"Would Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin have been as cool if the internet was around to expose everything?" Black Stone Cherry's Chris Robertson on social media, the creative inspiration of dogs and battling Darth Vader

(Image credit: Dennis Dirksen)

For better or worse, Chris Robertson is a thinker. If you pegged Black Stone Cherry as simple southern rock yeehaws when they debuted in 2006, the frontman quickly set you right with his eloquent lyrics about fate and family, not to mention his candid admission of mental health struggles during interviews.

A quarter-century later, while it’s feasible to enjoy the Kentucky band’s new Celebrate EP as a quick hit of fist-pumping, grunge-scented, sexed-up alt.rock – plus a beefy cover of a certain John Hughes soundtrack classic – closer reading of these songs reveals a 40-year-old father still working hard to put one foot in front of the other.

EPs never get as much love as albums and singles. What do you like about the format?

There’s no filler, y’know? It’s like, you see the attention spans of people now, man. We just wanted to condense it down to seven amazing songs, so you’re not going to burn yourself out. I’ve always loved EPs; Metallica’s Garage Days Re-Revisited and Alice In Chains’ Sap have gotta be high up there, man.

You wrote the songs in guitarist Ben Wells’s basement studio. Can you paint a picture for us?

He’s got posters all over the walls, guitars hanging up, a pool table, a couch for hanging. And he has all the Star Wars figures. The toys I had as a kid, me and my little brother took them out in the dirt and fucked them up. But Ben’s are still in collectible condition. Every now and then you get tired of fucking with a guitar and you’ll go fight with Darth Vader.

Ben’s pet beagles were in the studio the whole time. If they were cool, you knew you had something good. But when they started barking, you’re like: “Okay, maybe the music’s not doing it.” The dogs had some input on the record, is what I’m trying to say.

What are these songs about?

That’s up to the people to decide. Dave Grohl has one of the greatest quotes: “You can sing a song to a thousand people and they’ll sing it back to you for a thousand different reasons.” But I can tell you from our perspective. Neon Eyes is about when you get a couple of drinks in you and your eyes start to glow a little differently, y’know? Caught Up In The Up Down is about adult fun between consenting people – I’m trying to say it as gentlemanly as I can. I’m Fine is what we all say when we’re not okay.

When my dad passed, it really fucked with me bad. Y’know, to be thirty-six and the oldest living Robertson male in my direct lineage, that was a tough pill to swallow. It sent me into a tailspin, because he was my best friend in the world. And that spun into, y’know, my old depression coming back.

Black Stone Cherry studio portrait — (Image credit: Jimmy Fontaine )

How is your mental health at the moment?

I’ll be honest with you, I recently had to go back to the doctor and get all my medicines changed because my depression had hit such a low again. I’m happy to say I’m starting to feel more like myself again, and it’s fucking great for me. The title track, Celebrate, is about not forgetting that just getting through your day is worth patting yourself on the back for. We’re too quick to beat ourselves into the ground. We had the chorus melody and were thinking: “What should we sing there?” It was Ben [Wells, guitar] who said it should be ‘celebrate’. After that the words just flew out, like word vomit.

There’s also a cover of Simple Minds’ Don’t You (Forget About Me). Which character from The Breakfast Club would you have been?

In those high school years, I’d have either been the girl that made snow with her dandruff [Ally Sheedy’s oddball Allison Reynolds], or the kid smoking cigarettes [Judd Nelson’s delinquent John Bender]. I went through a spell as a teenager where I didn’t think anybody understood me whatsoever, and I could lash out at times. Even now, as the parent of a teenager, there’s times where I’m like: “I know exactly what he’s thinking” – and I have no idea.

You have a semi-active Instagram account. Do you embrace social media, or is it a necessary evil for today’s musician?

It’s amazing for the exposure, but it took away all the mystery. If you look at Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, would they have been as cool if the internet was around to expose everything, like the shitty people that [leaked the identities of] Sleep Token? Sleep Token were the first band in a long time to have this mystique you couldn’t put your finger on. Then somebody had to go and [expose] them, because they were a dickhead. That’s what I hate about the internet. It ruins the magic.

Black Stone Cherry - Celebrate (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Watch On

You can’t imagine many of those seventies guys tapping away on Twitter/X, can you?

I highly doubt it. But I could be wrong. I’ve seen rock stars scrolling before, y’know? I mean, take Billy Gibbons. I don’t know if it’s social media, but you see him in catering and he’s looking at something. He’s probably on Craigslist, trying to find old car parts and amps.

It seems that every time we see you, you have a new tattoo. Which is your favourite?

My portrait of my dad. I got it about a week after he passed. It’s based on a photo I took of him that I absolutely adore. It’s him giving me a look because I’d just said: “Hey, ass-head, look at me.” We’d call each other funny names, y’know? So now I got my old man with me everywhere I go.

It’s twenty-five years since Black Stone Cherry formed. Obviously you hoped you’d be successful, but did you ever think the band would fly this high?

It’s crazy when you think about it. There’s so many great musicians back home that never got the same opportunities. It just reminds you not to take it for granted. I’ve been so blessed to travel the world. And I haven’t had to do it as a soldier. I’ve been able to do it with a guitar in my hand, and a microphone, and my best friends.

Celebrate is released March 6 via Mascot Records and is available to pre-order now.

Artists

Henry Yates has been a freelance journalist since 2002 and written about music for titles including The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Classic Rock, Guitarist, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer. He is the author of Walter Trout's official biography, Rescued From Reality, a music pundit on Times Radio and BBC TV, and an interviewer who has spoken to Brian May, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie Wood, Dave Grohl, Marilyn Manson, Kiefer Sutherland and many more.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.