I've put this up in fileshare and I'll be adding some other bands such as Airbourne who are very AC/DC.

This band have come out as Top new band for 2008 with Classic Rock magazine. They are young for a band doing this kind of take on a more dated groove. I imagine this band to be Marshall stacks and Les Pauls and the guitarist certainly has a more blues rock style tone ala Kossof or Mick Ralphs tho detuned and a bit more agressive. It's a breathe of fresh air tho it comes from a time passed...and that is the thread of this album. NONE of it is entirely original, some of the lyrics are a bit hackneyed BUT it's just a great listen! Not sure why as there's hints of Soundgarden (without the wierd chord structures or the avant garde style soling), definitely hear early Sabbath and the lyrics could come from a Cult album like 'Electric' BUT it all works right from the moment the singer screams 'HERE COMES THE RAIN' at the beginning of 'Rain Wizard' (I reckon this could be a huge song on the festival trail this year in a similar way that 'Let The Bodies Hit The Floor' exploded on the Oz tour about 5 years ago), you know you're in for some ear candy.

Anyway, give it a whirl and see if you agree. There's an old school pattern here being repeated but it all just washes over you and you enjoy the songs.

From the website www.blackstonecherry.com

Black Stone Cherry:
Chris Robertson - vocals/guitar • Ben Wells - guitar/vocals
Jon Lawhon - bass/vocals • John Fred Young - drums


More than anything, the South is known for its music and its strong family ties. Both are highlighted with Black Stone Cherry, a Kentucky band that redefines southern rock for a modern audience. By any standard, BSC is unconventional: they take the larger-than-life mystique of classic rock and modernize it with a driving attack that is equal parts roots and modern hard rock. Few bands this young â?? none of the four members is older than 23, the youngest is 20 - sound this powerful or versatile. They're hard and heavy, but Black Stone Cherry is southern to the core, and they come by their love of music in genuine way: it's in their blood, and it's in their home.

BSC hails from Edmonton, a small town in south-central Kentucky that's in the middle of a dry (alcohol-prohibited) county, where there is very little to do. For many, including the members of BSC, music was their escape. And there was a lot of music around. "There's lots of great bluegrass and southern gospel groups which we all love," says Ben. Given all this music, it's no shock that the four members of BSC have a rich musical tradition in their own families, handed down from their grandparents, through their parents, to the band themselves. John Fred's father Richard is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Kentucky Headhunters, while Jon's Great-Uncle was a jazz drummer. Chris received his first guitar from his grandfather, who built instruments by hand, and learned his first chords from his dad. And it wasn't just their family that encouraged them to play: whenever Chris got into trouble at school, he wound up in the principal's office, jamming with the principal himself.

Surrounded by music and support down in Edmonton, Black Stone Cherry was able develop far away from the mainstream. "When you're from an area where you don't have the competition to be playing the same kind of music, you create your own style of music," explains John Fred. Robertson agrees: "being down here, in the middle of nowhere, you kind of have to come up with your own thing just to entertain yourself." Chris and John Fred began playing together while they were still teenagers in high school, with Jon and Ben joining them soon afterward, officially forming on June 4, 2001. Black Stone Cherry took over a century-old practice house that had been the territory of the Kentucky Headhunters since 1968 and rehearsed relentlessly. There was a special vibe in that practice house that emanated from the walls plastered with decades of rock memorabilia - posters, flyers, album covers. "We grew up looking at these posters and visualizing ourselves being on kids bedrooms," explains John Fred. "It pushed us to try to create something up to that level."

While there are echoes of the past in their music â?? their fluid musicality recalls Zeppelin and they have an honesty often associated with bands like Skynyrd and the Black Crowes - it merely acts as a foundation for their music. Black Stone Cherry is a full-throttle modern rock band, with guitars that rage and a shuddering rhythmic attack. They sound as earthy and raw as Soundgarden, as heavy and fun as AC/DC, yet there's a higher level of musicianship to their performances and songwriting that makes them like no one else. They can grind out an intense, bluesy riff thatâ??s equal parts Guns N Roses and Alice In Chains on "Lonely Train," a gripping song about how war effects the families left behind when a soldier goes off to war. There's an intensity to "Lonely Train" that cuts to the bone. They also can conjure up spooky, cinematic drama as they do on "Rain Wizard," a tune based on a local legend about mysterious wisemen that could bring about rain at a time of drought and famine. And with the rampaging "Backwoods Gold," BSC proves they're master storytellers, too, with a tale about a local man who ran moonshine out of the hardware store in the heart of town. This variety is unusual in a young band, and John Fred says that was the intention: "We wanted to dig deep into the well and pull something out that was totally different from what was going on. We wanted to make music that people could really latch onto - something that was still totally different from what was going on today but reminded people of the great rock icons of yesteryear."

That's what happened in Edmonton - everybody from eight to eighty embraced Black Stone Cherry. "People heard about these kids taking over these old-time music clubs and we turned them into rock & roll parties," remembers Ben. Soon, there wasn't a soul in town who didn't love the band. Once recording was finished, the band played a homecoming concert, and 1500 people packed into the local middle school gym - the same school where Chris used to jam away with the principal. It was that principal who invited the group back for a concert to celebrate their debut album on In De Goot/Roadrunner Records. Pulling into town, the roads were covered with signs welcoming the band back home - even the digital construction signs hailed their return, trumpeting "BSC TONIGHT at the Middle School" - a sure sign of how beloved this band is in Edmonton.

Now, with their debut album about to be released, America at large will soon love Black Stone Cherry too. Appropriately, the debut was recorded at home in Kentucky, with friends and family: John Fred's father along with engineer wiz David Barrick produced the album. Kevin Shirley of Aerosmith's "Nine Lives" and Led Zeppelin's "How the West was Won", mixed the record at the Palm's Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chris says, "We went in and recorded it like they did in the old days. It's really human, it's not robotic or anything." "It's all about the groove," says Jon, the way it makes people move." This album captures the kinetic energy and force of the band's live show and it is proof that Black Stone Cherry are true southern originals. Or as Ben puts it: "We're a straight-ahead, in-your-face rock & roll band that tells the truth and sometimes stretches it beyond the imagination."

Black Stone Cherry's self-titled, debut album hits the streets on July 18th.





Copyright © 2006 Roadrunner Records. All rights reserved.

Been listening to this a lot today at work. Great stuff !

Good to read the story behind it all. The description of their sound is spot on. Completely modern, but with old school undertones.

:rock:

These guys are awesome!!!! :rock::rock::rock:


Black Stone Cherry - Lonely Train

Black Stone Cherry - Hell and High Water

These guys are playing in York on the 25th of JUne......oh yes!!

Like Nickleback meets Alice in Chains on my first impression, very kickass stuff!!!! Love that low, tight, heavy style!!!!

Sounds excellent, a little Staley/Cornell going on in the vox and there ain't nothing wrong with that. Hope these boys catch on :)

"HERE COMES THE RAAAAIIIIIIIIIN!!!! :woot:

They know their roots. They are a good band I have the CD.
Nothing groundbreaking, but a breath of freash air to much else of what is out there.