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J:
Most of the time Ron does the interviews-but I can talk the ears off a
brass monkey if I get the chance so we’ll give it a go. IronHorse is
Ron’s creation. The name and concept came to him while he was in Italy
jamming with our drummer, Gaetano. He then brought both of them back to
the states to put the band together. At that time, he got in touch with
Geno, whom he knew and had played with previously in Arizona. The band had
already been together a couple of years when I joined. In that time, they
had already done one album, which had gotten a very positive response. I
joined during pre-production rehearsals for the second album “Bring It
On”. We made the decision to make the album first and then shop the
finished product because record labels were having a hard time
understanding what IronHorse was really about and we got tired of waiting
and had enough faith in ourselves to know that if we got our essence down
on tape, it would sell itself. So, we went into the studio with Kevin
Beamish and recorded the bulk of what made it on the album. After that, we
hit the road while we shopped an early version of “Bring It On”. Just
before we signed with Compendia/V-Tone records, we went back into the
studio and cut several more songs. The album came out last fall and
we’ve been promoting it in every way possible since then. Before
we talk about “Bring It On” can you tell me why did you call the band
IronHorse? As far as I know there is another band with that name…
didn’t that caused you any problems? J:
As I stated above, Ron came up with the name a while back… in 1999, I
believe. He was trying for something that had both hard rock and country
connotations and IronHorse fit the bill perfectly. It’s aggressive
enough to be a hard rock name, yet it mentions horses which is country
flavored… in addition IronHorse is also slang for a motorcycle and
we’re a big draw with that kind of audience as well so the name works on
many levels. We’ve been using the name for over five years, so I think
we got there ahead of whoever that bluegrass band that covers Metallica is.
In any case, we’ve never had problems in that regard. Oddly enough, it
has come to our attention that back in the late 70’s, Randy Bachman of
BTO put together a band called IronHorse that did a couple of albums and
then folded. Every once in a great while we get a fan at a gig who wonders
where Randy is… Ok,
so let’s talk about your new album. Why did you title it “Bring It On”?
(Maybe you were born ready? That’s why?). J:
We were kicking around a number of titles that all would have worked very
well, but when Ron came up with a new song called “Bring It On” in
time for the second recording session, it just seemed to fit well and sum
up our attitude at that time. Can
you tell me a few words about each one of the songs? J:
“Three Sheets To The Wind”: This one was written by our good friend
John Edwards who is a Nashville songwriting machine and has written
several other songs we’ve recorded as well as songs for a ton of other
people. To my mind, this sums up all the elements that make up IronHorse
about as neatly as any one song can. It’s got lyrics that are pure
country, a banjo, heavy metal guitar, and slamming drums. “Bring
It On”: Ron wrote this one with George McCorkle of The Marshall Tucker
Band, who is a very dear friend of ours. He just walked into rehearsal one
day before a show and said “we’re learning this today”. Twenty
minutes later, we had a new song. “American
Thunder”: Another Ron creation. This was among the first songs he sent
me when I auditioned for the band. It’s among the heaviest songs on the
album and it’s a great opener for our live shows. It’s a celebration
of the many different types of American music and the people that have
created it. “The
Other Kind”: On each IronHorse album, we do one cover song. This was
originally written and recorded by Steve Earle and Ron thought it would
work well for us, and it has. We had to move it up a couple of keys to fit
Ron’s voice. It’s a big crowd pleaser during live shows. “I
Can’t Stop You”: Written by ace Nashville songwriter Jeffrey Steele,
this was recorded during the second session-the same one that yielded the
song “Bring It On”. We have high hopes for this one finding
substantial radio airplay. “Dixie
Highway”: Along with “American Thunder”, this one is probably the
fastest, heaviest song we do. Once again, we dip into our formula of
sticking a country lyric over a hard rock/metal song. Our good friend
Henry Paul from Blackhawk was kind enough to both write this one and then
come down to the studio and sing a duet with Ron. “The
Best Move”: Another song written by George McCorkle. This one is
featured in the multimedia section of our CD via video. It may be the most
popular song we do among people that are hearing the band for the first
time. At Ron’s request, the main guitar theme was originally done on
slide, but I hate playing slide and I stink at it so during final pre-production
rehearsals, Kevin Beamish told me to try it without the slide and use the
vibrato bar instead to accomplish the same effect. After doing it that way
once, he strongly suggested to lose the slide permanently! “Desert
Rain”: This came out of a songwriting session with Ron and I in the loft
of a friend’s barn in Ohio. Ron had written the bulk of it a long time
ago but was stuck on a couple parts. I added a couple things, we changed a
couple things around, borrowed a bit from another song I had written,
wrote the bridge on the spot, and out plopped a finished tune. It got a
killer chorus and it’s one of my favorites to play live. “Haunted
Saloon”: Written during the same songwriting session mentioned above.
