Black Stone Cherry

There has definitely been positive movement in the recent part of the young life of Black Stone Cherry. Indeed, good things have been happening for the rock foursome from Metcalfe County, particularly in the level of shows they’ve been playing and the company they’ve been keeping. It’s not every area band that rubs elbows with the likes of Saliva and the Kentucky Headhunters.

Black Stone Cherry’s aggressive sound has put them on the road opening for numerous national bands, a feat for a group who ranges in age from 19 to 21. Bowling Green rock fans will have their next chance to hear this group February 11 at Van Meter Auditorium on the Western Kentucky University campus, on a bill with Saliva and Low As I. Tickets are $15 for the public and $10 for WKU students.

Interest in Black Stone Cherry continues to increase. The band just joined forces last month with New York management firm In De Goot Entertainment. Black Stone Cherry is looking to play more shows with groups that are in the In De Goot stable, which includes Saliva, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mud, Shinedown, and Chevelle. In addition, In De Goot is an ally in seeking out record label interest for Black Stone Cherry.

With the good things that are happening, there is still a certain groundedness on the part of the band that comes from rural sensibilities of knowing where you come from. When this reporter sat down to talk with the members of Black Stone Cherry, the vibe was just as much down home unassuming nature as it was enthusiasm for the music. The foursome of Chris Robertson (lead guitar, lead vocals), Ben Wells (guitar, vocals), Jon Lawhon (bass, vocals), and John Fred Young (drums, vocals) are encyclopedic in their knowledge of rock music and its forebears and come across as genuine and hospitable folks who, oh by the way, make an intense brand of rock.

Music and artistic talents run in the families of the band members. Robertson’s father is a musician, and his grandfather made him a guitar and builds mandolins (Chris told of how Bill Monroe once played one of his grandfather’s mandolins and remarked that he sold them too cheap). Young’s relatives are a bit more famous; his father is Richard Young and his uncle is Fred Young, guitarist and drummer, respectively, for the Kentucky Headhunters. Wells did Elvis Presley impersonation performances as a child (his mother made him a white spangled jumpsuit for his shows) and is fourth cousin to actor Johnny Depp.

Chris Robertson and John Fred Young grew up together since kindergarten and started playing music together at age 13. About this time, a transplant from Jacksonville, Florida moved to Kentucky. That was Jon Lawhon, who fell in with Robertson and Young shortly after his arrival. The band jokes that Lawhon may have come from a city, but he has been since been “hickified” and fits right in.

The threesome started a band in school. A fellow wandered into a practice on June 1, 2001 that the other three initially thought was another musician they’d played with. It turned out to be Ben Wells, who resembled the other fellow in looks but had an instant chemistry musically with the rest of the band. Lawhon described it as “the most God-given accident we could ask for,” and Black Stone Cherry was born June 4, 2001.

The sound of the group — described on the band website as “skull crushing, heart stopping, run for your life riff rock” — seems to come from a marriage of the founding rock and soul fathers they revere and more modern rock practitioners. Aside from the individual influences each member cited, overall influences on the band were listed as Cactus, Black Oak Arkansas, Mountain, Blue Cheer, Thin Lizzy, the Beatles, Motley Crue, Percy Sledge, and Ray Charles. There is a seamless flow no matter what gear the band is shifted in, and the sound is voluminous. Lawhon described his approach as “lock in with John Fred’s right foot – I would rather have people feel me than see me.” Young, for his part, is a drumming monster much like his Headhunter uncle Fred. Robertson sings like he damn well means every syllable, and he and Wells bring the riffs and the wall of guitars faultlessly and confidently.

The first, and so far only, CD release from Black Stone Cherry is Rock ’N’ Roll Tape. The band started booking themselves at first, thinking that they were further along than they were. Ben quipped, “We thought we were ready to play in front of the Rolling Stones.” But through support and advice from family and others, and through their own work ethic, Black Stone Cherry moved forward. The Kentucky Headhunters have given them use of their Practice House, and Fred Young has been, according to Lawhon, a “band guru” of sorts, giving advice and help at seemingly just the right time. The band also credits radio stations The Point and D93 as being very supportive.

There’s a definite solidity that is apparent in the way Black Stone Cherry operates and conducts itself, both as a unit and as individuals. They describe themselves as “pretty straight-laced” personally; Lawhon summed it up musically by saying “We don’t agree that you have to smoke a joint to write a good song.” In addition to ten hour daily practices from Sunday through Friday, the band is businesslike in its approach to publicity, promotion, and in short doing the little things that too many bands with talent fail to do away from the stage. The unique atmosphere of the Practice House, with its walls papered with posters and flyers of musicians both legendary and provincial, seeps into the group as well; Young said “We always take a little of the Practice House with us wherever we go.”

Also, the band freely praises their ties to their families, something they value as highly as their knowledge of musical heritage. John Fred Young said they still have dinner with his grandparents Gwen and James Howard, who have spoiled national media reporters before during the rise and heyday of the Kentucky Headhunters with cooking and hospitality.

The group said they are enjoying touring so far. They have played with several national groups, one of the most recent is opening for the Kentucky Headhunters in Bowling Green. They have also played with Saliva before in Huntington, West Virginia, a city Young describes as having a “good scene – it never stops, like New York City.” Black Stone Cherry has been developing relationships with In De Goot bands 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mud, Chevelle, and Shinedown, and these relationships has helped to get opening slots on their shows in towns Black Stone Cherry hasn’t been to previously.

There has been speculation on the level of record label interest in Black Stone Cherry. The band would only say that In De Goot is working on “scouting out interest” from record labels in the group, according to Wells. While label interest is something to watch for, Black Stone Cherry has moved into a higher level of performing and touring and certainly stands as a group on the rise.

Doors open for the Black Stone Cherry show February 11 at Van Meter Auditorium with Saliva and Low As I at 6:00 p.m. The show is open for all ages. For more information on this show, visitwww.wku.edu/cab. The Black Stone Cherry websitewww.blackstonecherry.com will be undergoing some upgrades over the next few weeks but has more band info and an interesting pictoral section on the Kentucky Headhunters’ Practice House.