![Green Day Rig Rundown [2024]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/youtube.jpg?id=53614011&width=1200&height=800&quality=85&coordinates=145%2C0%2C55%2C0)
This year marks two huge anniversaries for Green Day. They defined an entire era of pop-punk with their 1994 major-label debut, Dookie, then did it all over again 10 years later with the punk-rock-opera American Idiot. This year, Idiot turns 20; Dookie is 30.
To celebrate the milestones, Green Day has been blasting through stadiums across North America playing both albums in full, back-to-back, with a few odds and ends from their 30-plus years together, plus choice hits from their 2024 record, Saviors. Itâs a ton of ground to coverâespecially considering each epoch seems to have different and defining sonic characteristics. The guitar and bass tones on Dookie alone are the subject of amp mods, guitar pedals, and signature guitars.
At the bandâs Nashville stop at GEODIS Park, techs Darian Polach and Gabe Monnot, who manage the rigs of bassist Mike Dirnt and guitarist Jason White respectively, took Premier Guitarâs Chris Kies through the rockersâ gear wardrobes for this mammoth tour.
Brought to you by DâAddario.
I Declare I Dirnt Care No More
Mike Dirntâs main axes for this yearâs tour have been his Fender Mike Dirnt Signature Precision basses. Heâs got them tuned up with different paint jobs from Mike Bender for different portions of the setâthe green-star-adorned P-bass comes out for American Idiot.
Dirnt runs these mostly stock, with ash bodies, Fender HiMass bridges, either maple or rosewood fretboards, and Ernie Ball strings (.045â.105s), but some have small tweaks in the pickup department, with either custom vintage-style â59 split single-coils or a Pure Vintage â63 Precision pickup.
Caffeinated Rabbit
This Fender parts-project bass got a special makeover, this time featuring the logo from Green Dayâs own Punk Bunny Coffee. This sleek, hyper 4-string has a roadworn â50s-style neck, Hipshot KickAss bridge, and Hipshot tuners to drop to C-sharp for âDilemmaâ off Saviors, then to jump back up to E-flat for fan-favorite âMinority.â
Homecoming
No replica or roadworn copy here. This is a genuine Dookie-era Gibson G3 that comes out for the â94 portion of the show. Polach says the added Bartolini pickup in the bridge position woke up the bass. Along with its Gotoh bridge, the bassâ defining feature is its âbuck-and-a-halfâ wiring, which turns two of the single coils into a humbucker, with the third single coil as the extra âhalfâ for loads of tone possibilities. Dirnt has since undertaken a signature Epiphone model based on this guitarâtune in to the full video for more details.
All About That Superbass
Dirnt runs his bass into this custom-design Fender Super Bassman, an amp he developed with Fender based on a mix of amps, preamps, and DI units he loved. The Super Bassman runs into a 4x10 in an onstage isolation cabinet, front of house, and Dirntâs in-ears.
Gibson Garage
Long-time touring member Jason Whiteâs stable is dominated by his Gibson Les Pauls and ES-335s. His number-one is his Custom Shop â54 Reissue goldtop LP loaded with P-90s and Ernie Ball strings (.010â.046). Like the rest of the band, White runs his guitars to his rig through a Shure AD4Q wireless unit. The goldtop is used extensively during the set, including for Idiot and Saviors hits and âKnow Your Enemyâ from 2009âs 21st Century Breakdown. The stunning, light blue LP Special is a backup for the goldtop. Another black, early-2000s Les Paul Standard is tuned a half-step down and comes out for Dookie and older tunes.
The red Gibson ES-335 is another Idiot-era pickup that still sees heavy action. Itâs wired with piezo saddles, and tech Monnot switches between the magnetic system and the piezo to cop acoustic sounds for âBoulevard of Broken Dreamsâ and âMinority.â
The lone Fender in Whiteâs boat is his Esquire, which Monnot guesses is a late â60s or early â70s model. It usually stays at home, but it came along for this special tour, and gets used on Idiot deep cuts âExtraordinary Girlâ and âWhatsername.â
Jason White's Rig
Whiteâs Shure wireless system sends to a rack system with an ISP noise gate, just in case Whiteâs P-90s are picking up a lot of noise. From there, it hits a Dunlop Cry Baby and DVP1XL, then a MIDI-controllable RJM Effect Gizmo, which handles Whiteâs effects: an MXR Reverb and Poly Blue Octave, Strymon TimeLine and Mobius, API Select TranZformer GTR, and a Custom Audio Electronics 3+SE Guitar Preamp which gets engaged for clean tones and small combo sounds. A Lehle Dual SGoS Switcher and Fishman Aura DI Preamp handle changes with the piezo-equipped guitars. A Strymon Zuma provides the juice.
