Black Stone Cherry: Southern roots, hard-rock muscle
The band took the stage while AC/DC blasted from the PA for about half a minute. Without much fuss, they kicked off the night with “Me and Mary Jane,” a powerful opener that instantly ignited the packed venue. The singalong was already in full swing from the first moments.
There was no let-up. “Burnin’” carried the momentum forward, keeping the adrenaline high with barely a pause, before “Again” hammered the crowd even further. The Edmonton, Kentucky hard rockers had no problem maintaining that intensity throughout the entire set.
Wednesday, September 30, was probably one of the last truly overheated days of the year in Cologne, with temperatures reaching 28°C. Inside Essigfabrik, however, it felt considerably hotter, with the temperature seemingly lingering somewhere in the mid-30s. The venue is notorious for getting seriously hot during the summer, and tonight was no exception.
There was no let-up—and certainly no mercy—from Black Stone Cherry. They kept throwing one catchy song after another at the crowd, keeping the place pumped, sweaty and more than happy to be there.
The band showed no mercy to themselves either. The only member not seemingly engaged in a full workout on stage was Chris Robertson—although he had little choice, glued to the microphone as he delivered the band’s catchy lead vocals while simultaneously handling guitar duties and firing off plenty of guitar solos.
It’s hard to pinpoint certain ones out as ‘standouts’ as basically all songs were an essential part of the set, with mood boilers like “Cheaper to Drink Alone”, “Like I Roll”, “White Trash Millionaire”, “Blame It on the Boom Boom”, “Lonely Train”
Musically, Black Stone Cherry occupy a space somewhere between Southern rock, hard rock, heavy metal and post-grunge, with a distinctly country flavour woven into the mix. Their heavy, radio-friendly guitar grooves and modern alternative edge are rooted in Southern rock, while their melodies and production also carry the influence of the 2000s post-grunge and active-rock scene.
That country connection is hardly surprising. The band members grew up in Edmonton, Kentucky, where country and bluegrass are deeply embedded in the musical landscape. Guitarist Ben Wells has described country music as part of the band’s DNA, saying that its influence simply “comes out naturally” when they write. Their broader influences range from hard rock and metal to blues, Motown and country.
The connection is also quite literal. Drummer John Fred Young is the son of Richard Young, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the Grammy-winning country-rock band The Kentucky Headhunters. Black Stone Cherry even honed their craft and rehearsed in the Headhunters’ historic practice cabin.
Their connection to country music has extended well beyond family heritage. Florida Georgia Line’s version of Black Stone Cherry’s “Stay” became a major country-radio success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and earning Black Stone Cherry an ASCAP Award. Other songs, including “Like I Roll” and “The Rambler”—whose video features country star Billy Ray Cyrus—have also demonstrated the band’s ability to cross into the country audience without sacrificing their heavier Southern-rock identity.
And that may be one of Black Stone Cherry’s defining characteristics: they don’t sound like a country band trying to play rock. They sound like a hard-rock band whose country roots are impossible—and unnecessary—to hide.
