Interviewed by Jason Ashcraft

Photos by Jason Ashcraft & Toshi Iseda

Black Stone Cherry is: Chris Robertson, Vocals/guitar; Ben Wells, Guitar/vocals; Jon Lawhon, Bass/vocals; John Fred Young, Drums.

What are your first memories as musicians?

Chris: I remember quittin’ and then hating it, but then I picked my guitar backup and started writing again.

Ben: Yeah, I think everybody did little bit of that…I used to dress up like Elvis…that is my first memory of getting into music.

John Fred: My Dad was a rock star for the Headhunters when I was two or three, before the Headhunters were huge. I remember we had these music cartoons that had Motown tracks playing in the background like Mickey had the Temptations. My Dad would put me in a baby seat while he would write songs in the living room and I would sit in front of the TV and watch. I guess when I was little, Motown was the first music I ever heard.

Jon: When we were first getting together, I went over to Chris’ house and we worked up two songs…the one I remember was Rock and Roll by Led Zepplin. We went down to the Frat House that night, it was the first I ever played bass with a band.. first experience as a bass player was with a band and not on my own…I lucked out in that department.

How long have you guys been playing together and when did BSC form?

Chris: June 4, 2001, my sixteenth birthday, so we’ve been together almost six years, but I’ve known Jon Fred since kindergarten; for about sixteen years.

John Fred: Jon moved up from Jacksonville in ’98 or ’99 and Chris and I was just going into high school and we were forming a band, he lived in the next county and I lived in Glasgow. We used to do a lot of plays together in Edmonton, so we just kind of picked up some licks together and kind of went from there.

Ben: We took some buddies on the road with us and they kept us in line.

What has been the most exciting part of joining the Roadrunner Records artist lineup?

Ben: We’re totally fortunate to be on a record label like Roadrunner. They’re real cool when you get to know them, ‘cause they’re like regular people, not like suit and tie, looking at their watch like they got to go somewhere. When we did the showcase, they were just cool normal people who just dug music. So they definitely were our first choice. Plus they are a rock n’ roll label.

What are some of your favorite songs off your album? Why?

Chris: All of them really. Every song we write, each person puts their own thing into it. You know, some songs we play more than others or what not, but “Lonely Train” would have to be one of our favorites because it was our first single and one of the first songs that pretty much the world got to hear. It was one of the songs we just felt really strong about, so we released it and it blew up by storm.

Ben: Yeah, it’s hard to pick “a” favorite when we put all our heart into all our songs. But some are more fun to play live then others because we move around a little more and expect the crowd sing along more, like on “Lonely Train” or “Hell and High Water,” you know the singles - “Rain Wizard.” But it’s cool because people will start singing the songs that weren’t even singles.

What have been some of your favorite cities to play at?

Chris: Anywhere in Kentucky, obviously. People will drive from Edmonton to Louisville and from everywhere else to Edmonton, which is always good. I mean, Europe was awesome, like Birmingham, England and all the shows in Germany. The cool thing about Birmingham, England is that it’s the base for Led Zepplin and Black Sabbath both, so they all like the rock and roll there.

John Fred: Every place in America is great is great to play. I mean we haven’t found one place we didn’t like. But then there are these hot spots, like everywhere in Texas and all over the South. But then you got Michigan, you got Iowa, you got Kansas. California loves us. We just got back from Florida from doing this music fest, where we played in a stadium to 30,000 people.

Ben: Canada was cool, too. We basically toured all across Canada from Vancouver over.

Chris: And you can never get tired of Beaumont, Texas or Rockford, Illinois. Those are two cities that, honest to God, are like going to play a show in Edmonton every night. The only place that was kind of weird playing was Seattle…….damn.

Good or bad, what is your most memorable road story to date?

Chris: Every day is awesome, but when we were on the Black Label Society tour, we were in San Francisco, when we had two nights left. We were in San Francisco and LA. Zakk (Wylde) had pneumonia and didn’t know it. He was going to end the show after three songs, but he ended up playing some more. And we were sitting on the bus hanging out with some people from Dirt Bag clothing, when David comes flying up on the bus and saying “Chris, you got to come in, you got to come in!” And I said “what do you mean?” He (David) said, “you gotta go sing!” And I said “Black Label is playing. Our set is done” But apparently Zack told his guitar tech Moby, to come get me to come and sing. So he (Zakk) is doing a guitar solo and Moby is asking what songs I knew. So I was like this one, this one and this one. Well, turns out that those are two of the last songs that he wanted to play. So Zakk said “where is he at, where is he at?” So I went out on stage with the whole BLS band and got to sing “Stillborn” and a few others and it was awesome. I mean Zakk and I were singing on the same mic, but then he just went to playing guitar and I sang it. It was awesome. I mean, I’ve had posters of that guy on my wall my whole life. It’s something I’ll never forget.

