Black Stone Cherry is a rock band that formed in Kentucky in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Robertson, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Ben Wells, bassist and backing vocalist Steve Jewell, and drummer and backing vocalist John Fred Young. Their sound has been described as Southern rock and alternative metal.
Since their beginning in the early 2000’s, Black Stone Cherry has released eight studio albums and two EPs. Seventeen of their singles have made it to the US Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.
In 2024, the band went on a co-headlining Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Just last year, the band released their newest album, Screamin’ at the Sky and announced that bassist Steve Jewell would be the permanent replacement of Jon Lawhon for the foreseeable future.
Black Stone Cherry is one of our favorite acts to see live and sing every word. We were hoping to see the band at Louder Than Life but unfortunately they were scheduled to play when Hurricane Helene came to town and forced the festival to cancel on Friday.
After our last interview with him in 2011, we sat down once again with lead vocalist and guitarist Chris Roberston while on ShipRocked. We had the chance to talk about his perfect day in Kentucky, the band’s very own bourbon, and how the band found their new bassist, Steve.
The last time I interviewed you was in 2011. We have a lot to catch up on. What’s your perfect day in Kentucky?
I would say sitting at the house on a day that Ashley’s off work and Declan is out of school, so most likely a summer day or a weekend and just enjoying time with the family. Before we left on Friday afternoon, he asked if we could go out and shoot one of the guns, because I’m teaching him gun safety. My son is one of those children who’s interested in learning how to shoot.
Friday afternoon we went out and we shot and then we jammed some. He’s recently picked up drums and actually has a really nice knack for it. He’s 11 now. John Fred has been showing him some stuff. He showed him how to do the bottom triplet the other day. That kid’s gunning for it now. He loves it. But just spending time with Ashley and Declan. That’s my perfect day. Getting to go see granny.
You know, my typical days at home, I get up in the morning and take Declan to school. If Ashley’s at work, I’ll go by and see her at some point during the day, I go by and check my mail for my grandma, and I go back home and I just kind of hang out. The perfect day to me is just centered around being at home with those two people. They’re the most important people to me.
It’s so sweet to hear that 13 years later.
That woman is a saint. She’s put up with my ass since we were 16 years old. In 2011, we’d been together for ten years. So now we’re 23 years removed from 2001. And Black Stone Cherry is still putting out records and Chris and Ashley are still together. It’s pretty crazy, man, to be honest with you.
You guys are famously Southern rock. Have you ever considered doing a country song?
You know, what’s funny is that we put out a Black to Blues EP several years ago, and it did really well for us. We did two versions, a volume one and two, and we’ve always talked about doing different genres that we were influenced by. Obviously, country music is one of those that is a massive influence on us and me especially. My daddy was a local musician back home and he grew up playing in honky tonks and dance halls.
So, I grew up on all the old classic country stuff, up through the 90’s country. I would love for us to do something like that. You know, we’ve always done covers. We did the Tracy Chapman one on the Human Condition rerelease. We’ve peppered covers all throughout it. I’ve heard our version of “Can’t You See” on the boat. So as far as covers, I wouldn’t put anything past us.
What about your own country song or your own collaboration?
I don’t know if I could. I’m from Kentucky, but I don’t know if we have got a country song we could write. I mean, Florida Georgia Line had a number one at country with “Stay,” one of our songs, but we didn’t run it as a country song. I would love to try to write some country stuff, but I don’t know how Black Stone Cherry would be or how authentic it would come across.
At the end of the day, we’re going to end up turning the amps wide open and John Fred’s going to play like John Fred. I think no matter what we write, it’s going to end up having that particular kind of sound or edge that our songs end up having, no matter what stylistic approach we take.
The last time I spoke to you, we spoke a lot about mental health and how you were dealing with anxiety at the time. We talked about how you were coping with medications. Has it gotten better? Have you found different ways to cope with it or is it still an issue?
