![Ronnie Wood discusses his guitar interplay with Keith Richards.]](https://backingtracksfullcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Ronnie-Wood-discusses-his-guitar-interplay-with-Keith-Richards-758x429.jpg "Ronnie Wood discusses his guitar interplay with Keith Richards.] 1")
On Tuesday (May 5), the Rolling Stones announced a new album, Foreign Tongues.
Their 25th long player in total, it – like its predecessor, 2023’s impressively vital Hackney Diamonds – was produced by Andrew Watt, and (also like its predecessor) features a laundry list of special guests: Steve Winwood, the Cure frontman Robert Smith, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and some up-and-comer named Paul McCartney.
Article continues below
“In my Faces days I always played open E, and Keith always played in open G,” Wood explained. “Somewhere in the middle, there’s this sort of mesh that we call ‘the ancient form of weaving’. Sometimes we cross accidentally!”
Indeed, if you’ve ever heard Richards discuss in other interviews the way his playing interacts with Wood’s – or Mick Taylor‘s and Brian Jones’ before him – you’ve likely also heard him use that exact term.
It’s the bedrock of the Stones’ sound – rhythm and lead blending into one; no showing off; blues, country, and rockabilly all blending together seamlessly. The overlapping riffs that have been played by millions of guitarists the world over.
Richards, for his part, highlighted to O’Brien that there’s no need for discussing the fine matters of arranging with his guitar partner of half a century.
“[There’s no] ‘Oh, this chord goes like this; this chord goes like this,’” he said. “We know [where and when to play] without thinking about it or talking about it.”
