Chris Robertson Of Black Stone Cherry Celebrates A New EP, Praises Alice Cooper, And More.

It's been a year or two since I spoke with Chris Robertson from Black Stone Cherry. With their new EP dropping in March, and a show at District 142 in Wyandotte with Them Dirty Roses and Ayron Jones on Saturday, November 22nd, it was time to get him back on.

There were a few new things I learned about Chris. He's an avid Pokémon person, his wife won't let him get a Harley Davidson, and they did a European tour with Alice Cooper!

Like I mentioned, their new EP Celebrate drops on March 6th. The obvious first question is, why not a full album? "I think for us, man, it's like we've gotten to a point as a society, in my opinion, where we want something new faster than we ever have, right? The new iPhone comes out every September. You know, the new thing comes out. It's like once a year, there's new, there's new, there's new, there's new. And if you look at album cycles, an album cycle is typically like a two-year thing. You put out a record, and you go tour for the next 18 months to two years. We don't live in this society anymore. And, you know, looking at it, it's like a band can put out a record and then the fans want more new music six months later. And we were like, you know what? We've got these songs right here, ready to go. We believe in them as wholeheartedly as we do in an album. You know, they tell a story, they paint a picture, they do the thing. Let's put it out and just see what the response is."

That's what I thought he'd say. Bands are doing this more and more.

As far as the song Celebrate is concerned, Chris said it's about the small victories in life. "Mental health is a very, very tricky thing. I've dealt with it. I've been public about my own battles since, you know, 2011, really. And the society we live in, it's so easy to beat yourself up over the smallest stuff. Why can't we celebrate the smaller things as well? And as simple as what this thing says, you made it through another one today. Getting up, being able to do what you needed to do that day. Coming home and going to bed. Celebrate it, man. Pat yourself on the back. Be happy. Like, we're too quick to smack each other down, man. Let's celebrate each other a little bit more. And that's exactly what the song developed, you know?" Well said.

To add to the six new songs, they do a cover of the Simple Minds classic with help from Tyler Connelly from Theory of a Deadman. That song was famously used in the movie The Breakfast Club. "Dude, the two things I took away from that movie when I saw it as a kid were that song and the fist pump at the end of the movie.' Chris replied. He went on, "It's just, dude, it was like those two things were the whole, you put those two things together and it's overcoming adversity and creating a new start. That's the whole thing about that movie that I love. You know what I mean? It's a new beginning for everybody. But it's like, I've wanted to record that song and do a cover of it for as long as I can remember. Because I always heard it more like every time I would hear the song, I loved it. But I always heard it like a little more aggressive, a little heavier, you know, like the way we would do it, you know. So we finally did, and we got Tyler on it, dude, and he killed it. He did such an awesome job!"

While we were talking, I wondered if the town I live in had any influence on his musical tastes. I had, and in a big way. He said Bob Seger's voice had an impact on him. "Um, he was a big influence for me as a singer, you know, is that I got a fairly raspy voice. I'm no Bob Seeger, but you know, I, I gravitated toward guys like that. Once I realised that kind of, I had more of a, a gravelly kind of sound in my voice. I listened to dudes like that."

What about Ted Nugent? "Obviously, Ted Nugent's guitar playing is just next level, you know, and the songs are insane."

But it's a story he told me about Alice Cooper that I won't soon forget. They toured with Alice a few years ago through Europe. "We were talking to Alice over dinner one night, and we were talking, man, it's just, you know, so awesome.
You're still out here doing this, you know, and a lot of guys, you know, wouldn't be. He said, I haven't played my best show yet, he said. That's the way I look at everything. And I was just like, damn, you know what, a sentiment from someone who has done it all 10 times over. You know, Alice is one of the most legendary rock and roll acts of all time, in my opinion, you know, and I just, you know, obviously, you can tell I have a huge spot in my heart for that camp."

Black Stone Cherry plays District 142 Saturday night.