Back in the Saddle: Shiflett Returns to SOhO

Guitarist Chris Shiflett grew up on Santa Barbara’s Eastside just a short walk from the Santa Barbara Bowl, the local amphitheater he would eventually play with as the lead guitarist in Foo Fighters. But back in the ‘70s and ‘80s it was the bar scene and house parties for Shiflett, who went to the junior high and high schools that were right down the street, then skipped town to play in the Bay Area punk band No Use for a Name and others before enlisting in the Fighters back in 1999. 

Now, he’s become something of a regular in town once again, and not just with the Foo, who did a short-notice gig at the Bowl in September on the heels of a 15th Grammy Award. Rather, Shiflett has set up annual dates at SOhO for his “Hometown Holiday Hoedown,” a night for him to showcase his country-inflected solo material and hang with some old buddies and musical colleagues. 

We caught up with Shiflett via phone from his L.A. home over the weekend. 

Q. How did growing up in Santa Barbara influence your music, your approach, and your sound? 

A. When I first started playing guitar in bands in junior high and high school in the ‘80s, there was just a great music scene. There were lots of places to play, all these bars around town and parties, and bands that played funk, rock, and heavy metal and thrash metal, what they called ‘college rock.’ It seemed like everybody I was friends with had a band. Santa Barbara isn’t that big of a town, so all the bands would play together – four bands on a bill at the Red Barn. So without a doubt, that had a huge impact on just being able to develop as a guitar player. 

I’ve never heard of the Red Barn. 

Oh man, it was literally this little red barn structure out in Isla Vista. You could rent it for the night from the city and somebody would come unlock it. The power would stay on until there was a curfew and then it would just shut off. And literally every show you ever went to out there, that’s what would happen to the last band. 

Your last several solo records have songs that are autobiographical and refer to growing up here. So I imagine it’s still with you.

Oh yeah. That period of my life just continues to be a source of inspiration. There’s just so many great stories from those days, and Santa Barbara was such a great place to grow up in that time period, just kind of a wild time in California. So there’s just no shortage of inspiration and material there for me. 

You started out in rock-pop bands, did punk with No Use for a Name and now, of course, post-grunge hard rock with Foo Fighters. But your solo albums have a strong alt.country flavor. Where’d that come from?

It’s just an evolution over time. That’s where my taste went, but it’s hard to exactly pinpoint. There’s so much overlap between rock and roll and country music, but definitely in the mid-’90s with Son Volt and Wilco was the jumping off point. It comes out in my songwriting for my solo records. 

Your new one, Lost At Sea, mostly eschews the pedal steel for more guitars. What was the concept behind the album?

There wasn’t one. The initial impetus was I wanted to record some music with my friend Jaren Johnston from Cadillac Three. I had written a bunch of songs during the lockdown, and it was time to go make another record. We chipped away at it over the course of about a year because we were both touring all the time. There was no concept, and no rules. There are a whole bunch of great guitarists playing on it. But I never set out to make a country record or a rock record or a punk rock record anything. We just kind of record the songs and the instrumentation fits whatever the song is. You’ve just got to put your music out, and it’s up to other people how they interpret it. 

I’ve got to ask you about “Dead and Gone.” Where did that come from?

When I wrote that song in 2020, there were two back-to-back guys that passed away up in Santa Barbara that I knew from back in the day. I was reflecting on that and it’s a long list. Tonally, there’s a Johnny Cash song where he plays down how heartbroken you are by saying, “Now you’re dead and gone and I don’t have time to mourn, when really you’re hurting inside.” That’s what I was going for.

What prompted you to start the Hometown Holiday Hoedown in 2021 after all those years away?

There’s always so many people back in town around the holidays visiting family, so it’s always been a good time to get together and see my old friends. I’d actually done a little acoustic show with some friends out at my friend’s bar in Goleta the year before, which was really fun. So I thought it would be cool to turn it into an annual gig to have something to anchor me to Santa Barbara every Christmas season. It’s a good excuse to be back up at home during the holidays… Even though I’ve lived elsewhere far longer than the years that I spent in Santa Barbara, I still think of it as home no matter what. 

And it’s still your friends that you’re playing with at SOhO.

Yeah, and every year I’ve gotten different people. We have a really solid lineup this year. Tom Curren, Santa Barbara surf legend and musician, is on the first night with Jim Lindberg, the singer for Pennywise, who is doing his solo acoustic thing. The second night, my buddies who have a bluegrass band called Gandy Dancer are opening, and then it’s Joey Cape, the singer of Lagwagon, who’s one of my oldest friends from town. I’m playing with my lean, mean, three-piece with bass and drum. Both nights are going to be a little bit each of punk rock, singer-songwriter, bluegrass and country rock. We’re going to do a Hank Williams Jr. song at the end of the night, so hopefully we can drag everybody else up there. It’s going to be really fun. 

Chris Shiflett’s Hometown Holiday Hoedown shows take place December 22-23 at SOhO. Tickets cost $25-$40. Info at (805) 962-7776 or www.sohosb.com.