Robert De Leo, courtesy.

More than three decades into a successful career touring the world with grunge staples Stone Temple Pilots, bassist and songwriter Robert De Leo was ready for a new journey that would bring him full circle with his musical beginnings.

“Over the past couple years, the world kind of allowed us all to have some time and figure life out,” De Leo said. “It was around the time that I really had a lot to say and really wanted to make a point of getting back in touch with my guitar playing.”

De Leo got his start playing guitar, not picking up a bass until age 16. The pandemic offered the opportunity to reconnect.

“I had a chance to pull out all my instruments and kinda get reacquainted with them,” he said. “I just wanted to get back in touch with my playing.”

The result is Lessons Learned, De Leo’s solo debut and the first album on which he primarily plays guitar. He recruited friends to sing on all but one of the songs, on which he sings himself.

For the album, he experimented on a wide array of vintage instruments and, yes, numerous acoustic guitars. Some of them, he said, tell the stories in the songs, while others complement the stories.

“It’s a matter of just pulling out the right color for the painting,” De Leo said.

Not feeling pressure to write rock anthems, he let songs evolve organically. That was different from some of the Stone Temple Pilots’ songs that he cowrote.

“‘Interstate Love Song’ started as a Bossa Nova piece but I knew the other three members of the band would not be interested in doing the song like that,” he said, laughing. “I wanted that song to be as big as possible. When you’re in your twenties, you want to write a great song that everyone can grasp onto.”

De Leo’s challenge was taking the songs and adapting them to the featured singers on each track. Sometimes, that meant key changes or lyrical tweaks that fostered a more collaborative environment. STP drummer Eric Kretz drums on one track, while longtime musician friend Pete Shoulder sings on “Big Sky Woman” and “Put Aside Your Sorrows.” Shoulder wrote the lyrics on the latter.

“I just got to the point where I needed someone else’s outlook on this journey, and Pete is a brilliant lyricist, as well as a vocalist and guitar player,” De Leo said.

De Leo said his plan was to keep his own singing to a minimum.

“My friends are amazing vocalists. I didn’t want to sit here and listen to the record and critique my vocals” De Leo said. “I want this to be a listening experience as well as a writing experience.”

In terms of songwriting, De Leo avoided listening to other music for inspiration, opting instead to isolate from outside noise.

“When I’m not deep into it, I’m not really listening to anything,” he said. “It’s really just life that’s the inspiration at that point. It’s been almost like a journal or a diary to myself.”

Touring Lessons Learned will be challenging, given that the vocalists on the album are spread out between California and England, and their voices are critical to the performance. Still, he’s trying to find a way to make it work.

Whether it’s a timeless rock anthem by STP or a nuanced acoustic ballad, De Leo said it’s the foundation of songwriting that ties everything together.

“Songs like that, they have life after us,” he said. “It’s kind of our way of being immortal in writing songs that last.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.