Tommy Stinson has truly had the kind of career most aspiring musicians only ever dream about (and as one of the many bassists he’s influenced over the decades, I’m speaking from experience). In the early ’80s, he was a founding member of pioneering indie rockers The Replacements, a band that remains a personal favorite of mine to this very day. After their dissolution in the early ’90s, he briefly formed the alternative bands Bash & Pop and Perfect, before joining Guns N’ Roses (another personal fav of yours truly’s) in 1998, stepping in for departed bassist Duff McKagan – a role he occupied until McKagan’s eventual return to the band in 2016.
And if all that wasn’t enough, he’s also done time with ’90s rockers Soul Asylum, and in more recent years, he’s kept busy with semi-recent reunions of both The Replacements, and Bash & Pop, as well as released the occasional solo material. Stinson also has yet another new project called Cowboys in the Campfire that he’s working on, and next month will be embarking on a solo tour with The Lemonheads. Last week, I was able to actually catch up with Stinson over the phone while at his New York home regarding the upcoming tour, where we discussed his many past, present, and future endeavors.
I immediately asked Stinson if he had played with The Lemonheads prior to said upcoming tour, to which he said; “First time playing solo shows with them, yeah, but I did some shows with them when I was playing bass with Soul Asylum for awhile, maybe 10 years ago or so.” Tommy also says fans can expect to hear a little of everything on these shows; “I’ll probably lean a little more on my solo records and Bash & Pop stuff. I might even include some of my new stuff I’m working on with Cowboys in the Campfire, so a little bit of everything.”
As far as what songs Tommy still enjoys playing live, he tells me he’s really excited to get some of these new Cowboys in the Campfire songs out there. He also says, “A lot of the Bash & Pop stuff really translates well with an acoustic. There’s always “Friday Night (Is Killing Me)” and “Nothing” from that first album, those are always fun to play, and I can usually get a rise out of people and myself with them.”
I also had to ask what it was like being a part of the long-delayed 2008 Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy, one of the most talked about (and expensive) rock records ever made, to which he said; “You know, I have a few favorite moments on that record, I suppose one of them would be “There Was a Time.” It got to the point where we were rehashing things so much, and then they kind of went to the meat grinder and they sound like they sound now. It would be cool if one day it actually came out in a more raw form without all of the bells and whistles that were kind of heaped on top of it, you know?”
We ended our conversation on what’s in store for Tommy in the near future, to which he said; “With a little luck, I’ll be finishing up this Cowboys in the Campfire record, and after that hopefully starting to work on a new Bash & Pop album, probably by the end of the summer.” I also asked if there were any hopes at all of seeing another Replacements reunion after their last run ended in 2015; “I don’t really know if there’s any need or want for it anymore after we did that last bit. I haven’t really talked to Paul (Westerburg) in awhile and I’m not sure what he’s thinking right now. Never say never, but it looks like that last run might have been the last one.”
At the time of this writing, the closest Tommy will be coming to Florida on this upcoming tour with The Lemonheads is Atlanta, but you can keep up to date on tour dates, and everything else Tommy is up to at http://www.tommystinson.com, and via social media.
-J.S.
