BLACK STAR RIDERS guitarist Damon Johnson is currently featured in the new issue of OUTBURN magazine (available now at newsstands) and discusses how he got the BLACK STAR RIDERS gig, the surreal experience of making music with THIN LIZZY’s Scott Gorham - a guitarist he’s idolized since his youth, and the songwriting process for BSR’s debut album. Here’s an excerpt:
“Very early in my tenure in the band, we had a meeting about making a new record [with] new singer Ricky Warwick, a fine Irishman who comes from Belfast. We sat down, had lunch together, looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, this is intense,’” Johnson reminisces. “But we did feel like we could do this because we’re both songwriters and we’ve been writing music our entire careers, so that was really the start of BLACK STAR RIDERS. And Scott [Gorham, BSR guitarist] couldn’t be more of a cool guy and have less of an ego with having someone else in the band that plays lead guitar. That was really none more evident than when we were writing and recording All Hell Breaks Loose.”
All Hell Breaks Loose is available in North America as of today. Classic Rock magazine is currently streaming the album in its entirety at this location: http://bit.ly/BSRAHBL
Visit the BLACK STAR RIDERS landing page for exclusive bundles and the iTunes purchase link: http://bit.ly/BSR-AHBL
The band is currently in the U.K. filming a video for the track “Hey Judas” with director Mark Hylands and rehearsing for their sold-out debut show this Thursday at the Marshall Theatre in Milton Keynes, U.K.
Here’s BSR vocalist Ricky Warwick delivering a video message from the rehearsal space: http://youtu.be/M93tY7BUV2c
The BSR line-up features THIN LIZZY members Ricky Warwick (The Almighty), Damon Johnson (Alice Cooper / Brother Cane), Scott Gorham (Thin Lizzy / 21 Guns) and Marco Mendoza (Ted Nugent / Whitesnake / Blue Murder) together with drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (Alice Cooper / Megadeth). Produced & mixed by the legendary Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Rush), this first studio album features cover artwork by Gil Elvgren - the most renowned pin-up artist in the history of American Illustration.
The track listing for All Hell Breaks Loose is:
01. All Hell Breaks Loose
02. Bound For Glory
03. Kingdom Of The Lost
04. Bloodshot
05. Kissin’ The Ground
06. Hey Judas
07. Hoodoo Voodoo
08. Valley Of The Stones
09. Someday Salvation
10. Before The War
11. Blues Ain't So Bad
Digi-pak BONUS TRACK: “Right To Be Wrong”
The special edition digi-pak version also features a “Making of” DVD.
Visit BLACK STAR RIDERS online at:
www.facebook.com/BLACKSTARRIDERSOFFICIAL
www.BLACKSTARRIDERS.com
Twitter.com/BLACKSTARRIDERS
