Paul McCartney's guitarist 'flipped out on music'

Guitarist Rusty Anderson got into music when he was barely in elementary school.

"When I was 5, my older sister was playing Beatles records and I flipped out on music," Anderson said during a phone call from his hotel room in London.

"My dad bought me a Kent guitar and amp at a pawnshop when I was 8, and I've been hyper-focused on music ever since."

Anderson got into everything from Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, early Genesis, the Mothers of Invention, David Bowie and Mick Ronson.

"I also like Gershwin and Debussy," he said. "Debussy is my favorite composer. And I dig the White Stripes, Local Natives and Band of Horses."

Nearly a decade ago, Anderson landed a gig with one of his idols — Paul McCartney.

In fact, Anderson's first gig with Sir Paul was the Concert for New York just after 9/11.

"There was so many people there," Anderson said of the gig held at Madison Square Garden. "David Bowie, The Who, Eric Clapton — I met people in one building who were my idols.

"Bill Clinton was there. Elton John and James Taylor — it was a crazy experience."

Anderson remembered being geared up and ready to play.

"I thought it would be intoxicating with lights and colors on the stage," he said. "But when we walked out there, we saw all these harsh white TV lights. And (the effect) shrunk Madison Square Garden into this little classroom."

Aside from being McCartney's lead guitarist all these years, Anderson is also an in-demand solo artist.

He's a guitar player, a singer, a songwriter, a producer and a guitar teacher.

"It keeps it all fresh," he said about his various gigs. "I feel lucky to play music."

On Aug. 3, Anderson will release his second solo album, "Born on Earth," the follow-up to "Undressing Underwater."

"I think it's important for me to keep making records," he said. "It's nice to have some balance to (my career).

"With this record, I wanted it to be a more unified-band kind of sound. I worked on the album on and off because of the tours with Paul, but I recorded it over maybe a year's time."

Anderson said creating music is all about following his muse.