Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder still knows how to fly

Get busy doing whatever "lights you up," Don Felder encourages fans on his latest album.

"That's exactly what I'm doing,“ Felder said. ”Writing, recording, playing and touring.“

Speaking by phone from his home in California, the former guitarist for the Eagles said he's anxious for people to hear the songs off his guitar-powered "American Rock & Roll" album, released in 2019. On Monday, Feb. 10, Felder will come to Wilmington for a show at Cape Fear Community College‘s Wilson Center.

Last year, Guitar Player magazine hailed "American Rock & Roll" as "the biggest guitar album of the year" in a cover story. It didn't hurt that Felder enlisted a Who's Who of fellow guitar aces as guest contributors, including Sammy Hagar, Slash, Richie Sambora, Orianthi, Peter Frampton, Joe Satriani, Bob Weir and Alex Lifeson.

"On the previous album, I played every guitar," Felder said. "It came out really great, but when I look back, I realize the one thing it's missing is that spontaneous enthusiasm and fire that comes with sitting in a control room with a musician -- maybe one you've never met, maybe one you've known for years -- and having no idea what you're about to create together.

"It was fun, exciting and a different energy. I mean Joe Satriani has some of the greatest guitar and rock chops alive. He pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was like, 'You mean I gotta follow that?' But then I'd come up with something, and he'd have to follow it. Then I'd have to follow up that."

Sometimes, before he plays the Satriani collaboration, "Rock You," in concert, Felder addresses the crowd.

"I give him a tip of the hat and say this is one of the most challenging things I've ever had to do, cop and mimic Joe Satriani and myself on the same song," Felder said.

Still, Felder's got a top-flight band on stage with him.

His bassist played with Richard Marx and Kenny Loggins, his drummer with Pat Benatar, and the keyboardist toured with Whitesnake and was with the Eagles for their 1994 Hell Freezes Over Tour.

"And I've got this young guitar player, David Myhre, who's on fire. He's played with Kid Rock, Kenny Chesney and Tanya Tucker,“ Felder said. ”Everybody in the band sings. It's high-caliber music. We're not your normal bar band by any means. Some of the Eagles songs we do from the early '70s sound better than when the original band plays them."

Felder, a Gainesville Fla., native, joined the Eagles in 1974, bringing a potent guitar sound that helped the band transition from its country-rock roots to a straight-up rock sound. When guitar ace Joe Walsh joined the Eagles in 1975, the band had an enviable one-two punch.

By that time, founding member Bernie Leadon had left the Eagles, but he first gave Felder advice on how to co-write a song with the band's two famous lyricists, Glenn Frey and Don Henley. Felder heeded that advice, and goes down in history as the guy who co-wrote the Eagles' epic "Hotel California" and one of the band's fiercest guitar-driven hits, "Victim of Love."

"Bernie Leadon said if you want to write with Don Henley and Glenn, don't write melodies, don't write the harmonies. Just write a musical bed and leave room for them to write a song on top of it. I had a demo, and I gave the cassette to Henley and Glenn, and they liked the tracks that became 'Victim of Love' and ‘Mexican Reggae,’ which is what ‘Hotel California" started out as," Felder said. "I should go back and listen to the rest of that cassette and see what else is on it."

Both of those Eagles classics, and several others, routinely turn up in Felder's concert sets.

Fans can count on him singing "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)," his theme song from the 1981 animated movie "Heavy Metal." Felder was an intriguing choice for that assignment since his style isn't heavy metal, but rock fans loved his riffs and the song became an FM radio hit.

"The director called me in to take a look at the film first,“ Felde said. ”I had no idea what to expect. It was, I initially thought, this bizarre, animated, adult movie aimed at stoners. I figured it would either be a huge hit or a huge flop, but I'll roll the dice. I came up with the concept for the song on the drive home and immediately went into the studio to work on it."

All these years later, he's still often recording in his California home studio, whenever he's not back on the road.

"I tried retiring once, when I was 52," Felder said. "I spent 10 days on the golf course nonstop. But after chasing the little white ball around for 10 days, I thought, I can't do this anymore. I have to do what lights me up and turns me on.

"I don't have to make another dime," he added. "I'm just doing it because I love to play."

Who:Don Felder, formerly of The Eagles

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10

Where: CFCC Wilson Center, 703 N. Third St., Wilmington

Info: Tickets are $47-$114, plus taxes and fees.

Details: 910-362-7999 or WilsonCenterTickets.com

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