It is now only a one-month wait until the Maid Of Stone Festival, and no one is more excited than Chris Robertson of Black Stone Cherry to be there. With the band tucked away writing the next album, Chris says this is “our one and only jump over the pond and back” for the foreseeable future.
Black Stone Cherry are one band that have a massive following in Europe and, especially in the UK. The English humour is not lost on Chris, as I am sitting in sunny Cambridge, and Chris asks, “Are you actually in the UK right now, or are you on vacation somewhere?”
The whole band are excited to be back, especially in Maidstone an area which has always been good to the band. “Such a beautiful thing,” Chris says. The thrill to headline the Maid Of Stone Festival is obvious to see, especially given the plans for the band this year.
“We’ve been in and out of the studio and working on new music,” Chris says. “Hopefully, sometime very late in the year, we’ll get some of that out. I have no idea. I’m just spitballing.
“So we’re not playing as many shows this year, so we’re super excited. The energy that we get from the fans in the UK you can’t compare it to anywhere else we play for our band. That’s not to say we don’t have amazing crowds, but they’re just a different energy in the UK for us.
“Our music just latched on with the people that connected with our music, and we’re eternally grateful for that. It’s one of the most beautiful things. Some of our best friends on the planet are people that we’ve met through our music over there, from Wales to Scotland to wherever.
“It’s truly beautiful what our music has been able to do for us,” Chris says. “But dude, we’re super excited to come back. It’s our only UK performance this year, and hell, looking at our schedule, it could be the only international performance here where we’re working on stuff.
“First and foremost, we’re truly grateful and thankful that Maid Of Stone wanted us to come headline the thing. Secondly, get your asses ready because we’re coming in to throw down. We’re coming to bring the best Black Stone Chery show you’ve ever seen. That’s the goal anytime we come over. But if it’s gonna be our one and only show over there this year, you best believe it’s gonna be a whip-ass show.”
Black Stone Cherry hit 25 years next year. Does it seem that long? “Yes and no,” Chris says. “I just had my 40th birthday. I’ve been playing music a long time now, but at the same time, it kind of feels like we’re just getting started.”
But within that time, there have been some incredible career highs. “Lots of records, lots of shows played and lots of things we never thought we’d get to do,” Chris says. “From headlining festivals to playing our own gig at the Royal Albert Hall to having a platinum song we wrote that another band covered. It’s just been truly remarkable and incredible, and we’re forever thankful and grateful for that.”
Chris Robertson and John Fred Young initially got together when they were teenagers. With the linking with The Kentucky Headhunters, was it always going to be that they were gonna be in a band?
“No,” Chris says. “When me and John Fred first started playing together, Richard [Young[ would stop in every now and then. But he just let us blossom and do our thing. When we finally had a full-blown band together and started writing some songs and playing shows, he started to come around a little bit more.
“I don’t know why, but before he ever instilled anything in us, we were just like, it’s not ‘if’ it’s ‘when’. We just had a win mentality. It was always when we play a festival or when we headline a festival or when we play an arena. It was never if we get a chance to do this, we’re going to do this.
“It’s kind of like a cross between a childlike mentality and a bull in a china shop. It’s the wonder of that childlike heart of going anything is possible. And then it’s that bull in a china shop going, I’m going to go after what I want. I think when those two things converge, you get a really beautiful way of chasing what you’re after.
“For us, it’s never been a stop. Even when we were dropped from a record label. We did a full-blown headlining tour of arenas, filmed the DVD and were let go the following January. So even then, we were like, well, when we get to the next place that we’re gonna put our records out through and find a new family, we’ll put out a great record.
“It was OK. When we get the next one, we’re gonna do this. I think our mentality has been the key to our longevity more than anything ’cause we’re a band that’s had records that got played shit loads on the radio, and then we’ve had records that didn’t get played that much at all on the radio.
“But we’ve always been very consistent in the fact of win, and we’re gonna go and do this as soon as we can. We’ve always stuck to our vibe and playing rock ‘n’ roll and just against all odds, keep playing it.”
For fans and observers, there is a feeling of family with Black Stone Cherry and their great chemistry. “Yeah, man, Chris says. “We’ve all known each other for so long. Steve’s [Jewell, bass] been with us now for several years. Even before that, we knew Steve when he was a young teenager. The family element has always stayed intact.
“We’re a band that’s been around a long time. We’ve had one lineup change. We’re damn fortunate and thankful for what we get to do. Anytime you can bridge something you love with the people you love, that’s pretty, pretty special.”
Black Stone Cherry always put 100% into everything they do. There is a determination and a sense that they want to be true to themselves. Even their live shows look exhausting. For Chris, this determination has its roots in when he was young.
“I don’t remember exactly what we were doing, but the quote stuck with me,” Chris says. “We were doing something, and I was kind of half-assing it outside. My dad looked at me and he goes, boy, either do it or don’t and it just stuck with me.
