Black Stone Cherry

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Not to be confused with the British band CherryBlackStone.
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Black Stone Cherry
Origin Edmonton, Kentucky, United States
Genre(s) Hard rock[1]
Post-grunge[1]
Southern rock[1]
Heavy metal[1]
Years active 2001–present
Label(s) Roadrunner Records
Website www.blackstonecherry.com
Members
Chris Robertson
Ben Wells
Jon Lawhon
John Fred Young

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), Ben Wells (guitar, background vocals), John Lawhon (bass guitar, background vocals), and John Fred Young (drums, background vocals), nephew of The Kentucky Headhunters drummer Fred Young, son of The Kentucky Headhunters 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.

Contents

[edit] History

The band Black Stone Cherry originates from Edmonton, Kentucky. Chris Robertson and John Fred Young, son of The Kentucky Headhunters drummer Fred 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.

The name was delivered by the famous Kretek cigarette Black Stone (Cherry Flavor).

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

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.

[edit] Tours

[edit] Promotion and publicity

Music from Black Stone Cherry has been featured in television and other media, and have also been available on iTunes.

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

  1. "Hell & High Water"
  2. "Big City Lights"
  3. "We Are the Kings"
  1. "Rain Wizard"
  2. "Drinkin' Champagne"
  3. "Stop Runnin'"
  • The Kerrang! Radio Sessions EP (Acoustic) (2008) - Digital-only EP released January 29, 2008
  1. "Lonely Train" (Acoustic)
  2. "Hell & High Water" (Acoustic)
  3. "Maybe Someday" (Acoustic)

[edit] Compilations

  1. "Roadrunner record's annual assault 2008" (2008)

[edit] 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" [5] -

[edit] Band art

Some of Black Stone Cherry's most famous artwork, such as the cherry smoking a cigar is from a local tattoo artist, from West Main Street Tattoos in Glasgow, KY named Zach Burcham, who is listed in the art section under the thank you's of the self-titled album "Black Stone Cherry" as Zachry Burcham.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Black Stone Cherry Allmusic.com
  2. ^ Zobbel (2007-06-16). "Chart Log UK". Zobbel. http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_B.HTM. Retrieved on 2008-08-26. 
  3. ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart for the week ending August 30, 2008". ChartsPlus (Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd) (366): 5–8. 
  4. ^ "The Official UK Rock/Metal Charts for the week ending August 30, 2008". ChartsPlus (Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd) (366): 14. 
  5. ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=117966

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Black Stone Cherry
Chris Robertson · Ben Wells · Jon Lawhon · John Fred Young
Studio albums
Live albums
Demos and Extended plays
Rock N' Roll Tape · Hell & High Water EP · Rain Wizard EP
Videos
Singles
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