I think that the term older and wiser applies there as much as anywhere it has in my life. Everyday there’s going to be challenges. I still deal with anxiety and depression, but over the last decade or so I’ve learned ways to try to understand things better and try to figure out what’s causing me to feel that way. I still take medication every day. It’s fine with me if that’s what it takes for me to be able to be comfortable. But mental health is not something that flares up, you know, it’s always there. It’s just about how well it’s handled and controlled.
Was the pandemic hard on you?
Yeah, it was because there was a whole lot of sense of self-worth and wondering what it was anymore. The one thing that you felt like you were okay enough to go do, bringing happiness to people, you couldn’t do that anymore.
As much as I love being able to spend time with my dad before he passed and getting to be home and be a dad and a husband more than I maybe had in years prior, there was still something missing for me because all I’ve known since I was 16 years old is getting in a van, going and playing music.
For a year and a half, that sh*t did not happen. It was brutal. For people like us, it’s not only your livelihood that is taken away as a touring musician, but your sanity on top of it. When you lose your sanity and your income, it puts you in some dark places at times.
But luckily, we tried to get creative and come up with opportunities like a pre-recorded live stream video and just different things. You had no choice but to try to figure out ways to be creative and continue to push forward with the music.
I firmly believe we all learned that people need music and sports. They need some outlet.
Absolutely. It’s so funny because the biggest thing I’ve been doing here lately is playing Xbox and playing a baseball game. It’s all about music and sports, like you said, those are the two most common outlets for people, for everyday life. It just gives us something to reach out and try to hold on to.
We’ve talked about your dad before and I know he played a big part in your life. What was the best advice he ever gave you?
Don’t ever do anything for anybody for the wrong reasons. Do it because you want to do it. I was struggling with some stuff one time and he was like, ‘You gotta do it because you believe in it and you want to.’ And when I really thought about that, if you’re that rooted and that steadfast in your belief and you want to hold on to it that hard, don’t bend it for anybody.
For me, watching his battle with cancer and the way he faced it all, I’ve never seen a more inspiring thing in my life. Even in his last days he was always wanting to make sure everybody around him was comfortable with the fact of what was going on.
So, I would say that. Make sure what you’re doing, you believe in, essentially, is what he was saying to me. You got to do things because it’s what you believe in, not because it’s what you’re being told to believe in.
I’ve done a little bit of work with Three Chord Bourbon. You guys have a bourbon now with them. What’s your favorite bourbon cocktail, drink or straight bourbon?
I’m more of a neat guy, but I do like an old fashioned every now and then. I prefer most of my alcohol neat. I just enjoy it that way. Whether it’s bourbon or tequila, I just prefer it. Just pour it in a glass and sip on it and enjoy the flavor and the textures. If there’s a little burn, there’s a little burn, but it’s kind of meant to be that way.
Were you guys involved with the process of creating the Bourbon?
Yeah, we actually hand-selected different blends and got to decide what we wanted and things like that. It’s a really good bourbon, I have to admit that. It’s pretty tasty stuff. It’s Pat Benatar’s husband (Neil Giraldo) that runs it from the last thing I was told. I mean its bourbon and rock and roll run by rock and roll guys.
Tell us how the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tour came about?
I remember we were on our tour in the UK last year and my phone rang and it was Johnny from Skynyrd. So, I picked it up and he’s like, ‘Hey, I got two questions for you. Number one, you want to go on the road next year?’ and I was like, ‘Hell yes!’ He’s like, ‘Number two, can you get me Shinedown tickets?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I can take care of both those things for you, Johnny. I’m pretty sure I can handle both of those.’
We’ve been very fortunate to develop an incredible relationship and friendship with the Skynyrd Camp over the years. For me, they’re my favorite band of all time. So to have any kind of camaraderie with them is is f*cking epic to me.
You’ve got a European tour coming up. Any cities you’re looking forward to seeing again?
Download is always one that you look forward to playing. When we finally were able to announce that we were doing Download Festival again, that one’s special for us because we haven’t been there since like ‘18 or ‘19, which is a long time to be away from a festival.
