Black Stone Cherry
is a southern rock band formed on June 4, 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky, USA. They are signed to Roadrunner Records. The band is composed of Chris Robertson (lead vocals, guitar), The Looks of the Band, Ben Wells (guitar, background vocals), John Lawhon (bass guitar, background vocals), and John Fred Young (drums, background vocals), son of The Kentucky Headhunters' rhythm guitarist Richard Young. Black Stone Cherry has released two studio albums and three EPs, and has charted five singles on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.
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BLACK STONE CHERRY TICKETS
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History
The band Black Stone Cherry originates from
Edmonton, Kentucky. Chris Robertson and John Fred Young, son of
The Kentucky Headhunters' rhythm guitarist Richard Young, started to play music together early in their teens and Jon and Ben soon followed. Black Stone Cherry officially formed on June 4, 2001. They then took over the practice house that had been used by The Kentucky Headhunters since 1968 and began to record tracks. After the band finished recording, they returned to Edmonton for a homecoming gig in the gym of the local middle school, which was attended by 1500 people. After the band’s self-titled debut album was released, Chris's former school principal invited the band back to Edmonton to celebrate with a concert. As the band entered the town, the streets were covered with signs welcoming them back.
In July 2007, they released a second EP containing the song "Rain Wizard" along with two previously unreleased tracks.
The first live album by Black Stone Cherry was released on October 31, 2007 immediately following the concert at the Astoria in London. They joined
Def Leppard and
Whitesnake in the summer of 2008 for European dates.
On August 19, 2008 Black Stone Cherry released their second album, entitled
Folklore and Superstition
. Three singles from the album, "
Blind Man", "
Please Come In" and "Things My Father Said" have been released.
In May 2009, they supported
Nickelback's
Dark Horse
tour.
Musical style
Black Stone Cherry's music is often associated with bands like
Lynyrd Skynyrd and the
Black Crowes, and
Led Zeppelin to a lesser extent. While there are clear influences in Black Stone Cherry’s music, they have created their own style to a great extent. The musical tone and composition of Black Stone Cherry is very comparable to that of
Brand New Sin and
Zakk Wylde's
Pride and Glory.
The song writing of Black Stone Cherry is often praised for great storytelling and delivering a strong message. For example, the song "
Lonely Train" is about the effect on families when a relative goes to fight in a war. The song "Rain Wizard" is about a local legend of mysterious wisemen who could bring the rain in times of drought. "Backwoods Gold" is about a local man who ran moonshine out of the hardware store in the middle of Edmonton.
Touring
Black Stone Cherry has toured in the United States extensively and has also supported
Hinder in Europe before headlining their own European tour starting in
Sheffield, England.
Other ventures included supporting the band
Buckcherry. In 2006 when Buckcherry had to cancel a few shows, Black Stone Cherry opened and played a full set so that the crowd "could get its money's worth".
Also in late 2006/early 2007, BSC opened up for Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society, gaining recognition among a crowd with heavier musical taste. At the Los Angeles show at the Wiltern, Black Stone Cherry played a heavier version of Muddy Waters' "Hoochie Coochie Man".
In 2008 the band supported Def Leppard and Whitesnake on all dates of the latter's extensive Great Britain and Northern Ireland tour. On June 26, their last date on this tour, the band succeeded in their lifelong dream of playing Wembley Arena. They have also opened for Drowning Pool.
Shortly after finishing their tour supporting Def Leppard and Whitesnake, Black Stone Cherry announced an 8 date UK tour in December. The support act for this tour are to be
The Answer, an Irish rock band, as well as special guests
Sevendust.
The Answer are no longer to be supporting Black Stone Cherry as they are now touring with
AC/DC in the USA, therefore
Stone Gods will be the support.
The band toured with
Nickelback in the UK on the
Dark Horse World Tour and lead singer and guitarist Chris Robertson came out to play a cover of
AC/DC's
Highway To Hell with the band members of
Nickelback during the headliner's set. The tour with
Nickelback started on
22 May and ended on the
29 May in
2009. Here is a recent interview from this years Rock on the Range at: http://app.synclive.com?show/29550.
The band played a small venue (300-400 people) on June 9th 2009 at the Colchester Arts Centre in Colchester, UK. They were supported by Black Spiders and Heaven's Basement. For their October tour they will be supported by
Loaded (side project of former
Guns N' Roses and current
Velvet Revolver bassist
Duff McKagan).