This one is proof that the best songs often evolve over a long period of
time. Ron had the lyrics lying around since long before IronHorse started
but never came up with music for it he liked. He mailed the lyrics to me
to see what I could do with them. Meanwhile, we’d been fooling around
with this eerie Delta-blues type riff during rehearsals. As soon as I saw
the lyrics, I knew that riff would be a perfect fit. The rest of the music
I wrote in about ten minutes and Ron came up with the bridge later. The
producer Kevin Beamish helped a lot with the arrangement on this one.
It’s a very moody, dramatic song that tells a story and really gets
people’s attention when we play it live. “Rescued”:
Written by Brent Lamb of Shenandoah. This was another track recorded
during the second batch of sessions. This one has hit home with a lot of
our fans-especially lyrically. “Half
Past Goodbye”: I wanted us to cover some ground musically that the band
hadn’t yet been over, so I brought in this Bad Company-ish type tune
which had a really bluesy vibe and a different name. The band liked the
music, but didn’t go for my abstract lyrics although Ron really liked
one of the phrases in the song-which was Half Past Goodbye. So, I went
home and wrote a pure, stone-blues tune complete with a big band
turnaround, more traditional blues lyrics, and used that phrase as the
title. It’s a nice change of pace for us live, girls really like dancing
to it, and it’s a blast hearing Ron wail out in a vocal style that he
doesn’t really get to explore very often. “One
Hell Of A Ride”: Another John Edwards creation. The version on the CD
fades out quickly after the final chorus but on the early mixes there’s
a really long, one-take, Gary Moore-ish outro solo that lasts about four
minutes that I’m pretty proud of. Maybe one day it will surface as a B-side
or on a foreign release. Live, we stretch this one out and give me a
chance to really go bananas. Can
you tell me which are your favorite songs from the album and why? J:
Actually, I’m really pleased with nearly the whole album. We even left
several tunes on the cutting room floor that were just as good as what
made it to the final CD. Personally, I’m a sucker for the darker minor-key
stuff so I’ll go with “One Hell Of A Ride”, “Haunted Saloon”,
and “Three Sheets To The Wind”. Here
we have a not so usual but yet a successful mix. Southern rock is well
mixed with hard rock and some country elements. Is that something that you
planned to do or you just put in the blender all the members’ influences
and that is the result? J:
Really, this was Ron’s brainchild and his plan when he first came up
with the concept of IronHorse was to combine all the good things that can
be found in each genre. Obviously, many bands have combined country with
rock but I’ve never known one to combine country with hard rock/metal
like we have and so, we end up with a hybrid that is hard to put a label
on. We’ve called it “Cowboy Metal”, “Hard Rockin’ Southern
Country Metal”, and my personal favorite-“Southern Rock On Steroids”. Which
are those bands that have influenced Iron Horse? J:
I think a better question would be who hasn’t influenced at least one of
us. In that respect, I think it’s more a case of each of us individually
having a different set of influences and thereby each approaching the
entity that is IronHorse from differing perspectives. Gaetano and I are
more the pure metalheads while Ron and Geno each have a bit more country
in them. Dean is just all over the place-he likes some stuff the rest of
us have never even heard of. But the common denominator for all of us is
the songs. We all agree that a good country song beats a shitty hard rock/metal
song and vice-versa. We figure if you take a good country/southern rock
song and mix it with good hard rock/metal, you should have something that
is really killer. Who
made the production of the album? Are you completely satisfied with it? J:
The bulk of the tracks were produced and mixed by Kevin Beamish, who needs
no introduction to most people. He’s worked with the crème de la
crème in country and in metal, including Ron himself. He seemed an
obvious choice and he really knew how to get the best out of a band like
us. He let go of the reins most of the time and let us do our thing but he
could crack the whip when it was called for. The album sounds really big
and crisp and presents us in an excellent light. Like many other bands,
however, we do come across a lot heavier live than we do on the CD, but
when you combine the genres we’re combining and you’re trying to
appeal to both markets it’s a fine line you have to tread and Kevin did