True to Green Day style, White rocks with two Marshall heads. The first one is a â90s reissue JMP 1959SLP MKII with the famed Dookie mod. It handles cleaner, more midrange-focused sounds. The bottom box, a late â70s 100-watt JMP Super Lead with SE mod, gets more gain-y. They both run into 4x12 cabs in isolation boxes on stage, so like the rest of the band, White works just with in-ears.
Shop Green Day's Rig
Fender Mike Dirnt Signature Precision Bass
Fender HiMass Bridge
Ernie Ball Strings (.045â.105s)
Pure Vintage â63 Precision Pickup
Bartolini Pickup
Gotoh Bridge
Fender Super Bassman
Gibson Custom Shop â54 Reissue Goldtop LP
Ernie Ball Strings (.010â.046)
Shure AD4Q
Gibson LP Special
Gibson Les Paul Standard
Gibson ES-335
Fender Esquire
Dunlop Cry Baby
Dunlop DVP1XL
MXR Reverb
MXR Poly Blue Octave
Strymon TimeLine
Strymon Mobius
Lehle Dual SGoS Switcher
Fishman Aura DI Preamp
Strymon Zuma
Originally released in the 1980s, the Victory has long been a cult favorite among guitarists for its distinctive double cutaway design and excellent upper-fret access. These new models feature flexible electronics, enhanced body contours, improved weight and balance, and an Explorer headstock shape.
A Cult Classic Made Modern
The new Victory features refined body contours, improved weight and balance, and an updated headstock shape based on the popular Gibson Explorer.
Effortless Playing
With a fast-playing SlimTaper neck profile and ebony fretboard with a compound radius, the Victory delivers low action without fret buzz everywhere on the fretboard.
Flexible Electronics
The two 80s Tribute humbucker pickups are wired to push/pull master volume and tone controls for coil splitting and inner/outer coil selection when the coils are split.
For more information, please visit gibson.com.
Gibson Victory Figured Top Electric Guitar - Iguana Burst
Keith Urbanâs first instrument was a ukulele at age 4. When he started learning guitar two years later, he complained that it made his fingers hurt. Eventually, he came around. As did the world.
Heâs in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Heâs won 13 Country Music Association Awards, nine CMT video awards, eight ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) Awards, four American Music Awards, and racked up BMI Country Awards for 25 different singles.
Heâs been a judge on American Idol and The Voice. In conjunction with Yamaha, he has his own brand of affordably priced Urban guitars and amps, and he has posted beginner guitar lessons on YouTube. His 2014 Academy of Country Music Award-winning video for âHighways Donât Careâ featured Tim McGraw and Keithâs former opening act, Taylor Swift. Add his marriage to fellow Aussie, the actress Nicole Kidman, and heâs seen enough red carpet to cover a football field.
Significantly, his four Grammys were all for Country Male Vocal Performance. A constant refrain among newcomers is, âand heâs a really good guitar player,â as if by surprise or an afterthought. Especially onstage, his chops are in full force. There are country elements, to be sure, but rock, blues, and pop influences like Mark Knopfler are front and center.
Unafraid to push the envelope, 2020âs The Speed of Now Part 1 mixed drum machines, processed vocals, and a duet with Pink with his âganjoââan instrument constructed of a 6-string guitar neck on a banjo bodyâand even a didgeridoo. It, too, shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Country chart and climbed to No. 7 on the pop chart.
His new release, High, is more down-to-earth, but is not without a few wrinkles. He employs an EBow on âMessed Up As Meâ and, on âWildfire,â makes use of a sequencerreminiscent of ZZ Topâs âLegs.â Background vocals in âStraight Linesâ imitate a horn section, and this time out he duets on âGo Home W Uâ with rising country star Lainey Wilson. The video for âHeart Like a Hometownâ is full of home movies and family photos of a young Urban dwarfed by even a 3/4-size Suzuki nylon-string.
