Interview with Ben Wells of Black Stone Cherry

When anyone says the words "southern rock," most people think of the days back in the '70's when The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd reigned as the kings of rock n' roll with their legendary guitar riffs and serene vocals. In their day, they were pioneers in the type of sound that they brought to the music scene in combining rock, country and blues into a new breed of music. Although southern rock definitely has it's place in the rock n' roll scene today, the band Black Stone Cherry has to be the most intriguing of the bunch. The band's new record "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" is nothing short of kick ass. The boys from Kentucky have made their own musical concoction, just as their southern rock predecessors did. There's definitely still that distinctive southern rock ring to the entire album, but they've sprinkled feels of nu metal and mainstream hook throughout. The result is one of the funnest albums to listen to this year. Hard Rock Reviews' Aaron Manogue spoke with lead guitarist Ben Wells about their incredibly unique sound, the eclectic sound on their new record, and their Carnival of Madness Tour with Theory of a Deadman and Alter Bridge.

Aaron Manogue: What do you think it is that really gives your band the incredibly unique sound that you have built your reputation off of?
Ben Wells: I think the fact that we are from a small town in Kentucky and the fact that we didn't have a music scene to fit into growing up has a lot to do with the way we sound. We grew up fans of blues, country, classic rock, folk, etc. and wanted to have pieces of that in our music!

Manogue: "White Trash Millionaire" has blown up across the country and on the charts. Tell me what that song means to you and what you're saying to your fans through that song.
Wells: It's just a fun song. It means be happy with what you have. It means feeling like a "millionaire" doesn't mean you have to have a million bucks in your pocket, you can have simple things and feel like a King as long as you're happy!

Manogue: You guys have a very eclectic sound throughout "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." You go from almost a John Mellencamp type sound in "Like I Roll" to almost a Nu Metal sound in "Killing Floor." Is that something you guys intended with this record?
Wells: One hundred percent! I mean we never set out to sound like anyone in particular but we don't want to limit ourselves. An album is supposed to be a story book of songs, a listening experience. If every song sounded the same or had the same vibe we think it would get boring!

Manogue: What was the inspiration or story behind covering "Cant You See" originally by the Marshall Tucker Band on the new record?
Wells: We started doing that on our headline tour of Europe in 2009. It was just a fun thing to do live at the time. We were doing it more traditional and true to the original then, too. We ended up recording it as a demo for the album and everyone flipped over it so we had to spice it up and rock it out a little more to make it our own thing!

Manogue: Your band has a sound that holds itself well for both large arenas as well as small venues. What do you like about the two and which do you prefer?
Wells: We get asked that a lot. Both are good and bad at times. Honestly, there's few things bad with playing an arena except for the distance between the band and the audience. We prefer the fans to be real close and in our face; makes it more personal. But small rooms can suck too at times; no showers, small PA, you just have to deal with those things. We don't let them really get to us, as long as the people are rocking out, we're happy!

Manogue: You'll be playing alongside some great bands including Theory of a Deadman and Alter Bridge, H. Is there anyone on the bill that you're looking forward to playing with for the first time or maybe someone you're looking forward to playing with again?
Wells: Most of the bands on the bill we have at one point shared the stage with. It's full of great bands and I'm sure it will be like a reunion for many! Hopefully we can catch as many shows as possible!

Check out Black Stone Cherry's new album "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea!"

Interview with Dope and Team Cybergeist Drummer Angel Bartolotta

DOPE
Photo credit-Stephen Jensen

If you've ever attended one of the JJO Bandcamp annual summer shows in Madison WI, then you've very likely seen the chaos and thunder that hits the stage when Dope takes their turn. It's a dirty, shameless, tattooed, sun-drenched mess of bodies, people with their fists in the air, singing along; it's the epitome of crowd-surfing, moshing, beer-slinging, f-word screaming fun. I didn't honestly have a clue I'd nearly fall in love with a song titled "Die Motherfucker, Die," but weirder shit has happened. Over the years I've quietly added one Dope disc after another to my collection with no regrets. They're hard core, seriously unlike anyone else, especially live; maybe a bit intimidating at first and from a distance, but nonetheless, down to earth guys that love to get up on stage and tear shit up. There's a reason 94.1 WJJO keeps asking them back year after year and if you're going to Bandcamp this time around, for 2011, you better not miss their set! You will regret missing it when the Youtube videos start popping up on facebook! To date, the band has released five full-length studio albums, their most recent being No Regrets which was released in March 2009. I'm hoping, as are hundreds of Dope fans, that we'll get some news about the making of a new album sometime soon...we're crossing fingers.

One of the things we keep seeing happen over recent years is "side projects" that band members come up with. Drummer Angel Bartolotta is one of those musicians that has his own thing going on when he's not touring or working with Dope, so he's been very busy with TC while Dope's been....well, not busy.. His collaborative work with his own band Team Cybergeist has channeled attention nationwide from both music lovers and fellow musicians and seems to appease a good deal of Dope fans chomping at the bit for new music.


Angel took some time to share a few things about himself, both in his professional music career and also in his personal life, with his new bride. Remember the lovely, metal babe with long blue hair that rocked the stage and made heads turn at last years Bandcamp? Well, that was none other than Sally Debauchery, bassist for Team Cybergeist, now the new Mrs. Bartolotta. We also talked with Angel about some past experiences at Bandcamp and what he's been up to.

Silence is Broken

We all constantly hear people talking about their favorite local band. You know, the one that your best friend's cousin's brother-in-law is in and "they're the next big thing!" It's almost by default when we go to local shows nowadays that you'll hear a few locals telling you you're going to be blown away by their performance and music. And also as we all know, this is very rarely true. Then we ran into a band called Silence is Broken, and all those great things we had heard were nothing short of absolutely true. Hard-Rock-Reviews.com sat down with vocalist Aaron Fishel and Drummer Kyle Urbanik to talk about where they came from, and where they're headed.

Hard-Rock-Reviews.com: So how did you guys get your start?

Aaron Fishel: Me, Jamison (Parker), the guitar player, and Shawn Wade, our bassist, started this band five years ago. We had just gotten tired of the scene around our hometown of Rockford (Illinois). Same bands, same people; like regurgitated everything. People who had quit this band and joined another band, you know? And they just weren’t very good bands, not to be an asshole or anything. We’ve been doing nothing but shows. We’ve toured with Dope and Anew Revolution, 12 stones, played (WJJO) Band Camp this year, which was a major highlight for us. Pushing and pushing and pushing with the ultimate goal being to get a record deal obviously.