Guns N’ Roses keyboardist Dizzy Reed has served more time in the “world’s most dangerous rock & roll band” than anyone besides frontman Axl Rose. Between that and his Sunset Strip jam band Hookers & Blow, he’s a busy man and now he’s added a third project: the Southern rock flavored Dixie Rebels. We chatted prior to the band’s first ever show, at the Whisky…

L.A. WEEKLY: So how did you get hooked up with this band, The Dixie Rebels?

DIZZY REED: One night, somewhere, some-while ago, my good friend Mark Zevon and I got talking about some of the great music that came out of the South in ’60s and ’70s and how great it would be to play some of that music for the good folks in Hollywood.

Are you a long-time fan of Southern rock/alt-country?

In Colorado in the ’70s, it was part of the overall rock & roll infrastructure, on the radio all the time. When I started playing in bars as a teenager, you could not get a gig if Freebird wasn’t in your set list. I really learned a lot about how to play my instrument by listening to those songs. And all of those bands would always come through Denver on tour so I got to see a lot of them growing up.

When you’re not doing Gn’R, is it important to do something completely different, as an artist?

I like to stay busy, it’s not good to get complacent but only so long as it doesn’t interfere with commitments and responsibilities. I get to play rock music for a living. Pretty awesome.

What can we expect from the Whisky set?

It’s our first gig. I’m not sure, come find out with us!

What else is coming up this year, both for this band and you?

Hopefully the D Rebs will do some more gigs in the future, we’ll see how it goes. Besides that, we just finished recording the surprisingly satisfying Hookers & Blow record and I’ve been quietly tracking songs for my next solo album. Gn’R is up next full steam ahead!!

The Dixie Rebels play at 8 p.m. on Thursday, September 5 at the Whisky A Go Go.

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