Born Keith Urbahn (his surnameâs original spelling) in New Zealand, his family moved to Queensland, Australia, when he was 2. He took up guitar at 6, two years after receiving his beloved ukulele. He released his self-titled debut album in 1991 for the Australian-only market, and moved to Nashville two years later. It wasnât until â97 that he put out a group effort, fronting the Ranch, and another self-titled album marked his American debut as a leader, in â99. It eventually went platinumâa pattern thatâs become almost routine.
The 57-year-oldâs celebrity and wealth were hard-earned and certainly a far cry from his humble beginnings. âAustralia is a very working-class country, certainly when I was growing up, and I definitely come from working-class parents,â he details. âMy dad loved all the American country artists, like Johnny Cash, Haggard, Waylon. He didnât play professionally, but before he got married he played drums in a band, and my grandfather and uncles all played instruments.
One of Urbanâs biggest influences as a young guitar player was Mark Knopfler, but he was also mesmerized by lesser-known session musicians such as Albert Lee, Ian Bairnson, Reggie Young, and Ray Flacke. Here, heâs playing a 1950 Broadcaster once owned by Waylon Jennings that was a gift from Nicole Kidman, his wife.
âFor me, it was a mix of that and Top 40 radio, which at the time was much more diverse than it is now. You would just hear way more genres, and Australia itself had its own, what they call Aussie pub rockâvery blue-collar, hard-driving music for the testosterone-fueled teenager. Grimy, sweaty, kind of raw themes.â
A memorable event happened when he was 7. âMy dad got tickets for the whole family to see Johnny Cash. He even bought us little Western shirts and bolo ties. It was amazing.â
But the ukulele he was gifted a few years earlier, at the age of 4, became a constant companion. âI think to some degree it was my version of the stuffed animal, something that was mine, and I felt safe with it. My dad said I would strum it in time to all the songs on the radio, and he told my mom, âHeâs got rhythm. I wonder what a good age is for him to learn chords.â My mom and dad ran a little corner store, and a lady named Sue McCarthy asked if she could put an ad in the window offering guitar lessons. They said, âIf you teach our kid for free, weâll put your ad in the window.ââ
Yet, guitar didnât come without problems. âWith the guitar, my fingers hurt like hell,â he laughs, âand I started conveniently leaving the house whenever the guitar teacher would show up. Typical kid. I donât wanna learn, I just wanna be able to do it. It didnât feel like any fun. My dad called me in and went, âWhat the hell? The teacher comes here for lessons. Whatâs the problem?â I said I didnât want to do it anymore. He just said, âOkay, then donât do it.â Kind of reverse psychology, right? So I just stayed with it and persevered. Once I learned a few chords, it was the same feeling when any of us learn how to be moving on a bike with two wheels and nobody holding us up. Thatâs what those first chords felt like in my hands.â
Keith Urban's Gear
Urban has 13 Country Music Association Awards, nine CMT video awards, eight ARIA Awards, and four Grammys to his nameâthe last of which are all for Best Country Male Vocal Performance.
Guitars
For touring:
- Maton Diesel Special
- Maton EBG808TE Tommy Emmanuel Signature
- 1957 Gibson Les Paul Junior, TV yellow
- 1959 Gibson ES-345 (with Varitone turned into a master volume)
- Fender 40th Anniversary Tele, âClarenceâ
- Two first-generation Fender Eric Clapton Stratocasters (One is black with DiMarzio Area â67 pickups, standard tuning. The other is pewter gray, loaded with Fralin âreal â54â pickups, tuned down a half-step.)
- John Bolin Telecaster (has a Babicz bridge with a single humbucker and a single volume control. Standard tuning.)
- PRS Paulâs Guitar (with two of their narrowfield humbuckers. Standard tuning.)
- Yamaha Keith Urban Acoustic Guitar (with EMG ACS soundhole pickups)
- Deering âganjoâ
Amps
- Mid-â60s black-panel Fender Showman (modified by Chris Miller, with oversized transformers to power 6550 tubes; 130 watts)
- 100-watt Dumble Overdrive Special (built with reverb included)
- Two Pacific Woodworks 1x12 ported cabinets (Both are loaded with EV BlackLabel Zakk Wylde signature speakers and can handle 300 watts each.)
