Hailing from Kentucky, Black Stone Cherry blend roots-infused hard rock with post-grunge and heavy-metal intensity in a fierce, no-compromise approach. Their independently issued 2003 effort, Rock N' Roll Tape, drew Roadrunner’s interest once label executives observed the fervent responses generated by nonstop roadwork, prompting a signing. The group’s self-titled Roadrunner debut landed in 2006 and earned enthusiastic notices from rock critics. Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea, issued in 2011, stood out for its raw punch on tracks such as “White Trash Millionaire” and “Killing Floor,” alongside the cocky honky-tonk blues of “Let Me See You Shake.” Departing Roadrunner for Mascot in 2016, the quartet delivered the stripped-down crunch of Kentucky. For 2018’s Family Tree they returned to the same studio used on their first album. The Human Condition, released in 2020, displayed fresh intricacy in the band’s writing. After the pandemic and a full year of touring, Black Stone Cherry reentered the studio and surfaced with Screamin’ at the Sky in 2023.
Band members, all born after 1983, have noted that limited local options combined with a deep musical heritage in their families and community sparked their decision to pick up instruments. Lead singer and guitarist Chris Robertson encountered drummer John Fred Young—son of Kentucky Headhunters member Richard Young—during school years, and the pair performed together through high school. In June 2001 Black Stone Cherry officially coalesced with guitarist Ben Wells and bassist Jon Lawhon. Club dates around the region quickly built a substantial all-ages audience. After tracking their first album for In de Goot/Roadrunner, the group staged a hometown concert at the local high school upon returning. The self-titled debut arrived in July 2006, followed by Folklore and Superstition in 2008; both sets charted strongly across the United States and Europe. Their third album, 2011’s Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea, was cut in Los Angeles under producer Howard Benson (Daughtry, Three Days Grace). It reached the Top 40 on domestic album charts and claimed the summit in Great Britain. Worldwide touring ensued, extending their reach to fans in Japan.
Florida Georgia Line’s 2013 cover of the band’s “Stay” topped the country chart. Later that year the group resumed sessions with producer Joe Barresi. The April 2014 preview single “Me and Mary Jane” debuted at number 29, preceding the May release of fourth album Magic Mountain. Following American and U.K. dates, the musicians paused in early 2015, then joined the summer festival circuit and returned to Barrick Recording Studio, site of their debut sessions. Thank You, Live, a DVD documenting the Magic Mountain tour, appeared in October. December 2015 brought the single “The Way of the Future,” with “In Our Dreams” following in January 2016. Self-produced and described by the band as a return to their origins, Kentucky surfaced in April 2016, landing at number 40 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Hard Rock Albums chart. After a nine-month trek through the United States and Europe, they headed back into the studio, selecting six blues numbers by Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Freddie King, and Albert King, then reworking them with their own robust Southern-rock energy for the six-track EP Black to Blues, issued in fall 2017. February 2018’s single “Burnin’” preceded sixth studio album Family Tree, which arrived that May.
While preparing a seventh album, the band released Back to Blues, Vol. 2, another six-song covers EP featuring their Southern-rock interpretations of Freddie King’s “Big Legged Woman,” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Down in the Bottom,” Robert Johnson’s “Me & the Devil Blues,” Otis Rush’s “All Your Love (I Miss Loving),” Elmore James’s “Early One Morning,” and Son House’s “Death Letter Blues.” After more than a year of U.S. and European touring, the musicians regrouped in early 2020 at bassist Jon Lawhon’s Monocle Studio. Producing themselves, they laid down nearly twenty songs and finished tracking by late March. Summer post-production reduced the collection to thirteen tracks. In early August a lyric video appeared for set-opener “Ringin’ in My Head,” followed two weeks later by a video single for “Again.” Late October 2020 saw the Mascot Label Group release of The Human Condition. Although recorded before the pandemic, the album arrived without immediate touring support; roadwork finally commenced in January 2021. Song ideas developed during tour breaks, and upon returning to the studio the band applied a newly refined approach to songwriting and production for 2023’s Screamin’ at the Sky.
