Preacher Stone, ready to travel across the pond for their UK Tour, have today premiered the new video for the title track of the By The Horns album at MetalTalk. With the band opening their tour in Faversham on 28 January 2026, the UK has another chance to see the great bond between the lads in action.
As MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings wrote in the album review, Preacher Stone know how to deliver, and I, for one, cannot wait until the boys hit these shores again next February. “It’s a kick ass ride of getting to the weekend after a hard week and letting rip with your friends, sinking a few and raising hell,” singer Ronnie Riddle says of the title track.
“The video takes you along with us for a day in life at a show with the fun we all have together, we just love playing for people and sharing that experience with as many folks as we can, it’s a helluva a good time for sure!”
Formed in 2008, the losses of Marty Hill and Johnny Webb hit the band hard, but this is also a band who have evolved over time. “It’s gotten better as we’ve gone along,” frontman Ronnie Riddle told MetalTalk.
“We’re growing. You mentioned the last couple of years, losing Marty and losing Johnny were tough. We got Darryl [Whitt]. We weren’t looking for a guitar player. We were looking for THE Preacher Stone guitar player. He fits right in. So welcome to the dysfunctional family that we are.”
Drummer Wyatt joined the chat, wrapped up warm, much to the teasing of the other members. He said he was practising for the UK weather. It might be chilly in England, but like so many US bands, they always get a warm welcome over here. There is a real affinity with Southern rock in the UK, and a lot of it is the storytelling element of the music, which Preacher Stone are good at.
“I’ve thought about that too,” Ronnie says. “That’s a big component of this music for me and all the people that I admired. But I think another thing, too, about this genre is that people in Southern rock can play. The guitar players can play, and the singers are soulful, and they’re storytellers. Some of them great voices fit the song. Bass players in Southern rock and drummers in Southern rock can play. I think that translates to an authenticity about the stories being told because it relates to life. But there’s also a musicianship that’s compelling in and of itself that makes it very listenable.”
Bassist Jim Bolts says that the UK fans have been nothing but spectacular for the band. “We try to treat them the exact same way. I think they gravitate to that because we’re just working guys, too. They come out, and we hang out, and we rock ‘n’ roll. We couldn’t be happier.”
There is a blue-collar honesty with Preacher Stone. The new album touches on some real subjects and not the Mötley Crüe lifestyle. “It’s the real rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, is the way I like to put it,” Wyatt says. “In today’s society, we have a little bit too much entertainment going on when it comes to this business. Yeah, it’s entertaining. But you have to be good for real. You have to know your instrument or your voice, whatever you’re using. You have to be fluent in that for real to do this, and then you have to have a good mind and emotional state to do this.”
For Ronnie Riddle, there is a vulnerability in the Preacher Stone music. “We’re not sitting in a sterile corporate environment trying to write a hit song. We’re writing what we feel like writing and singing about the issues that we face. The danger in that is maybe people don’t get it, and if they don’t get it, they don’t get it. It’s nothing personal. Our feelings aren’t hurt. But when people really get it, then they really get you, and there’s a connection made, and that’s how fan bases are built.
“It’s difficult for me and the rest of the guys to use the word fans because hell, if you spend your money on us and you come to see us, you’re more of a friend to me than you are a fan. We’re all in this together.”
Preacher Stone played Maid Of Stone Festival last year, and for them it was an amazing feeling. “We’re early in the day,” Jim Bolts says. “It’s on the last day of a big festival, and there were thousands of people in front of the stage at noon, singing the words of the songs.
“That’s when it kind of sank in that we need to keep doing this thing. We had lost Marty, and Nick [Nguyen] showed up and did a heck of a job. But he’s a busy, busy boy. We’ve got Darryl in, and we turned this record out, and we’re grabbing our musical careers by the horns and just running with it.”
Glenn Tabor was the producer for By The Horns. “He’s a madman,” Jim smiles. “We love him.” There was a more polished sound on the early albums, and Tabor asked the band how they wanted to do the new album. With the decision made not to bring in a new keyboard player, Preacher Stone wanted a “raw rock ‘n’ roll record.”
The new album certainly catches the spirit of Preacher Sotne. “Everybody brought something to the table for this record as well,” Jim says. “Ben brought in songs. Darryl brought in songs. Wyatt brought in songs. Ronnie brought in songs. Rather than having one key lick writer, this is probably the most group effort of any Preacher Stone record that’s been done to date.”
“In some respects, it was one of the most terrifying and rewarding at the same time,” Ronnie says. “The guy who founded the band’s not there, and he was the guy who was always coming in with these licks, and some of them were brilliant. Some of them were weirdly brilliant.”
Wyatt brought a killer keyboard riff that gets translated into a guitar riff that works. “Nothing comes in the band room and leaves the same way,” Ronnie says. “Your idea when it comes in doesn’t necessarily go out the way you had it, because everybody’s put their little bit to it, their little take to it. I think one of the things I really love about this band is that we don’t tell each other how to do things. I would never tell them how to play guitar, Wyatt how to play drums, or Jim how to play bass. We just all work, we’ve had this idea since all of us have been together, try it. Don’t talk about. Let’s not argue about it for 30 minutes.”
Guitarist Ben Robinson says that this stems from an ultimate trust that each one has in the guy next to him. “I think that leads to a product that’s undeniable. I had a lot of fun making this record. I had a lot of fun working with Darryl. The amount of respect and trust that we have in one another is like the guitar-playing team of the band. There’s a bond that has been forged. You get outside of our little guitar duo, and you put that kind of chemistry into a collective group, then you get solid work.”
The tour with Revenant is a great match, and there will be some wonderful evenings coming up. “We’ve spoken with them,” Jim says, “checked out their new EP. It’s gonna rock. I can’t think of a better lineup to be coming over there with. They’re excited about going out with us, and we’re excited about going on the road with them guys. We’re all on the floor putting all the finishing touches on the travel arrangements. Everybody’s like, Hey man, what are you taking? We’re getting excited like we’re getting ready to go to Disneyland or something.”
Ronnie Riddle has taken a deep dive into the Revenant music to make the most of seeing them live on this tour. “I just feel like this is gonna be one of those great cases where each band brings out the best in the other band. Because they’re serious, they’re a great band. They’ve got a unique sound, they’ve got some power, and they’ve got some really cool guitar stuff going on. That’s just gonna make us have to bring our A game. So this is gonna be one hell of a show. I’m putting my ad out right now. If you don’t have your tickets yet, you’d better get them.”
The tour has the Preacher Stone debut at the Cart & Horses, which bassist Jim Bolt is looking forward to, being “the world’s biggest Steve Harris fan,” according to Ronnie. “I’ll probably miss sound check because I’ll be walking around, taking pictures of all the memorabilia,” Jim says.
Preacher Stone have tried haggis on previous tours, and they know the history of Bannerman’s. Ben Robinson has “been putting together a small nest egg of cider money. Hopefully, I don’t burn through my little nest egg in the first two or three days. That would be bad.”
For Ronnie, UK bands are huge in his musical upbringing and tastes, while Darrell Whitt will experience his first UK Tour. You know the whole band is so excited about returning.
“I didn’t know how emotional Maid of Stone was gonna be until it was,” Ronnis says. “It really hit me pretty hard to be playing a dream come true, an outdoor festival in the UK, in front of thousands of people who knew the words. That’s one of the brightest moments in my career, to be quite honest.”
The UK will look forward to welcoming the family back, and you know that, whatever the future holds, Preacher Stone will be welcome over here whenever they can cross the pond.
Tour tickets are available from PreacherStoneBand.com.