Effects
- Two Boss SD-1W Waza Craft Super Overdrives with different settings
- Mr. Black SuperMoon Chrome
- FXengineering RAF Mirage Compressor
- Ibanez TS9 with Tamura Mod
- Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
- J. Rockett Audio .45 Caliber Overdrive
- Pro Co RAT 2
- Radial Engineering JX44 (for guitar distribution)
- Fractal Audio Axe-Fx XL+ (for acoustic guitars)
- Two Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III (one for electric guitar, one for bass)
- Bricasti Design Model 7 Stereo Reverb Processor
- RJM Effect Gizmo (for pedal loops)
(Note: All delays, reverb, chorus, etc. is done post amp. The signal is captured with microphones first then processed by Axe-Fx and other gear.)
- Shure Axient Digital Wireless Microphone System
Strings & Picks
- DâAddario NYXL (.011â.049; electric)
- DâAddario EJ16 (.012â.053; acoustics)
- DâAddario EJ16, for ganjo (.012â.053; much thicker than a typical banjo strings)
- DâAddario 1.0 mm signature picks
He vividly remembers the first song he was able to play after âcorny songs like âMamaâs little baby loves shortninâ bread.ââ He recalls, âThere was a song I loved by the Stylistics, âYou Make Me Feel Brand New.â My guitar teacher brought in the sheet music, so not only did I have the words, but above them were the chords. I strummed the first chord, and went, [sings E to Am] âMy love,â and then minor, âI'll never find the words, my,â back to the original chord, âlove.â Even now, I get covered in chills thinking what it felt like to sing and put that chord sequence together.â
After the nylon-string Suzuki, he got his first electric at 9. âIt was an Ibanez copy of a Telecaster Customâthe classic dark walnut with the mother-of-pearl pickguard. My first Fender was a Stratocaster. I wanted one so badly. Iâd just discovered Mark Knopfler, and I only wanted a red Strat, because thatâs what Knopfler had. And he had a red Strat because of Hank Marvin. All roads lead to Hank!â
He clarifies, âRemember a short-lived run of guitar that Fender did around 1980ââ81, simply called âthe Stratâ? I got talked into buying one of those, and the thing weighed a ton. Ridiculously heavy. But I was just smitten when it arrived. âSultans of Swingâ was the first thing I played on it. âOh my god! I sound a bit like Mark.ââ
âMessed Up As Meâ has some licks reminiscent of Knopfler. âI think he influenced a huge amount of my fingerpicking and melodic choices. I devoured those records more than any other guitar player. âTunnel of Love,â âLove over Gold,â âTelegraph Road,â the first Dire Straits album, and Communique. I was spellbound by Markâs touch, tone, and melodic choice every time.â
Other influences are more obscure. âThere were lots of session guitar players whose solos I was loving, but had no clue who they were,â he explains. âA good example was Ian Bairnson in the Scottish band Pilot and the Alan Parsons Project. It was only in the last handful of years that I stumbled upon him and did a deep dive, and realized he played the solo on âWuthering Heightsâ by Kate Bush, âEye in the Skyâ by Alan Parsons, âItâs Magicâ and âJanuaryâ by Pilotâall these songs that spoke to me growing up. I also feel like a lot of local-band guitar players are inspirationsâthey certainly were to me. They didnât have a name, the band wasnât famous, but when youâre 12 or 13, watching Barry Clough and guys in cover bands, itâs, âMan, I wish I could play like that.ââ
On High, Urban keeps things song-oriented, playing short and economical solos.