an excellent job of making sure that the songs would have a chance to
appeal to everyone. Which
are those things that you would change if you had the chance again? J:
You always wish for more time in the studio-to explore tones, to pursue
that mystical and elusive perfect take, etc. Other than that, it was a
wonderful recording experience and we’re looking forward to doing it
again in the not-to-distant future. How
far do you think you can go with IronHorse? J:
The band has no limits musically or stylistically and we believe that
translates to the potential the band has commercially as well. Since
we’re writing and performing material that can appeal to several
different audiences simultaneously, we believe that can only exponentially
increase our chances of success. Do
you believe that the name of Ronnie Keel helps the band to have more
respect from other bands and from people cause he is a very well known
musician? J:
It’s certainly helped in some aspects, simply because there’s a
million bands out there and people are more likely to take you seriously
right off the bat if you have a vocalist with Ron’s pedigree as opposed
to some no-name. Ron’s past has earned him a degree of fame and
notoriety and we use that tool when appropriate to get the music of
IronHorse out to people who might not investigate on their own. On the
other hand, Ron (and the rest of us) are very focused on getting people to
accept and like IronHorse on it’s own merits, instead of simply because
of what one guy in the band happened to do in the past. Tell
me how you came to join the band? And what did you think at the first
place and what are your thoughts now that you’re member of the band. J:
I got the gig the old-fashioned way-I answered an ad, showed up on time,
played well enough to not get laughed at, and drank enough beer to get
their respect. When I first met the guys, I liked them all right away and
was instantly very comfortable with them-although they were very close and
had their own little language that I had to learn. My first surprise was
how tall Ron was-he’s about 6 foot 4 and just kind of towers over you.
Now that I’ve been in the band for two and a half years, I wonder where
the time went. It’s like being married to four other guys-A lot of love
and a lot of give-and-take. Are
there any details about the album that you would like to share? Funny
stuff, way of recording it? J:
During the recording of the vocals for “Half Past Goodbye”, we’d had
a few drinks (like we did during most of the recording) and Ron started
singing a take like a drunken Elvis… we were nearly pissing our pants we
were all laughing so hard-even Ron. He couldn’t even do another take for
several minutes because he kept cracking up. It’s still buried somewhere
in the master tracks-we’ll have to dig it out and listen to it again
someday. What
is the first response for the album so far? J:
The response has been overwhelmingly positive-from reviewers, the industry,
Keel fans, early IronHorse fans, and the new fans that get turned onto us
every day. Do
you think that a bigger label can help the band or you’re not having
such thoughts right now? J:
The one thing that a bigger label can still do for you that no one else
can is promote you to the degree that you are exposed to large numbers of
people in a short period of time-which is really the key ingredient for
success. Obviously, we believe (and our experiences have proven) that once
you put IronHorse in front of people, it’s a slam-dunk. We’re an easy
band to like-we sound good, we put on the kind of energetic and
entertaining show that you don’t see that often these days, and the
songs really connect with people of all ages, backgrounds, and musical
tastes. Can
you tell us why did you choose “American Thunder” and “The Best Move”
to release them as videos? J:
We actually had a camera crew follow us around for over a year and we’ve
got oceans of footage that we’re wading thru for a DVD release sometime
in the future. I think there’s also a video for “Three Sheets” lying
around somewhere. “The Best Move” seemed like an obvious choice, given
its ability to cross over into several markets and “American Thunder”
was filmed live outside at a huge festival in Dallas, Texas so, it made
sense to include that so people who hadn’t seen us live could get an
honest feel for what we’re like. Do
you think that those two videos have helped the band’s reputation all
this time? J:
I think that any time people can actually see a band and get a visual idea
of what they’re all about, be it live or via video, it can only help in
the long run.
