Black Star Riders

Black Star Riders is a rock band formed in December 2012, when members of the most recent line-up of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose not to release it under the Thin Lizzy name. While Thin Lizzy will continue on an occasional basis, Black Star Riders will be a full-time band,^[1] described as "the next step in the evolution of the Thin Lizzy story".^[2] The band's first album, All Hell Breaks Loose, was released on 21 May 2013.^[3]

Background

In May 2010, Thin Lizzy lead guitarist Scott Gorham announced the latest incarnation of the group, which had toured sporadically with various line-ups since 1996, after the death of band leader Phil Lynott in 1986. This marked the return of the original drummer Brian Downey and longtime keyboard player Darren Wharton, joining Gorham, bass guitarist Marco Mendoza, and vocalist and occasional guitarist Ricky Warwick. The other lead guitarist role was initially filled by Vivian Campbell, then by Richard Fortus, before Damon Johnson joined the band in August 2011. As the band toured throughout 2011 and 2012, they composed new material for possible release as a Thin Lizzy studio album,^[4] and demos were recorded in June 2012.^[5]

In October 2012, it was announced that the new material would not be recorded under the Thin Lizzy name, and that a new band name would be used for the new songs. According to Gorham, this was "out of respect to Phil Lynott and the legacy he created", though he confirmed that the new material would feature the classic Thin Lizzy sound.^[6] He later confirmed that the decision was taken by himself and Downey, with the support of the other members of the band, and that the Thin Lizzy estate (controlled by Lynott's widow Caroline) had also been uncomfortable about new Thin Lizzy studio recordings. Warwick has acknowledged that a significant portion of Thin Lizzy fans were also against the idea of Thin Lizzy studio recordings without Lynott.^[7] He later confirmed that he had been troubled by the idea of using the Thin Lizzy name, and that as a fan, had the band recorded an album under the Thin Lizzy name with another singer, he would have been against it.^[8]

As the new material was being written, it became clear that Downey and Wharton would not be involved when the final recordings were made. Downey required a break from the heavy touring schedule, and Wharton wanted to return to his own band Dare, and to work on a film project.^[7] Warwick confirmed, "Brian and Darren just don't want to be on the road 150 days a year, and that's completely understandable. But we do."^[7]

Gorham has stated that Thin Lizzy will still perform as a band in the future: "Thin Lizzy isn't gonna die," he said. With reference to the much-publicised Lizzy "farewell" tour in late 2012, Warwick confirmed, "All that 'farewell' meant is that we're not going to do 150 Lizzy shows a year... those were just the last shows for a while."^[7] Thin Lizzy completed a short tour of Australia in March 2013, with Downey and Wharton as part of the line-up.

Black Star Riders

Damon Johnson has revealed that Gorham was against any name for the new band that was related to Thin Lizzy, "because this band has to stand on its own".^[7] Warwick named the band after a gang of outlaws in the 1993 western film Tombstone,^[7] and the new name was announced on 20 December 2012.^[1]

The band consists of Gorham and Johnson on lead guitar, Mendoza on bass guitar, with Warwick acting as vocalist and occasional guitarist. The band's drummer is Jimmy DeGrasso, but no keyboard player has been recruited, with Gorham stating, "I don't think we are actually going to have keyboards in Black Star Riders. You never know what's going to happen down the road but that is the set-up right now with that."^[1]

All members are American with the exception of Warwick who is from Northern Ireland. Each member has previously achieved success with other acts – Gorham with all incarnations of Thin Lizzy since 1974 and with 21 Guns; Warwick with The Almighty; Johnson with his own band Brother Cane, and with Alice Cooper; Mendoza with Blue Murder, fronted by another ex-Thin Lizzy member, John Sykes; and DeGrasso with several acts including Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, White Lion and Alice Cooper. Gorham is the only member of Black Star Riders to have been a member of Thin Lizzy while Phil Lynott led the band and thus the only one to have appeared on a Thin Lizzy studio album.

All Hell Breaks Loose

The band recorded their debut album All Hell Breaks Loose with producer Kevin Shirley in Los Angeles during January 2013, with worldwide release dates confirmed for late May.^[3] Fifteen songs were recorded, composed mostly by Johnson with Warwick providing the lyrics, with input from Gorham and Mendoza. While Gorham insists that the new band could not sound like Thin Lizzy without Lynott, both Johnson and Warwick believe that the new material has a "classic Lizzy vibe".^[7] Twelve tracks were ultimately used for the album, including one bonus track for a special edition CD.^[3]

Recording began on 8 January 2013, with one track being laid down each day. Song titles included "Hoodoo Voodoo", "Kingdom of the Lost", "Before the War", "Hey Judas", "Bloodshot", "All Hell Breaks Loose" and "Blues Ain't So Bad".^[7] Recording was completed on 20 January, and the photography for the album and promotional material was also completed at that time, with American music photographer Robert John. Mixing of the album took place in February 2013. Gorham later stated that recording twelve songs in twelve days was "kind of a pressurised situation" and that the band would probably not record that way again in the future, but he added that it was fun and the results were positive.^[9] The first single was "Bound for Glory", which received its first airplay on 21 March, on Ken Bruce's mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 in the UK.^[10] The single was released on 24 March.^[11]

Tour and second album

Appearances at festivals will accompany the album release in the summer of 2013, followed by a worldwide tour. In an interview in December 2012, Gorham confirmed that the new group would still pay homage to their Thin Lizzy origins: "Obviously because everybody knows where we came from and what we do, it is kind of a must. We will be playing most of the Black Star Riders album but I don't think we'd get away without playing a few Thin Lizzy songs."^[1]

On 3 June 2013, Download Festival promoter Andy Copping announced via social networks that the band would replace Buckcherry at Download 2013.^[12]

Black Star Riders played their first concert on 30 May 2013 in Milton Keynes,^[9] and later appeared at the Hi Rock Festival in Germany on 1–2 June, followed by the Sweden Rock Festival on 8 June and Download on 15 June.^[3] Another festival date was played at Hard Rock Hell in North Wales on 29 November, coming during a run of 39 shows around Europe and the UK during October–December.^[13]

The band plans to play three dates in Japan on 20–22 May 2014, possibly followed by dates in Australia, with recording for a second album later in the year.^[14] On 27 January, it was announced the band's second album would be recorded in Dublin in October 2014, and would be produced by Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott. Elliott has previously worked on Ricky Warwick's solo albums, and also with Scott Gorham on archival Thin Lizzy releases. The album is scheduled for release in the spring of 2015.^[15]

Personnel

• Ricky Warwick – vocals, guitar
• Scott Gorham – lead guitar
• Damon Johnson – lead guitar
• Marco Mendoza – bass guitar
• Jimmy DeGrasso – drums

Discography

Albums

• All Hell Breaks Loose (2013)

Singles

• "Bound for Glory" (2013)
• "Hey Judas" (2013)
• "Kingdom of the Lost" (2013)

References

External links

• The Official Black Star Riders website