Eagles legend flying solo!

EAGLES legend and "Hotel California" hit-maker Don Felder is flying solo again.

Felder's highly anticipated fourth solo album, "The Vault (Fifty Years of Music)" is just out, marking a unique milestone in his storied career with a stunning collection of newly-recorded versions of songs originally demoed over a span of five decades.

From the album opener, "Move On," a song from 1974, to "I Like the Things You Do," written in 2023, the 11-track Vault offers a comprehensive look at Felder's rich musical history.

The album' s title reflects this expansive journey through time, blending timeless rock anthems with heartfelt ballads in a way that only Felder can.

The singer/songwriter is joined by true rock royalties and friends including David Paich, Steve Lukather, Joseph "Joe" Williams, and Greg Phillinganes of Toto, renowned drummers such as Greg Bissonette, Brian Tichy, Todd Sucherman, plus Timothy Drury, Nathan East, Nina Winter and Lenny Castro, among others.

Their contributions bring a fresh, dynamic energy to the music, enhancing FelderÍs signature sound and bringing new life to the songs.

And the guitar great is keen to take his new recordings on the road, presently touring America and Canada.

Felder was in buoyant mood when I caught up with via Zoom to chat about his new release.

“The sun is shining here in Jacksonville, Florida and it is a beautiful day,” is the greeting from the superstar, who is hours away from stepping on stage for the fourth date of his tour.
It is evident the Eagles legend is still enjoying life in the fast lane, in spite of his 77 years and his latest solo release has the world talking.

“It's nice to chat with someone from the Press from Northern Ireland as we don't do it that often and Northern Ireland and Ireland are places we don't get to play that often either, but who knows,” the musician tells me.

Felder says the new album is going down really well with the international Press, particularly in Japan and Canada.

The Vault release is made up of original demos dating back 50 years to the good old days, when Felder and the other Eagles members were rehearsing and recording songs at the height of their fame in the mid 1970s.

The project — which, as the title suggests, features new songs from old ideas dating back as far as 1974 when he joined Eagles — was inspired as Felder began clearing out his home in Malibu to move to Beverly Hills 25 years ago.

“As we were moving, I recall seeing this big cardboard box containing hundreds of cassettes, 16-track and 24-track tapes and CDs that were all demos.”

He transferred the box to a storage locker and didn’t think about it for another couple of decades years, when he came across it again. This time, he decided to do something about it.

“Most of the demos were just unfinished, rough ideas,” Felder recalls. “We transferred a lot of things we thought were really good to digital and began building the demos into songs. A lot of the ideas were already in my head from the time of the original demos, so it was fun working on them again to see how they would turn out.”

The move was a master stroke and followers of Felder's remarkable career and music lovers alike will find "The Vault" to be an essential addition to their collection. And Eagles and Felder fans will also enjoy experiencing the sound of a musical journey that spans half a century.

But how does the new album compare to his previous releases

"Reshaping the demos was like meeting up with old friends again. They were just demos so it meant having to add the meat to the bones so to speak. You could say it is was unfinished business, but I'm very happy with the songs and their freshness.”
Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, Felder developed an early passion for music after watching Elvis Presley perform on The Ed Sullivan Show.

By the age of 13, he had formed his first band, the Continentals, which included future rock legend Stephen Stills.
Felder refined his guitar skills through dedicated practice and even received slide guitar lessons from Duane Allman, laying the foundation for his signature style.

In 1974, Felder joined the Eagles, helping shift their sound from country-rock to a more guitar-driven rock style. He co-wrote and performed the legendary guitar solo for "Hotel California", one of the most celebrated songs in rock history. His contributions extended to other notable tracks, including "Victim Of Love" and "Those Shoes".

His dual guitar harmonies with Joe Walsh became a defining element of the band's sound.

In recognition of the Eagles' massive influence on rock music, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, with Felder performing alongside his former bandmates at the induction ceremony.

Following his departure from the Eagles in 2001, Felder pursued a solo career and over the years, has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including Stevie Nicks, Barbra Streisand, and Michael Jackson, further solidifying his legacy as a versatile and influential guitarist in rock music.

To coincide with “The Vault's" release, Don Felder has hit the road with a tour that kicked off in South Carolina at the end of May and will run to the end of August.

He described the tour as going remarkably well and Don Felder has good company in the form of support from Styx and the Kevin Cronin Band (formerly REO Speedwagon) for Felder’s Brotherhood of Rock Tour.

“They are supporting me and more importantly they are very close friends of mine which makes touring even more fun.”
Don Felder has included one of “the”The Vault’s” new tracks on his tour set list. “'I love the things you do' has been introduced to my set. The studio version is great and the live version is also going down a treat with audiences.”

Expanding the tour to Europe or even Ireland is not on the radar at the minute, but the singer/songwriter wouldn't rule out such a tour in the future. As they say, never say never.

No interview with the Eagles great would be complete without a reference to the iconic “Hotel California” and I mention to Felder that a music teacher friend, Mervyn Braiden, has a school class which plans to perform the Eagles hit at an end-of-term school concert this month. The school is Killicomaine Junior High School in Portadown.

Asked for any tips for the aspiring young school musicians, Felder says: “I would just say practice and practice! 'Hotel California' is a most demanding song to play and sing live. Everybody coming to my shows knows every note on the solo part and everyone expects every note to be perfect as on the record.

“But my advice to the junior high school students is to practice.”

And he admitted: “Before I go on stage at each of my shows, I spend time backstage practising the solo part on 'Hotel California', perhaps two or three times. I have to get it right each night I perform, so even after all these years I still feel the pressure as well as the privilege of playing 'Hotel California'. But I enjoy it just as much as the audiences... still.”

And he confided: “As for the future, I still have many songs which I am working on including one in particular, which was a demo during the Eagles 'The Long Run' album which was a follow up to 'Hotel California'. It was a basic track written by me with Joe (Walsh) in mind for another guitar-driven duet, but, alas, I never got time to finish it all those years ago....but it is still a work in progress.”

A 'Hotel California' follow-up after 50 years would be quite something for Felder and Eagles fans. Watch this space!
And the famous former Eagles lead guitarist left me with this thought: “'Hotel California' is just one of those songs you can check out any time you like.. but you can never leave.”

“THE VAULT - FIFTY YEARS OF MUSIC” by DON FELDER is released via Frontiers Music SRL.