ZZ Top’s new bassist Elwood Francis has admitted that he cannot get his head around the fact that his part of the band.
Francis has been serving as the band’s new bassist since 2021, following the death of co founder Dusty Hill in 2021. Francis had been originally deputising for Hill while he recovered from illness.
However, following Hill’s death, Francis was named the new ZZ Top bassist, a fact that is still an alien concept to the musician.
“When I first started doing it, Dusty was just sick and going home for a few weeks”, Francis revealed. “It was entirely different; I was just helping out”.
Francis also added: “I didn’t have to worry about the weight of the crown, because I was just helping. They pulled me aside and said, ‘Can you honestly say you can’t play his parts?’ I said, ‘I can do it – but I don’t think people would enjoy me doing it.’ They said, ‘You can cover him for a few weeks”.
“It’s just weird” – Francis
However, a few weeks turned into something more permanent following Hill’s passing.
“We’d done some gigs when Dusty passed… by that time, I wouldn’t say I was comfortable – because I’m still not f****** comfortable,” Francis said.
“I had a piece of paper on the riser for the first two shows if I got in trouble; and by the third show I got rid of that, and just did the show”.
He added: “It’s just weird. Dusty is their bass player. I’m not the bass player. I’m not in the band. I’ll never be in the band. I shouldn’t be… It’s Dusty’s thing. Sure, I’ll still play with them – but it’s a weird thing, man”.
ZZ Top recently finished off a UK and European Tour, their first in five years.
The tour which included shows in Denmark, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France, and Switzerland, finished with a show at London’s OVO Arena last night.
