Watch Brad Paisley Jam on ‘Game of Thrones’ Theme With Metal All-Stars
Brad Paisley is hands-down one of the best guitarists in country music, but he pushed himself well outside his comfort zone for a recent collaboration. The country superstar joined a group of heavy metal all-stars to perform an all-guitar metal version of the theme song from Game of Thrones.
In the video above, Paisley sits in with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Scott Ian from Anthrax and Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt for a precisely orchestrated metal guitar arrangement of the theme, which they are performing under the watchful eye of composer Ramin Djawadi. Djawadi and Game of Thrones creator Dan Weiss also shred on the track.
The other guitarists have already mostly worked out their carefully arranged parts by the time Paisley arrives, and they advise him that what he needs is to put the finishing touch on the piece.
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"What we're doing is so specific to us, it would be great if somebody just did some beautiful, just sprinkle some fairy dust on it," Bettencourt tells Paisley, and Morello agrees, "That's what it's been missing!"
Paisley simply chords along during the early buildup of the piece, but he really shines when each of the players takes a solo spotlight, contributing a solo that is so unlike his own material that if you weren't watching it, there's no way you would believe you're hearing Brad Paisley. The setting allows him the opportunity to use greater distortion and employ a different range of techniques, as well as make some unusual note choices that make his solo stand out from everyone else's on the session in a way that has the rock legends all smiling over at him in appreciation.
The guitarists are all playing guitars from the Fender Custom Shop's new Sigil Collection, for which Fender joined together with HBO for a line of deluxe, built-to-order guitars that represent the three main houses in Game of Thrones.
Paisley's actually not the first country star to be associated with HBO's runaway hit. Chris Stapleton made a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo appearance as a White Walker in one of the early episodes of the final season on April 28.
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