Page 12 - Black Velvet Issue 88

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misguided early on and they lose a lot of their think our version’s pretty different, as far as the We didn’t forget about it, we accidentally left it
drive for the end result, whether it’s working heaviness of it.” off and later when we went to do the record we
with… a lot of times an act will get with a song- He continues, “We had some local musi- thought, “Crap, that was a good one too!” so we
writer or a producer who’s not a top-tiered pro- cians help us with it back home too, great friends started listening to it. It’s got a really cool Queen
fessional, and it’s like a medium-level dude and of ours. That was a cool part of the record too. harmony at the front of it that we did in the stu-
they give them some wrong advice… it’s hard to We got to really have people that were coming dio. I don’t know what you’d really call it but it’s
explain if you haven’t been there.” in the studio and hanging out to play on some of really cool. I love that part.” He adds that “It’s a
He reveals that they were disappointed with the stuff too. We had some guys from down the good, positive, inspiring song.”
how some early record label people looked at road in Bowling Green, Kentucky, play a sax and We ask if he’s ever needed to be rescued.
them. “When we first started back in the day we trumpet on a song called ‘Soul Machine’, which He jokes, “Every time I do a drum solo I need to
had some label people looking at us be rescued because I’m about to fall out!” Al-
that were really shallow and they though then he more seriously continues,
were like, “Oh, you guys seem to be “Everybody has their own point in their life that
150lb”, and “don’t dress this way, they need some help or they need to find some-
don’t look Southern.” And we’re thing that moves them or get them out of maybe
doing ok now being the way we are. a dark place that they’re in, I’ve always been a
You’ve got to kind of realize… don’t pretty positive person. I try to be, but like every-
take everything to heart that you body else I’m human. I think having great people
hear if you’re trying to do this pro- around you is one of the greatest things you can
fessionally, you’ve got to just stick do. If you surround yourself with positive people
to your guns.” and great friends, I think you’re less likely to go
We’re glad that the band has down into a funk. But you still can. It doesn’t
stuck to their guns. It really is re- mean that you don’t go down there. I guess
freshing to see a band do their own you’ve just got to ask for help.”
thing and not care about what’s the Guitarist Ben Wells is known to post devo-
in thing or how they should look, be tions on Instagram from a book called ‘Jesus
or sound like to be successful, and Calling’. John Fred says, “Ben’s really great
just playing the music that they love about putting up posts from the book he’s got.
and have grown up with, doing He’s a very positive person. I think that, in life,
what’s in their heart. This really you have to wake up every day and think that’s
shows in new album ‘Kentucky’. one more day that you’ve got on earth and make
John Fred tells us, “We had the op- it the best you can make it. Everyone has bad
portunity to have full creative control days but you’ve got to go, “You know what? It
of what we were doing with the could be a lot worse!” So for me, I try to not get
sound and the songwriting, and be- into that funk and just realize, “Man, this is a life.
fore, we were with a label for almost I’m granted life and it can be taken away at any
ten years, and we were released at moment, so I can enjoy it.” I like to think that I’m
the beginning of 2015, so it was a pretty positive, happy, funny dude so just
cool to be free agents and be able wherever I go I try to personally make it a point
to do what we wanted and not have to make people laugh and be goofy. I’ve always
to worry about what sounding been like that. People will tell you, not all my
record we wanted to make. And it jokes are funny, but I try to be a big ball of laugh-
was really nice. It’s the first time ter. Everybody’s got their own way of spreading
we’ve ever been able to do that. So their positivity.”
we started writing – on the back of
the bus, at our practice house, and came up with was pretty rad, we enjoyed that. It was the first n a sad note, one of their local fans lost
20 or 22 songs and it just went from there. We time we ever had any brass on any record and Ohis life on Jan 20th. The band acknowl-
finished up the writing last Summer on tour. We we wanted to do that for years. Someone was edged TJ on their social media sites. ‘We lost a
were doing a festival tour here in Europe, and always saying, “That’s not cool,” or “That’s not great soul today. Rest easy in Heaven, TJ. *This
went home, recorded the record in October. Ac- on American Rock Radio”. We didn’t write the young man was from our hometown and gave
tually got the chance to go back with the same album for American Rock Radio anyway, so… if up his make a wish to another child so he could
engineer, Dave Barrick, who did our first record they pick it up, great, if not, we wrote it for our meet us. We toast you tonight’, they wrote. John
and it was really cool to be able to work with him fans. And I think that people are going to really Fred tells us about TJ. “His mom reached out to
again and be at home. It was fun… A good time.” enjoy the record. It’s different. It’s not so far left our Facebook and was explaining his situation,
field, it’s kind of us in a state of being Black that he was battling a disease. He was from our
he album includes 11 original songs plus Stone Cherry without anybody trying to tie any- hometown, so we had a pre-production day that
Tone cover. The cover is ‘War’, originally thing up or polish anything. It’s just us in the stu- we do at a theatre back home. We were getting
written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong dio having a good time.” ready, I can’t remember what tour we were
in 1969 and sung by Edwin Starr. John Fred going on, but we got all the crew guys in and
tells us, “We were in the studio and we were he four members all have a hand in the were going through all our rigs, and we just in-
looking for a cover to do as a B-side, and after Tlyrics, unlike some bands that just have vited him to come down and hang out and it was
about an hour and a half/two hours we stumbled one main writer, often the vocalist. John Fred really heavy because this kid was such a sweet
upon ‘War’ and we were like, “Man, why don’t tells Black Velvet, “When someone’s writing on kid. We all know that we’re obviously going to
we do that song?” and especially with the cur- a song, their interpretation can be a lot different leave this earth one day, but to know that you
rent times with everything going on. We defi- to mine, so that’s always cool and it’s a struggle have a certain time, an approximate time that
nitely have a proactive side of the band that sometimes and you’re writing a song and there you’re going to go, it’s always heavy for me. I
writes about what’s actually going on in the are four different ideas and you’re trying to get hate that. You don’t really know what to say, and
world, and I think with ‘Peace Is Free’ and there your idea out. We’re pretty fair, we always try to I try to find words of encouragement and posi-
was a song we had on ‘Between The Devil…’ look at a line and make sure it’s not been said tivity, to talk to people when I do meet them, if
called ‘Change’. With ‘War’, we got halfway before, make sure it’s unique, and get every- they’re dealing with a disease or a sickness. TJ
through it, recording, we got the drums done and body to become a part of the song lyrically, get was a really positive guy. You would not know if
the bass and rhythms and we were putting their ideas out.” you didn’t know that he was dealing with what
Chris’s lead and some other stuff and we were There’s a song on the album called ‘Rescue he was dealing with… I remember that day,
kinda just looking around, going, “This is proba- Me’, in which Chris sings, ‘What if I said I be- Chris gave him a PRS guitar. He was like, “Here,
bly good enough to actually make the album and lieve? Would you rescue me?’ John Fred says, dude,” as he played guitar. That made his day
not just be a B-track.” So it was neat to go in “I think that song is really powerful. When we and his mom wrote us back and told us that it
thinking that the song would just go on an ex- were writing it, I kind of forgot about it because was really, really awesome that we did that. So
tended part of the album and it actually made when we do demos we put them on a CD or an we spent some time with him, he hung out dur-
the record. It’s a great song. Edwin’s version is iPod so we can listen to them and that song, for ing soundcheck. It was neat. We’ve been able
obviously the original and it always will be but I some reason we didn’t have it on the demos. to do that for a lot of people. It sucks when you
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