John Fred: In Seattle, Ben and I got food poisoning or something and threw up for like two days and ruined four pairs of pants. Man, it was awful. Also, when we were in Birmingham (England), we were 30 minutes away from John Bonham’s grave and I couldn’t go cause we had to go play. So when I go back there, if I don’t go get to see his grave, I’m gonna go off.

Ben: A really good moment for all of us was, [when] but we got to watch Aerosmith from side stage in Sacramento, California. It was the last night of their tour and we got to hang out for a while and be back there with all of them. They’ve had such an influence on our own music. So that was definitely cool.

Who have been some of your favorite bands to play with?

John Fred: I think everybody we have played with we have made really good friends with. We have been out with a lot of bands. One of our first was Saliva and then Buckcherry and then we went onto the Three Day Grace and Staind tour. And that was awesome. We made a lot of friends with those guys. Of course, Black Label and a few after that was amazing. And now we have been out with Hinder since Christmas and we have became really good friends with those guys. We have also been out with Papa Roach and Sevendust, so we made friends with all of those guys. We make great friends with all the bands we play with.

Ben: Doing the festivals is always fun because you get to mingle with all kinds of different bands. That’s where you get to make a lot of your friends at one time.

What does your music aim to convey or get across to your fans?

John Fred: Don’t do drugs. Worship God. Live life the best you can and rock out.

Ben: Keep your head up, don’t be sad, quit being mad at your parents. Don’t run away from home with your girlfriend (laughing).

John Fred: Wear rubbers, you won’t end up dong better without one. So wear rubbers (jokingly).

Ben: Everybody just be happy. That’s one thing we claim, We like to go and talk to middle school kids and elementary schools kids about doing good and whatever. And a lot of them are wanting to play guitar and drums and stuff. And we’re like “keep it up!” And that’s what we want to do, we want to be role models for these kids. We are just trying to be a good role model and not talk about doing drugs. When we were growing, the bands that were our role models, some of their careers were fading because they were on drugs, so were trying not to do that with our fans. Hopefully, we’re doing a good job. We’re trying to.

What does the future hold for BSC?

Ben: Man, there are going to be all kinds of next albums written. There are going to be more tours and more singles, videos and all kinds of stuff. We just want to keep on going and going. One thing we do is we always raise the bar for ourselves. We’re never gonna say, “OK, we’re good enough now, we can stop.”

John Fred: Yeah, we ain’t like a lot of bands, we gonna keep kicking ass until we die.

Ben: And right now we’re still in the midst of promoting our debut album and were getting ready to head back out to do a few headlining shows, which we have never done, so were excited about that. It’s gonna be a fun tour? We can’t wait.

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So as you can see the interview was definitely cool and it was good to see John Fred, Ben, Chris and Jon again. Those boys haven’t changed a bit since the first time I met them back in 2002. This was only about a year after they became known as Black Stone Cherry. They ended up inviting me down to Edmonton one weekend to watch them rehearse and hang out for the day. So I went. At some point I decided that I was going to do a review of them in The Ville magazine’s 4th issue. I also ended up doing a photo shoot in a cow pasture because John Fred thought it would be cool. Yeah, right. We ticked off some grazing cattle once I drove my 4-Runner into the field. My dog, Boris, was hanging his head out the window and we were all packed in around each other. I remember hearing the sound of a snorting bull in the background as I was snapping photos. Hoping that I didn’t get a horn stuck in my ass, I kept clicking away. But, for reasons still unknown, The Ville never published another issue. So I have to show this old school picture of BSC I selected for that review. It absolutely conveys their personality as a band. So here it is:

For 65 hours each week I dedicate my efforts to keeping capitalism alive and well. Yes, that’s right, this is the way I am referring to my job. When it comes down to it, I’m not the kind of person who is obsessed with the concept of capitalism as a necessary means and way of life. I’m the kind of guy who wishes our materialism was based more on a system of reciprocity before money. If that were the case I’d probably be the next millionaire at some point. I think. But, what are you gonna do? Me, I try to find ways to keep all my scales balanced. This is one of the many reasons why I attempt to write on Louisville and Kentucky’s music scene. That’s right, I don’t do it for money. Hell, I’m probably not even worthy of being a paid journalist anyway. I do it because I love it. But I also do it because I’ve made a bunch of new friends in the process, even though they may not always be the voice of reason in any given situation.

