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 consists of Chris Robertson (guitar and vocals), Ben Wells (guitar), Jon Lawhon (bass guitar), and John Fred Young (drums).
The band Black Stone Cherry originates from Edmonton, Kentucky, which is in the middle of a dry county (where no alcoholic beverages are available for purchase).
Surrounded by music and support in Edmonton, Black Stone Cherry was able to develop far away from the mainstream. John Fred once explained, "When you're from an area where you don't have the competition to be playing the same kind of music, you create your own style of music." Chris and John Fred 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 practiced relentlessly. Black Stone Cherry friend Aaron McCloud says "Their music is real, and I'm very inspired by their music and their personalities."
With expanding local popularity, Black Stone Cherry 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.
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".
Black Stone Cherry's music is often associated with bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Black Crowes, and Led Zeppelin to a lesser extent. Their heavy, raw sound is often likened to AC/DC, with guitar riffs similar to those produced by Guns N' Roses. While there are clear influences in Black Stone Cherry’s music, they have created their own style to a great extent.
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.
The name was delivered by the famous Kretek cigarette Black Stone (Cherry Flavour)
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 26th June, 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.
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 footage of the movie The Condemned during Wrestlemania 23. "Backwoods Gold" was also used in another video talking about the movie.
"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.
- "Hell & High Water"
- "Big City Lights"
- "We Are the Kings"
- "Rain Wizard"
- "Drinkin' Champagne"
- "Stop Runnin'"
- The Kerrang! Radio Sessions EP (Acoustic) (2008) - Digital-only EP released January 29, 2008
- "Lonely Train" (Acoustic)
- "Hell & High Water" (Acoustic)
- "Maybe Someday" (Acoustic)
- "Roadrunner record's annual assault 2008" (2008)
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.
- ^ Zobbel (2007-06-16). "Chart Log UK". Zobbel. Retrieved on 2008-08-26.
- ^ "The Official UK Albums Chart for the week ending 30 August 2008" . ChartsPlus (366): 5-8. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd. Retrieved on 2008-08-26.
- ^ "The Official UK Rock/Metal Charts for the week ending 30 August 2008" . ChartsPlus (366): 14. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd. Retrieved on 2008-08-27.
