Shiflett is a supporter of Arsenal F.C., having discovered the club while reading John Lydon's autobiography in the early 1990s.

[3][4] Shiflett began his music career in a band called Lost Kittenz with current members of Sugarcult.

He later moved on to be the resident lead guitarist for the San Francisco Bay Area punk rock band No Use for a Name.

Offered the job, and seeing an opportunity that he knew he could not pass up, he quickly parted ways with No Use for a Name to join Foo Fighters.

Shiflett has noted several times that one of his favorite songs that he plays with Foo Fighters is "All My Life" from their fourth studio album One by One.

He has said that he was afraid of being fired even before he started to play with the band, as previous guitarist Pat Smear had asked to return.

[5] In addition to his full-time duties with Foo Fighters, Shiflett also plays in his own side-project, Jackson United, as well as Viva Death with his brother, Scott.

They played songs from classic rock bands such as Black Sabbath, Queen, ZZ Top, and the Rolling Stones.

April 2017 saw Shiflett release West Coast Town, the first album to bare solely his name, which was a collection of original honky tonk tracks.