Ricky Warwick of Black Star Riders Talks About Their New Album, Being Sober, Band Member Changes And More
I had the chance to talk with Ricky Warwick from Black Star Riders about a lot of stuff. Their new album is called the Wrong Side Of Paradise. He tells me about the album and explained the album cover art. He laughed and said “We had a great band picture, but we didn’t know who was going to be in the band”. He talks about Scott Gorham’s semi-retirement, Christian Martuci leaving the band and going back to play with Corey Taylor, and new members of the band.
He’s been doing in-stores over in Europe. He tells me about that and how much he liked doing them. “For me, I love to meet people”.
He talks about becoming sober. He said he doesn’t want to harp, but “It works for me”.
“I can’t say enough good things about them” talking about the new record label, Earache records. He said it was time for a change for the new album. He also talks about the killer tour they’ll be doing in Europe.
Of course, I had to text my friend, producer Jay Ruston, to send me a question. He just sent me this….ask him about too many wires. Pretty funny!
-Meltdown-
Local Music Venue Spotlight: The Machine Shop
Want to check out a really cool live music venue? Get to Flint, Michigan and visit the Machine Shop! It’s a club that the fans and musicians equally enjoy. One thing about the Shop, is that many bands who now play theaters or arenas, have played there. It’s so cool to see these bands grow and expand their audience. I can also tell you that those bands do not forget the venue, or how well they were treated there by management, staff and the fans alike. A testament to that is the fact that Vinnie Paul from Pantera was buried in a Machine Shop shirt.
Kevin Zink’s owned the venue for 21 years, and has booked over 2,300 shows there, many nights with multiple bands. Everyone from Kid Rock, to Shinedown, to Sevendust and Eric Church have played the Machine Shop stage. Kevin told me that the Cleveland based band, Mushroomhead, has played there the most times.
A panoramic view of the Machine Shop taken by Minty.
If you’ve never been there, Kevin describes the club like this – “I would describe it as kick ass, and then wonder about them since they have never been here! Hahaha! Seriously though, it is like 80s rock club, meets hot rod shop, meets tattoo shop, but with top notch sound and lights!” People have traveled from near and far to catch a band or bands there. “You name the country and there is a good chance someone has traveled from there to Flint, Mi.. We have seen people from Japan, Denmark, Brazil and many more. We have lots of people come from the far ends of the US to see their favorite band in the last of the real rock clubs.”
You’d think in the world of Rock N’ Roll there would be some crazy stuff on the bands riders, or backstage. Kevin says that doesn’t happen too often. “I don’t find crazy shit, just a lot of messes! Condoms are about the craziest on a rider, which really isn’t that crazy at all. The days of crazy seem to have gone away a bit. It is all pretty professional.”
Speaking from personal experience, The Machine Shop is staffed by very friendly, helpful people, who are also huge music fans. You can tell that the people who work there take great pride in making each show a memorable one for the fans.
With one look at their website, you can see that they host a wide variety of music, not just rock.
Check out some pictures taken at the Machine Shop by there in-house photographer, Minty.
I hope to see you at an upcoming show at the Shop. Oh, and don’t forget to snag one or six of their world famous t-shirts!
-Meltdown-
