In a new interview with Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips, ZZ TOP’s Billy Gibbons was asked about the band’s decision to hire ZZ TOP’s longtime guitar tech Elwood Francis, who had worked with the group for more than two decades, after the “totally unexpected” July 2021 death of their longtime bandmate, bassist Dusty Hill. Gibbons said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, Elwood and Dusty, they were two peas in a pod. Elwood starting off as a guitarist, he and Dusty were trading bass licks and guitar licks from day one. Elwood being quite the family member. He was with us for — gosh — three decades, knowing us inside and out. The big surprise… When he started out, Elwood was the skateboarder with an avocado sandwich and not a chin whisker to be found. After receiving the call from management saying ZZ TOP is gonna go back to work, and I said, ‘Gee whiz, we’d better go rehearse.’ And it was Dusty that said, ‘Listen, if I’m late to the gig, give my guitar to Elwood. He knows it backwards and forward.’ And I said, ‘Oh, okay, fine. I showed up at the rehearsal and I said, ‘Who’s the new guy?’ They said, ‘Which one?’ I said, ‘That guy over there with the two-foot doormat hanging from his chin.’ They said, ‘Well, that’s Elwood. And I said, ‘No, no, the guy with the big beard.’ And they said, ‘That’s Elwood.’ He got lazy, just like we did.”The 72-year-old Hill died on July 28, 2021 in his sleep at his Houston, Texas home.ZZ TOP played its first show following Hill’s death on July 30, 2021 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.Francis made his live debut with ZZ TOP on July 23, 2021 at the Village Commons in New Lenox, Illinois after Hill was forced to return to Texas to address a hip issue.”When I first started doing it, Dusty was just sick and going home for a few weeks,” Francis told Guitar World magazine. “It was entirely different; I was just helping out. 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.'”Francis, whose place in ZZ TOP was made permanent shortly after Hill’s death, went on to say that he still doesn’t consider himself part of the band.”We’d done some gigs when Dusty passed, and by that time, I wouldn’t say I was comfortable because I’m still not fucking comfortable,” he explained. “But 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.”It’s just weird,” he continued. “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 in the band. It’s Dusty’s thing. Sure, I’ll still play with them, but it’s a weird thing, man.”Hill joined ZZ TOP a year after its formation in 1969.In a June 2023 interview with Classic Rock, Gibbons said about how Francis came to join ZZ TOP following Hill’s passing: “Dusty was a great guy, a swell singer. He provided a solid platform for me to solo without having to look back. He was always on it. Dusty used to say: ‘If I’m late to the stage, be sure to give my guitar to Elwood.’ Elwood is a family member; he’s been with us for three decades. And sure enough, Elwood picked up the parts and pieces [to replace Hill in ZZ TOP]. But whereas Dusty played with his fingers, Elwood uses a pick. It’s a little sharper. He brings a little more finesse. And at the first rehearsal he showed up with a full beard longer than mine.”Gibbons admitted “there was a lot of curiosity” surrounding ZZ TOP’s return to the live stage without Hill. “‘What’s this going to be like?’ ‘Can this guy hold up the bottom of the TOP?’ In a trio it’s a big challenge,” he said. “Everything has to be working at a hundred and ten per cent. But Elwood was ready, having been a part of it for so long… [Dusty] said: ‘The show must go on.’ That was his wish, and we granted it.”[embedded content]