charlotte Observer: The 'Sweet Child O' Mine' solo seems to be one of the most botched on the cover band circuit. Do you think it's that difficult?

Slash: "When I do Guns’ songs in the set I do most of the solos live the way I recorded them. They were spontaneous then…. to make it sound exactly like the record it’s easy to screw it up."

Read the entire interview here.