We caught up with Black Stone Cherry at the recent Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, KY, and spoke to the band’s John Fred Young and Ben Wells about why they like their new label, why Birmingham was chosen as the location for the band’s first live DVD, and why they’ve changed their approach to songwriting on the new album.
“We’ve all said this before, but in America you’re only as good as your last American rock single, and we don’t play that game,” says John Fred. “Our fans are here for the live show, they’re here to hear the songs, and they’re here to have a great time. With some previous records, we were in position with the label where we had to write to a format [for radio].”
“This time we weren’t focussed on that,” continues Ben. “If they pick it up, and they like it, awesome. But it’s our fans who give us a career, and we wrote with them in mind.”
The live footage from this video (below) is taken from Black Stone Cherry’s Thank You: Livin’ Live DVD, which is released this Friday and can be ordered now. The film was shot on the band’s Magic Mountain tour at Birmingham’s LG Arena in 2014. The band tour the UK on the Carnival Of Madness tour early next year (dates below).
**Black Stone Cherry UK Tour dates **(with Shinedown, Halestorm and Highly Suspect)
Jan 28: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Jan 29: Nottingham Capital FM Arena
Jan 30: Liverpool Echo Arena
Feb 01: Glasgow SSE Hydro
Feb 02: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
Feb 04: London SSE Wembley Arena
Feb 05: Leeds First Direct Arena
Feb 06: Manchester Arena
Tickets are on sale now, with VIP packages available from www.carnivalofmadness.com.
