When Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood formed a band for this year's Fealess tour, he returned to two of the musicians who played on his 1974 debut solo release, I've Got My Own Album To Do: bassist Willie Weeks and drummer Andy Newmark.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone Brazil, Wood reveals one of his concerns regarding putting the band together: he didn't know if the musicians were still alive.
"I didn’t even know the guys I started with, Andy and Willie, I didn’t even know if they were still playing," he says. "And to find that they were still alive and still playing is even better. And they were grooving better than ever before."
In addition to the very-much-alive rhythm section, Woods' Ammo band was completed by Taj Mahal’s guitarist Johnny Lee Schell, longtime keyboardist Andy Wallace, and vocalists Imelda May and Chanel Haynes.
Newmark and Weeks also played on Woods' 1975 album Now Look and on 2001's Not For Beginners, as well as on the 1974 live recording The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn.
"While the Stones have a breathing space, while they have a little break, then I figured I must keep my hands and my chops together," says Wood. "There’s no better way to fill in a few months than to get my own band together and keep playing because I love to keep playing. I know Mick [Jagger] does too."
Woods and the Ammo Band completed a dozen European shows in the summer, and kick off a short run of South American dates this weekend, where Woods says, "we may record a live album." Full dates below.
Ronnie Wood: Fearless tour 2027
Nov 01: São Paulo Espaço Unimed, Brazil
Nov 06: Buenos Aires Movistar Arena, Argentina
Nov 08: Rosario Teatro Metropolitano, Argentina
Nov 10: Santiago Teatro Caupolicán, Chile