Tours
- Black Stone Cherry Tour (w/ Buckcherry, Black Label Society, Hinder)
- Folklore & Superstition Tour (w/ Def Leppard, Whitesnake)
- The Rock Is Alive Tour (w/ Theory Of A Deadman, The Parlor Mob)
- Folklore & Superstition Tour (w/ Stone Gods, Sevendust, Hinder, Theory Of A Deadman, Nickelback)
- Download Festival June, 14, 2009
- The Sound of Madness Tour (w/ Halestorm, Shinedown)
Promotion and publicity
Music from Black Stone Cherry has been featured in television and other media, including the
iTunes Store.
In television, the track "
Lonely Train" was the official theme song for
WWE's The Great American Bash 2006. The track was later featured in the WWE
video game WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007
. Additionally,
Heath Herring's
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut was marked with playing of "
Lonely Train" on January 25, 2007.
In movies, the track "Shooting Star" was used in a video showing the premiere (preview) footage of the movie
The Condemned
during
WrestleMania 23. "Backwoods Gold" was also used in another video talking about the movie.
"Please Come In" from the album "Folklore and Superstition" was featured on Monday Night Football during the 2008-2009 NFL Season.
"Lonely Train" was available on iTunes for free the week of July 17, 2006. For a brief period of time the band's catalog on the
iTunes music store (which consisted of
Black Stone Cherry
, the
Hell & High Water EP
and the "Lonely Train" single) was taken down. On February 6, 2007, the album came up again, and on March 6, 2007 the
Hell & High Water EP
was also restored. The only part of the catalog yet to be put up as of June 4, 2007 is the Lonely Train single. All of Black Stone Cherry's material is now on the UK iTunes store, after the EPs were recently added.
Band members
- Chris Robertson - Lead vocals, Lead/Rhythm guitar, Slide guitar, and Drums.
- Ben Wells - Rhythm/Lead guitars, Sitar, and Backing vocals.
- Jon Lawhon - Bass guitar and Backing vocals.
- John Fred Young - Drums/Percussion, Backing vocals, Harmonica, and Piano.
Discography
Albums
- Black Stone Cherry
(2006); #90 (U.S.) #188 UK [1]
- Live at the Astoria, London (31.10.07)
(2007); (Limited to 1000 copies)
- Folklore and Superstition
(2008); #28 (U.S.) UK #23 [2], UK Rock #1 [3]
EPs
- Hell & High Water EP
(2006) - Digital-only EP released November 11, 2006
#"Hell & High Water"
#"Big City Lights"
#"We Are the Kings"
- Rain Wizard EP
(2007) - Digital-only EP released July 10, 2007
#"Rain Wizard"
#"Drinkin' Champagne"
#"Stop Runnin'"
- The Kerrang! Radio Sessions EP (Acoustic)
(2008) - Digital-only EP released January 29, 2008
#"Lonely Train" (Acoustic)
#"Hell & High Water" (Acoustic)
#"Maybe Someday" (Acoustic)
Compilations
#"Roadrunner record's annual assault 2008" (2008)
Singles
| Year
| Title
| Chart positions
| Album
|
U.S.
Main.
Rock
|
| 2006
| "Lonely Train"
| 14
| Black Stone Cherry
|
| "Hell & High Water"
| 30
|
| 2007
| "Rain Wizard"
| 29
|
| "Big City Lights"
| —
| Hell & High Water EP
|
| 2008
| "Blind Man"
| 19
| Folklore and Superstition
|
| "Please Come In"
| 24
|
| 2009
| "Things My Father Said"
| —
|
| "Soulcreek"
| —
|
References
- Chart Log UK
- The Official UK Albums Chart for the week ending August 30, 2008
- The Official UK Rock/Metal Charts for the week ending August 30, 2008