Interview: Black Stone Cherry’s Chris Robertson

1. I couldn’t live without my…
“My PRS Original Sewell amp heads. I’ve got one here and one in the States. Paul had actually taken them home and modded them himself; he gave me two of his, which was amazing. They had his handwriting on them where he’d marked the settings. Those amps are the ticket to the whole sound of my rig.”

2. In another life I would be…
“My wife’s a nurse but there ain’t no way I could do that. I’d be a stay-at-home dad! But, honestly, if I wasn’t a musician I’d have to be working at a studio, engineering or something. I’d have to do something with music.”

3. The moment that started it all…
“The first song I ever remember hearing was That Smell by Skynyrd when I was four. For a guitar band, you don’t get a lot better than Skynyrd. The last line-up before the plane crash was amazing. But the reason I play guitar is because of my dad, and my grandfather. He built instruments by hand.”

4. The one that got away…
“I sold one guitar to make ends meet; we’d hit some hard times on the road, it was a Les Paul Custom with a peace sign on it that was hand-painted. But the one that really gets me, my grandfather passed away recently and when I was just starting out he gave me a 1966 Fender Bassman head and the 2×12 matching cabinet. The head got stolen and I’ll never see it again…”

5. My Spinal Tap moment…
“I’ve said the wrong city a time or two… it happens!”

6. The best advice I’ve ever been given…
“Just be humble, man. Never take it for granted and always be humble. It’s not about us. We have fun, but it’s about making sure the crowd have a good time.”

7. The first thing I play when I pick up a guitar…
“Everything we play is just about in Drop D, for the most part. Open G we use sometimes, and some other tunings, but if I just pick up a guitar I normally play in A; I just play some blues stuff, I guess cause that’s where I come from, man.”

8. The most important thing on my rider…
“Monster energy drink. They’ve got this drink, Rehab, it’s so good…”

9. My guiltiest musical pleasure…
“My iPod is full of guilty pleasures! It ranges from Son House to Lamb Of God to Justin Timberlake.”

10. If I could learn to play one thing…
“There’s a player whose knowledge I’d give anything for – Ian Thornley; he has a band called Big Wreck. I don’t know how the world doesn’t know this guy.”

Black Stone Cherry are headlining Ramblin Man Fair on the 24th July 2016, For more info and full line up viit: www.ramblinmanfair.com