A Conversation with Black Stone Cherry’s Chris Robertson – HuffPost 5.1.14

Mike Ragogna: Chris, you and the gang have been busy recording a new album and touring. What was it like sharing a bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company?

Chris Robertson: To be able to get up every morning and know that we would get to go play some songs and when we were finished Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd would follow was absolutely amazing. Skynyrd is my favorite band ever and Paul Rodgers is one of my favorite singers ever. To be able to share the stage with living legends was The coolest thing ever for us!!

MR: How about a tour of the band’s new album Magic Mountain?

CR: This new album is the most honest and truest representation of Black Stone Cherry to date. It encompasses every emotion we’ve felt over the years and has a little something for everyone.

MR: What’s the creative route like these days–writing and recording–for you and the band, and were there any surprises along the way during the process?

CR: We’ve been doing this long enough now that there aren’t many surprises when writing and recording. More than anything we really push each other to make everything the best it can possibly be from the performance to the songs!

MR: Is there anything happening internally with the band, any kind of interesting interpersonal dynamics that are changing or evolving as the band becomes more successful?

CR: Nothing because of success, but some of us are married now and have kids so that changes your outlook on everything. But we are still the same four dudes who started this band in high school.

MR: What are a couple of the biggest changes that have happened with the band since your self-titled album and the giant hit “Stay” you guys wrote that The Florida Georgia Line took to #1 for four weeks?

CR: The biggest change for us is that we are all not 20 years old anymore. Haha. We are still the same dudes like I said. We have been very fortunate though to have such great artists like FGL and Skynyrd record our songs and to have the success we have had. It’s also cool to get paid to play music!

MR: What’s the relationship between Skynyrd and Black Stone Cherry that they record and perform your songs?

CR: Those guys kind of embraced us as the next generation of southern rock which was the coolest thing ever for me considering they are my favorite band of all time! And the fact they did that song is amazing. Funny enough they didn’t know that the song had anything to do with us when they first heard it!

MR: “Me And Mary Jane” is your latest single. What inspired it?

CR: Ben came in to practice with the intro riff and the song kind of fell into place from there. It was one of those fun songs that seem to write themselves.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

CR: Practice, play shows, always be grateful and repeat this process every single day!

MR: Is that the same advice you’d give BSC when they first started out?

CR: Yes and there are no truer words to live by. We were told to always have time for everyone because if you see them on the way up you will see them on the way down. In life in general I feel it is best to always treat everyone the way you would want to be treated!

MR: What’s the future looking like for the band?

CR: Touring, touring, and more touring. That’s what we do. We will be on the road for a long time!