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Black Stone Cherry
Small town life can be idyllic. Sure everybody knows your business but there's a great support system of family and friends. There are really only two reasons people ever leave - nothing to do and no jobs. But if you can figure out a way to earn a living and keep the juices flowing, small town life is not a bad way to go.
Black Stone Cherry (BSC) hail from Edmonton, Kentucky. It's a small burg of less than 2,000 people located off the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway (90) in the south-central part of the state, east of Bowling Green and in between the Mammoth Cave National Park and the Wolf Creek Recreation Area. In other words, it's in the middle of nowhere. Edmonton is even in a "dry" (alcohol-prohibited) county.
All BSC members had family who turn them on to a broad range of musical styles - from Bluegrass to Gospel. Young's dad was even a member of the famous Country group, the Kentucky Headhunters.
Blood Stone Cherry came together in the summer of '04 operating under the influence of Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Black Crowes. The name came from the famous kretek cigarette Black Stone (Cherry Flavor). Kretek cigarettes are a blend of tobacco, cloves and a flavoring 'sauce' that originated in Indonesia. Either someone really liked the smokes or they felt their music was a similar exotic blend.
BSC signed with Roadrunner Records and released their self-titled debut in '06. Young's father, along with veteran engineer David Barrick, who worked with the Kentucky Headhunters, produced the album, and Kevin Shirley (Aerosmith's "Nine Lives" and Led Zeppelin's "How The West Was Won") handled the mixing. Nice to get frontline talent from the get go.
The single "Lonely Train," a song about the effects on families left behind when a soldier goes off to war, drew immediate attention (with the war in Iraq and all).
The group's sophomore effort, "Folklore And Superstition," with the single "Blind Man," landed in the summer, '08.
When Southern Rock emerged in the '70s it had a lean, tough sound that rolled out like a motorcycle down an empty country road. Two decades later, Grunge led with an undeniable sonic heaviness and density. Black Stone Cherry draws from both of these sources. Not surprisingly (considering where they are from), they are far more accomplished at Southern Rock.
No doubt, Robertson has the vocal chops for Grunge-tinged Alt. Rock but the songs are nondescript. With the exception of "Lonely Train," which has an exceptional hook, the Alt. Rockers on the BSC's debut are competent but uninspired. There's nothing that really grabs the listener. But when they turn lean and raucous on "Maybe Someday," "Hell & High Water," "Violater Girl" and Rollin' On" they are a group to reckon with. Robertson sings "now I've got to Rock N' Roll" on "Maybe Someday" and you believe him. "Rollin' On" sounds straight out of the Skynyrd songbook with the line about the "country road that takes me home."
There comes a time in every Southern band's career when, no matter how little they incorporate Country influences, they unplug, send the drummer out to buy cigarettes and pull out the acoustic guitars and fiddle. It seems so ingrained that they have to do it - sooner or later - like a rite of passage. On "Folklore And Superstition" that track is the reflective "Things My Father Said." The song is OK but it's a far cry from the chunky rhythms and searing licks that dominate the album.
Taking it up a notch there's the inspirational ("keep your head up and keep on tryin'") "Peace Is Free" and "The Key," a swamp Rock, pseudo-psychedelic ("there's a hole in the sky and doors open to the other side) track with 'trippy' processed vocals. But these songs are simply diversions from BSC's core strength - tough, throaty Blues-Rock. There's no percentage in being nice or respectable. To prove the point, there are a couple of kick-ass songs, "The Bitter End" and "Devil's Queen." They just rev up and fly.
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