In terms of country guitarists, he nods, âAgain, a lot of session players whose names I didnât know, like Reggie Young. The first names I think would be Albert Lee and Ray Flacke, whose chicken pickinâ stuff on the Ricky Skaggs records became a big influence. âHow is he doing that?ââ
Flacke played a role in a humorous juxtaposition. âI camped out to see Iron Maiden,â Urban recounts. âTheyâd just put out Number of the Beast, and I was a big fan. I was 15, so my hormones were raging. Iâd been playing country since I was 6, 7, 8 years old. But this new heavy metal thing is totally speaking to me. So I joined a heavy metal band called Fractured Mirror, just as their guitar player. At the same time, I also discovered Ricky Skaggs and Highways and Heartaches. What is this chicken pickinâ thing? One night I was in the metal band, doing a Judas Priest song or Saxon. They threw me a solo, and through my red Strat, plugged into a Marshall stack that belonged to the lead singer, I shredded this high-distortion, chicken pickinâ solo. The lead singer looked at me like, âWhat the fuck are you doing?â I got fired from the band.â
Although at 15 he âfloated around different kinds of music and bands,â when he was 21 he saw John Mellencamp. âHeâd just put out Lonesome Jubilee. Iâd been in bands covering âHurts So Good,' âJack & Diane,â and all the early shit. This record had fiddle and mandolin and acoustic guitars, wall of electrics, drumsâthe most amazing fusion of things. I saw that concert, and this epiphany happened so profoundly. I looked at the stage and thought, âWhoa! I get it. You take all your influences and make your own thing. Thatâs what John did. Iâm not gonna think about genre; Iâm gonna take all the things I love and find my way.â
âOf course, getting to Nashville with that recipe wasnât going to fly in 1993,â he laughs. âTook me another seven-plus years to really start getting some traction in that town.â
Urbanâs main amp today is a Dumble Overdrive Reverb, which used to belong to John Mayer. He also owns a bass amp that Alexander Dumble built for himself.
Photo by Jim Summaria
When it comes to âcrossoverâ in country music, one thinks of Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, and Dolly Partonâs more commercial singles like âTwo Doors Down.â Regarding the often polarizing subject and, indeed, what constitutes country music, itâs obvious that Urban has thought a lotâand probably been asked a lotâabout the syndrome. The Speed of Now Part 1 blurs so many lines, it makes Shania Twain sound like Mother Maybelle Carter. Well, almost.
âI canât speak for any other artists, but to me, itâs always organic,â he begins. âAnybody thatâs ever seen me play live would notice that I cover a huge stylistic field of music, incorporating my influences, from country, Top 40, rock, pop, soft rock, bluegrass, real country. Thatâs how you get songs like âKiss a Girlââmaybe more â70s influence than anything else.â
âI think [Mark Knopfler] influenced a huge amount of my fingerpicking and melodic choices. I devoured those records more than any other guitar player.â
Citing â50s producers Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley, who moved the genre from hillbilly to the more sophisticated countrypolitan, Keith argues, âIn the history of country music, this is exactly the same as it has always been. Patsy Cline doing âWalking After Midnightâ or âCrazyâ; it ainât Bob Wills. It ainât Hank Williams. Itâs a new sound, drawing on pop elements. Thatâs the 1950s, and it has never changed. Iâve always seen country like a lung, that expands outwards because it embraces new sounds, new artists, new fusions, to find a bigger audience. Then it feels, âWeâve lost our way. Holy crap, I donât even know who we are,â and it shrinks back down again. Because a purist in the traditional sense comes along, whether it be Ricky Skaggs or Randy Travis. The only thing that I think has changed is thereâs portals now for everything, which didnât used to exist. There isnât one central control area that would yell at everybody, âYouâve got to bring it back to the center.â I donât know that we have that center anymore.â
Stating his position regarding the current crop of talent, he reflects, âTo someone who says, âThatâs not country music,â I always go, ââItâs not your country music; itâs somebody elseâs country music.â I donât believe anybody has a right to say somethingâs not anything. Itâs been amazing watching this generation actually say, âCan we get back to a bit of purity? Can we get real guitars and real storytelling?â So youâve seen the explosion of Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers who are way purer than the previous generation of country music.â
Seen performing here in 2003, Urban is celebrated mostly for his songwriting, but is also an excellent guitarist.