“In times where you’re like, I don’t feel like doing this, and I’m gonna kind of half-ass this situation just to get by. It’s do it or don’t. Either give it what you got or don’t do it. That just kind of stuck with me, and every time the lights go down or it’s our time to hit the stage, it’s do it or don’t. Give it everything you got, or don’t go out at all.”
Black Stone Cherry are genuinely one of the best live bands I have ever seen. I first came across them supporting The Darkness in Thetford Forest in Norfolk, and they absolutely blew me away. Great songs, but the stage presence and the whole rock ‘n’ roll vibe made it feel like they could have been playing in a club instead of 80,000+ people.
“We’re a different kind of band a little bit,” Chris says. “I am not the kind of frontman like Justin is. Justin is one of the most extraordinary performing frontmen. Like a modern David Lee Roth, but with an incredible vocal range. That’s his vibe, man, and I’ve never been that guy [smiles]
“So it’s really cool when we play with bands like that, in my opinion, because people get to see two sides of it. I come from more of a Warren Haynes, Leslie West, kind of rare back and holler and play the guitar kind of thing. Ben and Steve are kind of all over the place. I think it’s what makes our show cool and have its own unique thing. You never know where to look with us.”
For UK audiences, I suggest there is the same appeal for Black Stone Cherry as Blackfoot have and bands like that. “I’ll take that all day long,” Chris smiles.
It is about a real universal feel. People think of bands who play more of a Southern style, traditionally Lynyrd Skynyrd. But there is very much of Kentucky in what Black Stone Cherry do.
“Look, Skynyrd is my favourite band of all time,” Chris says. “But they lean more country than a band like Blackfoot did. Blackfoot was like the hell-raising side of Southern rock, and Ricky [Medlocke] is one of our dear friends to this day.
“We got to meet him through our ramblings with Skynyrd, going around the country with him. The Blackfoot thing? I absolutely love that because they were Southern Rock on 12, where Skynyrd was like Southern Rock on 10. They knew exactly what they were gonna play when they hit the stage.
“Blackfoot was more rambunctious, and it could fall off the rails. But the train never kept going down the track. I love that. The thing I love about Black Sabbath and the thing I love about Blackfoot, especially the live stuff, is it felt like the train could completely fall apart and come off the tracks at any minute. But it never did.
“It always kept moving forward, and it was just like controlled chaos a little bit. That’s kind of like what our shows are, man. We don’t play to click track or anything. There’s no backing tracks. It’s just a band, some lights, and a PA.
“If it falls flat on its face, we’re gonna laugh about it. I’ve done it a million times, man. It’s just what it is. What it’s supposed to be. It’s supposed to be fun and entertaining and that’s what we try to do.”
Fun and entertaining is definitely something that Black Stone Cherry can do. With the band working on new material, will they debut anything at Maid Of Stone?
“I doubt it, ’cause we’re playing a festival show,” Chris says. “I’m one guy, so who knows? There’s four of us in the band, so this could totally change between now and then.
“When you play a festival like Maid Of Stone, it’s cool to play something new. As a concertgoer, if I go to a festival and my favourite band is playing, I want to hear all the songs I want to hear at that festival. I want to hear them play all their biggest songs. Maybe one or two deep cuts that are personal favourites or be on my wish list.
“But like, dude, if I go see Metallica play a festival and they’re only playing one night at a festival, I want them to play everything from Battery to King Nothing. I want to hear all the stuff that you want to hear Metallica play.
“Festivals are almost like a greatest hits setlist. But we don’t technically have the greatest hits, but it’s like the most popular stuff. That’s not always dependent on radio, either. There’s songs that are just great live songs that catch on over the years that have significance.
“For us, Blame It On The Boom Boom was never a really big single, but it’s one of the biggest fan favourite songs every night when we do it. It’s one of the biggest reactions. It’s kind of both ways with that.
“But who knows, man? At that point, we may have a wild hair up our ass and go, ‘Let’s play something new’. We may be, ‘Let’s save it. Let’s keep it under wraps until it’s not.'”
You will have to be there to discover the Black Stone Cherry setlist answer. But either way, as Chris says, “Maid Of Stone is gonna be awesome.”
Maid Of Stone: A Festival That Rocks
Now in its third year, Maid Of Stone has firmly established itself as a must-attend event for rock fans. With a wide variety of music styles covered, their festival’s reputation continues to grow.
Set to be a highlight of Festival Season, MetalTalk will have more news very soon. All our coverage for 2025 will be found at MetalTalk.net/maid-of-stone.
Tickets Available Now. For full details and to grab your tickets, visit MaidOfStoneFestival.com.
MetalTalk’s Maid Of Stone 2024 coverage can be found at https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/maid-of-stone-festival-2024.
For MetalTalk’s Maid Of Stone 2023 coverage, visit https://www.metaltalk.net/tag/maid-of-stone-festival-2023.