But the last time we did it, the last two bands of the day were us and Guns N’ Roses and that was insane. It was like 120,000 people. Still to this day, I’ve never seen a crowd like that. But we’re very, very excited to be going back to Download and playing that one again. I mean, all the cities over there we’re looking forward to getting back to. There’s just something about that one that you always really look forward to.
Do you prepare differently for a Europe tour versus a US tour?
No, you just got to take a power adapter with you really. I quit smoking cigarettes. I use vapes now, so I have to take the ones I like with me because you can’t find them over there. But other than little sh*t like that, it’s really just making sure you got the power adapter. That’s pretty much it. If I can charge my phone, then I’m pretty good. I can deal with anything that comes at me.
Favorite ShipRocked moment ever?
That’s tough. I’ve seen some crazy sh*t on ShipRocked. There was one we were on where a guy got put in the brig for throwing stuff out of his room into the ocean. That was pretty crazy. I’ve seen somebody get arrested at the end of a cruise.
I think I have to say the shows, because that’s the point of it. The whole cruise is amazing, and it’s a great, fun, relaxing kind of vacation style trip for me and my wife. It’s six days of being kid free and just being adults. But the shows are the really magical spots because that’s ultimately why we’re all here. Like, yeah, it’s a vacation, but everybody picked this vacation because of the concerts on this vacation.
Even just people watching during the shows, like watching during Killswitch last night, seeing how much music means to people still is the best part. The only reason it’s a mix of people is because we all dress differently. We’re all the same f*cking person, we all love rock. We all want to make sure that our families are taken care of, that our bills are paid and that the music doesn’t suck. We’re all here for the same thing.
It doesn’t matter if your hair is blue or your bald as sh*t like I am. We met grandmas and little kids in the meet and greet line. It was the coolest thing to me because it just shows you that music can and always will be the universal language of everyone.
So how did you find the new bassist, Steve?
Steve is a guy from back home. Steve was the guitar player in a great band called Otis. When we needed someone to fill in for some shows, we were all blanking, and I was like, well, If I broke my arm and had to call somebody to come fill in and play guitar for me, It would be Steve. He’s the guy that I feel like would take it seriously enough and is a better guitar player than I am. So, I was like, if he could play all the guitar parts, he could play the bass parts.
I called him, he was like, ‘Yeah, man, I can come do it.’ Come to find out, after the first show, he had never played bass until that show and he never missed a note. When we played, It was like nothing had ever changed. The parts were all what they were supposed to be. It was pretty impressive really.
When we did that first actual tour Steve did with us where we filmed the Albert Hall DVD, the biggest compliment I think anybody could have received in his position, he got everybody that came to think he’s always been in the band. It’s just like Steve has always been with us. He grew up in the same area, the same kind of background that we all do. He is just nine years younger than we are. He’s 31 and I’m 39.
It’s also been incredible too, because anytime you get someone that’s damn near a decade younger than you, helping you out again and becoming a part of your thing, it sparks a new life a little bit.
Any initiation for him?
No. The guy came in and saved our ass in such a way that was mind blowing to us that when it came time to, we were like, ‘Would you like to join our band and be a member of Black Stone Cherry?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, dude.’ It was kind of a f*cking no brainer for us because Steve is one of us. He’s one of our people.
I like to ask this fun question at the end. I just discovered Buc-ee’s last year. What are your favorite truck stop must have items?
Must have the beaver nuggets at Buc-ee’s. I like my Reese’s Cups, but I got to have them cold, so I buy them and put them in the fridge. Buc-ee’s is probably the greatest rest stop of all time. You know, they’ve got good bathrooms. They have really good food. But they have these things called beaver nuggets that’ll change your life. If you’re ever in there, just buy a bag. It’s kind of like a deep fried corn pop cereal, almost, but it’s so good. Buc-ee’s is insane. You can get beef jerky, brisket, probably a wedding ring.