Photo by Steve Trager/Frank White Photo Agency
As for the actual recording process, he notes, âThis always shocks people, but âChattahoocheeâ by Alan Jackson is all drum machine. I write songs on acoustic guitar and drum machine, or drum machine and banjo. Of course, you go into the studio and replace that with a drummer. But my very first official single, in 1999, was âItâs a Love Thing,â and it literally opens with a drum loop and an acoustic guitar riff. Then the drummer comes in. But the loop never goes away, and you hear it crystal clear. I havenât changed much about that approach.â
On the road, Urban utilizes different electrics âalmost always because of different pickupsâsingle-coil, humbucker, P-90. And then one thatâs tuned down a half-step for a few songs in half-keys. Tele, Strat, Les Paul, a couple of others for color. Iâve got a John Bolin guitar that I loveâthe feel of it. Itâs a Tele design with just one PAF, one volume knob, no tone control. Itâs very light, beautifully balancedâevery string, every fret, all the way up the neck. It doesnât have a lot of tonal character of its own, so it lets my fingers do the coloring. You can feel the fingerprints of Billy Gibbons on this guitar. Itâs very Billy.â
âI looked at the stage and thought, âWhoa! I get it. You take all your influences and make your own thing. Iâm gonna take all the things I love and find my way.ââ
Addressing his role as the collector, âor acquirer,â as he says, some pieces have quite a history. âI havenât gone out specifically thinking, âIâm missing this from the collection.â I feel really lucky to have a couple of very special guitars. I got Waylon Jenningsâ guitar in an auction. It was one he had all through the â70s, wrapped in the leather and the whole thing. In the â80s, he gave it to Reggie Young, who owned it for 25 years or so and eventually put it up for auction. My wife wanted to give it to me for my birthday. I was trying to bid on it, and she made sure that I couldnât get registered! When it arrived, I discovered itâs a 1950 Broadcasterâwhich is insane. I had no idea. I just wanted it because Iâm a massive Waylon fan, and I couldnât bear the thought of that guitar disappearing overseas under somebodyâs bed, when it should be played.
âI also have a 1951 Nocaster, which used to belong to Tom Keifer in Cinderella. Itâs the best Telecaster Iâve ever played, hands down. It has the loudest, most ferocious pickup, and the wood is amazing.â
YouTube
Urban plays a Gibson SG here at the 2023 CMT Music Awards. Wait until the end to see him show off his shred abilities.
Other favorites include âa first-year Strat, â54, that I love, and a â58 goldtop. I also own a â58 âburst, but prefer the goldtop; itâs just a bit more spanky and lively. I feel abundantly blessed with the guitars Iâve been able to own and play. And I think every guitar should be played, literally. Thereâs no guitar thatâs too precious to be played.â
Speaking of precious, there are also a few Dumble amps that elicit âoohsâ and âaahs.â âAround 2008, John Mayer had a few of them, and he wanted to part with this particular Overdrive Special head. When he told me the price, I said, âThat sounds ludicrous.â He said, âHow much is your most expensive guitar?â It was three times the value of the amp. He said, âSo thatâs one guitar. What amp are you plugging all these expensive guitars into?â I was like, âSold. I guess when you look at it that way.â Itâs just glorious. It actually highlighted some limitations in some guitars I never noticed before.â
âItâs just glorious. It actually highlighted some limitations in some guitars I never noticed before.â
Keith also developed a relationship with the late Alexander Dumble. âWe emailed back and forth, a lot of just life stuff and the beautifully eccentric stuff he was known for. His vocabulary was as interesting as his tubes and harmonic understanding. My one regret is that he invited me out to the ranch many times, and I was never able to go. Right now, my main amp is an Overdrive Reverb that also used to belong to John when he was doing the John Mayer Trio. I got it years later. And I have an Odyssey, which was Alexanderâs personal bass amp that he built for himself. I sent all the details to him, and he said, âYeah, thatâs my amp.ââ
The gearhead in Keith doesnât even mind minutiae like picks and strings. âIâve never held picks with the pointy bit hitting the string. I have custom picks that DâAddario makes for me. They have little grippy ridges like on Dunlops and Hercos, but I have that section just placed in one corner. I can use a little bit of it on the string, or I can flip it over. During the pandemic, I decided to go down a couple of string gauges. I was getting comfortable on .009s, and I thought, âGreat. Iâve lightened up my playing.â Then the very first gig, I was bending the crap out of them. So I went to .010s, except for a couple of guitars that are .011s.â
As with his best albums, High is song-oriented; thus, solos are short and economical. âGrowing up, I listened to songs where the guitar was just in support of that song,â he reasons. âIf the song needs a two-bar break, and then you want to hear the next vocal section, thatâs what it needs. If it sounds like it needs a longer guitar section, then thatâs what it needs. Thereâs even a track called âLove Is Hardâ that doesnât have any solo. Itâs the first thing Iâve ever recorded in my life where I literally donât play one instrument. Eren Cannata co-wrote it [with Shane McAnally and Justin Tranter], and I really loved the demo with him playing all the instruments. I loved it so much I just went with his acoustic guitar. Iâm that much in service of the song.â