J:
We play wherever and whenever we can in the best situations that present
themselves. We’re a live band to the core and get really antsy if we
take time off so we relish getting on the road, taking IronHorse to the
people, and being a part of the brotherhood that is IronHorse. Meanwhile,
we’re always examining scenarios that will allow us to cross the water
to Europe and any other country or continent that will have us. Do
you prefer to play on stage or to record in the studio most and why? J:
They’re both completely different animals. It’s much easier to play
challenging things properly when you’re sitting down in a studio as
opposed to jumping around on a stage like your pants are on fire. In a
studio, however, you’re usually doing your parts by yourself and so you
miss out on the feeling of grooving with the band and getting that
immediate reaction from the crowd. If you told me I could only do one or
the other for the rest of my life, I’d choose playing live. And
some weird Questions to relax somehow!!! Do you prefer southern rock or
hard rock most? J:
My musical tastes run the gamut, but at heart I’m a metalhead. I came of
age and started playing in the early 80’s and still love all the good
hard rock that was out back then. Fortunately for people like me, a lot of
good music in that style is coming out of Europe-both from newer artists
and from established names. What
would you tell to someone to convince him to buy your album instead of
hundreds others that are being released every month? J:
I would point out that very few CDs these days are strong all the way thru.
Bands don’t seem to put out complete albums the way they once did-they
seem to follow more of a plan where they have two or three killer songs
and then the quality level drops dramatically. Unfortunately, it doesn’t
matter like it used to because far fewer people really get into a band and
follow that band like they used it over a period of time. Now it’s all
about that one hit song and the entity creating the song doesn’t really
matter. But, that’s one of the strengths of “Bring It On”-it’s
equally strong all the way through and the songs are really melodic, very
hooky, full of energy, and really connect with the listener lyrically. And
it was made by a band. Wild
West Vs Middle East… in which time period do you prefer to travel back
in time if you had the power to do it? J:
It seems to me that IronHorse would fit right in back in the days of the
Wild West. What
would you do, if you had supernatural power? J:
I suppose that would depend on what the supernatural power was… Which
band do you consider that can take a leading part in rock music in the
future? J:
That’s an interesting question and one that I think is harder to answer
today than ever before. There’s so much music out there, and so many
different genres and cross-pollinations of musical styles that I don’t
think it’s possible for any one artist to really have as much of an
effect on the direction of rock music as past greats who really blazed a
trail like Hendrix, The Who, Jim Morrison, or Black Sabbath did when they
first appeared. The music business machine out there today is rapidly
becoming one big corporate merger so it’s difficult for the vast
majority of the music made and bands that exist to ever see the light of
day. There are a few newer bands out there like Evanescence that have
caught my attention but it’s hard to tell how “important” they’ll
be to the future of rock music. Which
are the things that piss you off from today’s music industry? J:
See first part of answer above. Also the fact that recording technologies
have basically made mastering your instrument or voice not a necessity for
sounding good on record, so you really have no idea if the people on the
CD can actually perform or not. Which
is the most overrated band today? J:
I’m actually much more pleased with the state of popular music today
than I was ten years ago. Obviously, there’s a lot of crap out there-a
lot of prefabricated pop and cookie-cutter country but there’s a bunch
of bands that have returned the emphasis to writing songs and singing
melodies and executing that material with a certain degree of facility so,
I think that’s a very positive thing to see. As far as singling out
someone as the most overrated, I don’t think there’s anything to be
gained by taking potshots at any particular band-especially since several
of the bands I would choose have either broken up or aren’t doing much
these days. However, some of the bigger bands/solo artists out there now
seem to think of themselves and what they’re doing as being far more
important than it actually is. Any
final words? J:
Please come visit us often at: www.ironhorseband.com.
Come on in, look around, and keep an eye on our tour dates to see if
we’re in your area. We like to hang out on the message board and talk to
our fans-we’re really a “people’s band”. You can also get the CD
through the site if it’s not available in a store near you. There’s a
lot of great music out there that takes some looking for to find but
it’s well worth the effort-and it’s sites like this one that help make
it happen! by Thanos Aggelakis |
