Fifteen years and five albums into one of modern rock’s most enduring collaborations, SLASH FT MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, also known as SMKC, return today with the new single and official music video, “Flying Blind.” The anthemic track is the first taste of a powerful new chapter for the band and serves as the title track from its highly anticipated fifth studio album, FLYING BLIND, arriving worldwide Feb. 26, 2027, via Gibson Records. Pre-order the album here.
Recorded largely live with longtime producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette at Studio Barbarosa in Florida, the 12-track album captures SLASH on guitar and pedal steel, MYLES KENNEDY on vocals, TODD KERNS on bass, BRENT FITZ on drums, and FRANK SIDORIS on rhythm guitar at their most immediate, instinctive, and tightly connected. The band completed the bulk of the record in approximately one week, often recording two songs a day with the musicians performing together in the same room.
“It’s a really fun, kind of spontaneous rock ’n’ roll record,” says SLASH of FLYING BLIND. “It’s very straightforward and down-to-earth and raw.”
Created spontaneously during pre-production, “Flying Blind” began when SLASH introduced a riff as the musicians were preparing to rehearse. The song developed quickly, combining SMKC’s unmistakable hard-rock drive with a soaring melody and immediate hook that ultimately made it the natural choice to introduce the album.
SLASH explains, “Created in the studio while we were standing there in pre-production, a riff came to me and started developing. I had nothing of that song prior to those guys coming in, and then we started up a night of rehearsal and played that riff. It came together really quickly. As for it being the first single, you never know what the first single is going to be until you’ve recorded it. When I started thinking about it, ‘Flying Blind’ just seemed to have the right kind of melodic sensibilities and a hook to make it single material.”
For MYLES KENNEDY, the title track’s lyric examines the shortcuts people sometimes pursue in their search for fulfillment. “I really enjoyed putting a melody to this song,” KENNEDY adds. “The way the chord progression starts in the beginning had a nice flow to it. The lyric is about how sometimes people try to take shortcuts and try to find the easy way to achieve happiness or enlightenment.”
SMKC have also announced the FLYING BLIND WORLD TOUR 2027, an extensive international run launching in Latin America in April before reaching North America on April 23 and continuing through the United Kingdom and Europe. The North American tour includes two nights at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, as well as performances at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Boston’s Citizens House of Blues, Denver’s Fillmore Auditorium, and other landmark venues.
Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators 2027 World Tour Dates
April 2 – Santiago, Chile @ Teatro Caupolican
April 4 – Mendoza, Argentina @ Arena Maipú
April 6 – Cordoba, Argentina @ Plaza de la Música
April 7 – Buenos Aires, Argentina @ Movistar Arena
April 10 – Florianópolis, Brazil @ Arena Opus
April 11 – Curitiba, Brazil @ Live Curitiba
April 13 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Fundição Progresso
April 14 – São Paulo, Brazil @ Espaço Unimed
April 23 – Reno, Nev. @ Grand Theatre at The Grand Sierra Resort
April 24 – Rohnert Park, Calif. @ Graton Resort & Casino
April 26 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern
April 27 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern
April 29 – Del Mar, Calif. @ The Sound
May 1 – Albuquerque, N.M. @ Route 66 Casino
May 2 – Denver, Colo @ Fillmore Auditorium
May 4 – Kansas City, Mo. @The Midland Theatre
May 5 – Des Moines, Iowa @ Val Air Ballroom
May 7 – Windsor, ON @ Caesars Windsor
May 8 – Niagara Falls, ON @ OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
May 10 – Boston, Mass. @ Citizens House of Blues
May 12 – New York, N.Y. @ Beacon Theatre
May 17 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Ryman Auditorium
May 19 – St. Louis, Mo. @ The Factory
May 21 – Norman, Okla. @ Riverwind Casino
May 22 – Tulsa, Okla. @ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
June 7 – Munich, Germany @ Zenith
June 9 – Warsaw, Poland @ Letnia Scena Progresji
June – 10 Nickelsdorf, Austria @ Nova Rock Festival
June – 12 Milan, Italy @ Carroponte
June – 13 Rome, Italy @ Rock In Roma
June – 17 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain @ Azkena Rock Festival
June – 23 Stockholm, Sweden @ Grona Lund
June – 28 Dusseldorf, Germany @ Mitsubishi Electric Halle
June – 30 Cardiff, U.K. @ Cardiff Castle
July 1 – Scarborough, U.K. @ Scarborough Open Air Theatre
July 3 – Dublin, Ireland @ Trinity College
July 4 – Belfast, U.K. @ Custom House Square
July 6 – Halifax, U.K. @ Piece Hall
July 7 – London, U.K. @ Eventim Apollo
July 9 – Weert, Netherlands @ Bospop
July 11 – Vizovice, Czech Republic @ Masters of Rock
July 12 – Zagreb, Croatia @ SRC Salata
July 14 – Budapest, Hungary @ Budapest Park
July 16 – Belgrade, Serbia @ Luka Beograd
July 18 – Athens, Greece @ Lycabettus Theatre
July 22 – Istanbul, Turkey @ Bonus Parkorman
July 25 – Plovdiv, Bulgaria @ Hills Of Rock
July 26 – Ghimbav, Romania @ Rockstadt Extreme Festival