I’m only averaging about 5 hours of sleep per night now, down from 7-8 hours, engaging myself in all these necessary functions of keeping my scales balanced. But, it’s all worth the while. I just hope that my hours of sacrificed shut-eye is going to be something appreciated and enjoyed by all my readers. Even if you force yourself to read. If that happens then mission accomplished. OK, enough of my rhetoric. Onto Louisville and Kentucky based music topics:

Remember to get your hands on the forthcoming issue of Louisville Music New’s July 07′ edition featuring my interview with Black Stone Cherry. Those who pickup a copy will also have the opportunity to get it signed by BSC on Saturday, August 18th when they play at ear-x-tacy prior to a Kentucky State Fair gig. I know they have a crap load of fans here in Louisville so I’m not expecting these copies to be around for long, so make sure you get yours.

Also get ready to read about what has been happening on the Dead City Rejects‘ music scene front in the August 07′ edition of scuttlebutt and LMN. With an endless set list of songs about all kinds of random punk themed happenings, the Louisville based punk trio has now become a quartet, which is something rare for their musical genre. Catch my review of the new lineup in August 07′.

Until then, arrivederci.

– Jason Ashcraft

So I’m ending my weekend watching Lotus Blake at the aiiradio.net studio (pictured below). These guys have a kind of old school approach to playing their music. Of course I always approve of musicans who play Gibsons and Marshalls. There is something about that combination of equipment says we’re straight “rock” first, and everything else second. Not that anything needs to be classified, but musicans playing Gibsons and Marshalls are always good musicians, which I am noticing right off the bat with Lotus Blake. I’m waiting for the song that reaches out and grabs me, but I anticipate it coming anytime now as I continue to listen.

So while I listen to Lotus Blake I’ll try to get out the review on the band I saw Friday night at Phoenix Hill Tavern. The Damwells (pictured below), are four irish boys from Brooklyn, NY passing by in Louisville on what I expect is a nationwide small club tour. But they were, simply stated, damn good! Everytime that I’ve heard them in the past I always thought I was hearing Wilco. But they clearly made that distinction when I saw them live. They are mainly some rythem rockers with some country understones. On “I’ll keep the bad things from you” they broke out a steel guitar and wailed on it like it was a Les Paul. Too bad he wasn’t playing through a Marshall and then I would have been really happy, but it sounded good nonetheless. Another song which you can often catch on 91.9 WFPK is “Accidental Man,” a song that boasts of stories about weekend flings amongst random lovers. I got the vibe that all of this song’s inspiration was rooted from true stories in the city that never sleeps. The chorus cheerfully proposes what some women would probably call, a typical male response to getting laid. Whatever the lyrics were the music was definetly the best attribute about this band. And they weren’t flashy with an image either, which always is an indication of good musicianship.

I meant to go see 16 Bones at The Bulldog Cafe on Saturday night, but fell asleep on the couch while attempting to watch The Belmont Stakes. So sorry Sailor, I told you I’d be there and fell asleep.

Now that the aiiradio studio is packed, I’m gonna go mingle and hopefully dig up some more interesting stories on Louisville’s music scene. By the way I am undecided on what to write on for August 2007’s edition, but have quite a few choices.

– Jason Ashcraft

Man I’ve been busy making sure I got to check out everything I intended this weekend. I Started out Friday night with The Original Rock Showcase at Phoenix Hill which offered an array of mixed emotions amongst myself, the artists, staff and patrons. Without diving into the unnecessary specifics, I’ll just jump right into what really matters; the music.

16 Bones headlined the night and introduced Ben Patrick on bass, who formerly played with Silent Q and Five.Bolt.Main. Of course you can read about 16 Bones in the newest issue of Louisville Music News and here on scuttlebutt (posted below).

Thorn was another act that I found to be quite impressive and who also has a few Louisville music scene veterans such as Scott McKenzie on drums, and “the artist formerly known as Critter” on guitar, both previously of Breckenridge. Also in Thorn is Nick Priddy on bass, who used to play in Month Of Sundaze and who also now co-hosts 93.1 The Fox’s Louisville Rocks radio show. Unfortunately I didn’t get the name or previous band names of their front man who seemed, nonetheless, a good fit for Thorn’s music.

