Black Stone Cherry's John Fred Young Rocks Out With Fallen Blue
Last Updated on 28.06.11 Written by John Guarnieri
On June 22, 2011, Fallen Blue had the distinct honor of receiving a call from John Fred Young, the rock & roll drummer for Black Stone Cherry. We discussed everything from their new album, Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, the importance of our military, fire-fighters, and police, as well as his drumming role models growing up. Like many of our artist partners, Mr. Young is also a fascinating guy with an incredible heart.
The band will be on the road later this summer taking part in the Carnival of Madness tour, with fellow rockers Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge, Adelitas Way, and Emphatic. The band will also be making a weekend appearance in Maryland, July 30-31, at the second annual Outlaw Jam, an event that they brought the house down at last year. And if that wasn't enough, the band also took part in the recent Lynyrd Skynyrd cruise! John goes on to talk about being on the road and how "they love what they do, but at the same time it is bittersweet." This leads into why they titled their new album Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: "We just came back from playing in front of 40, 000 fans at the Download Festival and we are excited about getting back on the road, but it has a price too. We have families that we miss while traveling, but at the same time we know this is our job and we love doing this, sort of like being between a rock and a hard place."
Their song, 'Lonely Train' was brought up as we talked about the importance of the military and first responders. John said that in "2004 we had several of our friends leaving to go overseas to fight in the war, so we wanted to write a song that encompassed their self-sacrifice for others and our country. It's amazing how people can put their life on the line for others with no questions asked." He then goes on to say that whenever they have the opportunity they are always thanking the military, police, and fire-fighters because they realize that they have a thankless job. The band loves the concept of the USO tours for the troops, and every year they hope that their schedule allows them to play for the military.
As we were wrapping up the interview, Mr. Young starts to talk about some of his idols, and without hesitation he said it was his Uncle Fred who inspired him to jump behind a drum kit. Music has always been in John's family; his father, Dicky Young, was the rhythm guitarist in the band The Kentucky Headhunters alongside his brother, Fred, who played drums. John also mentioned such names as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich as incredible influences on his still rising career.
Be sure to catch Black Stone Cherry as they roll through the country on the Carnival of Madness tour later this summer. For more information on the band check out: www.blackstonecherry.com.