Saturday night brought a rare treat at WHAS 11’s 54th Annual Crusade for Children at The Kentucky Center. The Kentucky Headhunters headlined this years event along with a multitude of solo artists as well. I only had the opportunity to see the Headhunters play and by the time I got to my seat they had packed The Kentucky Center to near capacity. Highlights of their performance included a guitar solo of “My Old Kentucky Home” by Greg Martin who was cheerfully wailing on his Les Paul all night long. There was also a sick drum solo by Fred Young which he ended bare handed by smacking the drums and punching the cymbals. It was the most impressive drum solo I had seen since Randy Castillo’s at an Ozzy Osbourne concert back in 1991. I now realize why Fred’s nephew and musical protege, John Fred Young of Black Stone Cherry, is such an energetic and talented young drummer himself.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Black Stone Cherry boys back here in Louisville on 18August for a concert at The Kentucky State Fair. Also don’t forget that my feature interview with BSC will be published in Louisville Music News’ and scuttlebutt’s July 2007 edition, so don’t miss it.

– Written by Jason Ashcraft

– Photography by Jason Ashcraft and Nicole Harkness

16 Bones - Photo by Jason Ashcraft

This may be the most musically diverse band in Louisville right now. They call themselves 16 Bones, and refer to their music as “Acoustic Appalachian Mountain Core Porch Stomp.” If this holds to be true and agreed on by the music community, well congratulations Louisville we have another musical genre to throw into the gene pool. But, in all seriousness, if you’ve never heard of “Acoustic Appalachian Mountain Core Porch Stomp” before and then listened to 16 Bones, you’d probably agree that this is exactly what it would sound like.

Comprising of what initially seemed to be an unlikely association of musicians, David “Sailor” Bryant (guitar, vocals), Bryan Fox (guitar vocals), Corey Ogle (drums), Erin Bolden (violin) & Jason Horne (guitar) make up the core of the band. They still are yet to name a full time person on bass. Sailor, formerly of My Own Victim and current vocalist for Surviving Thalia, is the pilot of 16 Bones’ music. Sailor usually writes most of the original melodies and lyrics and then emails those out to the rest of the band to develop for their next rehearsal. Bryan Fox formerly from End Of Me, and who has since founded a solo country career, plays a major role in that development and definitely adds the country flavor to their music with harmonizing vocals and southern guitar picking. Erin Bolden’s violin reinforces that “mountain core” sound and compliments Sailor and Fox’s lead. Jason Horne keeps the rhythm steady while Cory Ogle ads a rockin beat on drums, which at times, seem a little more amplified then necessary. But Ogle, formerly of Silent Q and Meat Basket is used to playing loud and hard and he shows no intent of slowing down the pace of the songs. Along with the drums tracks, he also helps arrange parts of certain tracks and helps develop Sailor’s multiple singing voices. Nonetheless, Ogle definitely makes up for not having a consistent bassist. Erin Bolden also plays classical violin in the JCC Orchestra, but this is her first experience playing with rock based musicians in a band. Horne, also is a newcomer to the idea of playing in an organized group.

As busy as these guys (and gals) are with the rest of their musical projects and home life, it is absolutely amazing how brilliant the songs are that they have written together, considering the short period of time they have on the clock with each other. Songs like “Out Of Your Mind,” “Rollback,” “Weary Bones,” which have not even been formerly recorded, may make them reconsider their initial “project” mentality of playing together. Sailor said that main reason 16 Bones came together was because he always felt he wrote this kind of music well but could never play it with his other metal projects. He also mentioned that he wanted to hush all those out there who have apparently doubted his musical ability to successfully write something other then metal. Most importantly Sailor dedicates 16 Bones’ music to the memory of his mother who passed away, but always liked these songs he wrote. When asked what the goal is for 16 Bones is, Sailor responded, “I haven’t really thought this one out all the way. I just got an idea and it grew into what you see now. I guess my goal is to create something that first of all is good and can be respected by myself and my peers. Also, to show some I am more than one dimensional, and that I can create the most abstract, southern rock, alternative, metal, blues project that I can. I guess after saying all that, you could say that my main goal would be to give birth to “Acoustic, Appalachian, Mountain Core, Porch Stomp.”

Want to see or hear for yourself? Check out 16 Bones when they play next at The Bulldog Cafe on 09June or you can visit their website at www.myspace.com/sixteenbones.

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