Janet Jackson literally comes from a musical royal family. Her successes have extended the legend of the Jackson family positively, and with her strong voice, sharp dance instincts and a performance style perhaps only matched by her brother, the late King of Pop himself, has made her the second biggest superstar in the clan. The baby of the Jackson family has also managed a very successful acting career, which most recently has included roles in films like Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married and its sequel, Why Did I Get Married, Too, as well as the 2011 hit For Colored Girls. Jackson — who recently released her first book, True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself — didn't rely on her family name to bring her success, instead creating her own distinct, multifaceted legacy. Jackson's intimate Number Ones Up Close and Personal tour comes to Riverbend's PNC Pavilion Thursday. Notoriously shy and extremely private in her personal life, CityBeat connected with Jackson via email to chat about True You, Cincinnati fans, her film career and the current tour.

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Black Stone Cherry is a Kentucky-based band that combines its Southern roots with hints of Metal. Last time we spoke with the band, BSC had just released its third studio album, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, which the group continues to tour behind this summer. BSC have been featured on major tours with Theory of a Deadman, Alter Bridge and Nickelback and recently headlined a European tour.

CityBeat was able to speak with the band’s rhythm guitar player Ben Wells to preview Black Stone Cherry's upcoming performance at Columbus' Rock on the Range, where they will be taking the Main Stage this Sunday.

CityBeat: Last year, I spoke with Chris and he talked about how you guys love to go to Europe and how the fans embrace you in there. I know you just got off a European Tour. What was the highlight of that tour for you guys?

Ben Wells: We did shows in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and 14 shows in the U.K. and every single one was sold out. It was a pretty big accomplishment since we have been over there several tours and this was the first time we had one as big as it was. We just felt really good about that and they gave us a tour plaque to hang on our walls. That was pretty neat.

CB: Are there any bands you are looking forward to seeing at Rock on the Range this year?

BW: I know we are looking forward to seeing Rob Zombie. We really enjoy his show and we are good friends with John 5, who plays guitar for them. I can’t remember who else is playing that day, but I am sure there are tons of bands that we are looking forward to seeing.

CB: I think Marilyn Manson is that day too?

BW: I’m not a huge fan of his but I do like Rob Zombie.

CB: “In My Blood” is out right now and has blown up everywhere and the video has a story of a soldier coming home from war. Can you tell me the story behind “In My Blood”?



BW: It was the last song we wrote for the album and pretty much it is a song we wrote about our lives and what we do. We leave things and people we love, go out on the road and do the things we love. Not only in our career do we do this but also military, professional athletes, fishermen, truck drivers, people like that every single day they have to leave their families. We wanted to write a song that kind of came from our perspective, kind of like our “Ramblin Man.” We made the video for it and thought it came across great. People really got the idea and the vibe of the song once they saw the video.
 
CB: I know your family has ties to the Kentucky Headhunters. Have you guys thought about doing collaborations with them?

BW:  We have live before, nothing on CD yet. I wouldn’t say it’s completely out of the question but we have played several shows together. Usually when we do, one band ends up on the other band’s stage falling in together.

CB: No formal plans?

BW: Right, not yet anyway.

CB: What are your summer touring plans?

BW: We are out right now with Chickenfoot until June 10 and then we come home and we leave for Europe on June 20th for about three and a half weeks. Then we get back in the middle of July and are doing some US festivals. So really, staying busy, trying to hit as many shows as we can.

CB: What has been the best part about being around Chickenfoot?

BW: The tour actually starts tomorrow with them. We have been out for about five days now just doing some festivals and playing our own shows. We pick up with Chickenfoot tomorrow but we have heard great things. We have never played with them before but we are excited about it.

CB: There have been a lot of changes at Roadrunner Records, your record label. I know the CEO and founder stepped down recently. Has the band seen any changes?

BW: We haven’t personally yet because we haven’t been around everybody yet. I know we had some good friends lose their jobs. I hope the label knows what they are doing because they let go a lot of great people overseas and in America go, so we’ll see if they know what they are doing.

CB: What would be your dream piece of gear to own if you could from any time in history? What piece of gear would you like to play?

BW: Any guitar that Elvis Pressley owned would be fine with me.

CB: I’m sure you could find one. I recently just saw one in New Orleans.

BW: Yeah, but I can’t afford that though.

CB: What has been your greatest rock star moment?

BW: I really don’t know. We had some pretty cool moments playing some pretty big festivals in front of 60,000 people or more, getting to meet some of the guys in Aerosmith, getting to do some certain things. I’d say anytime that somebody comes up to tell us how much the bands means to them. That’s a pretty good feeling and is a pretty special moment because it really lets you know what you do is appreciated by someone.

John 5 has seen almost everything in Rock music. He's toured with David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie (with whom he's currently rockin') and been credited on songs from a wide range of artists — from Saliva to Salt n Pepa to k.d. lang to an upcoming collaboration with Rod Stewart. The guitarist has gained the reputation as a musical genius and one of the most action-packed guitarists in the world. He has just released his sixth solo album, God Told Me To, which mixes acoustic Spanish guitar along with Metal riffs.

CityBeat caught up with the guitar player to talk about the new album and some of the darker aspects of what goes into his writing, as well as the lighter aspects help put him to sleep every night. John 5 will take the stage with headliner Rob Zombie this Sunday at Rock on the Range in Columbus.

CityBeat: Can you tell us about the name of your album, God Told Me To?

John 5: The name, it is funny because … I am from Michigan, I am from Grosse Pointe. I was upper class growing up there. I was brought up in a really nice environment and home and I remember the night before I was leaving for California to really give it my shot saying, “I am going to try this. I am going to try to be this musician type of thing.” I remember I was saying my little prayer. I never wished to be a “rock star.” I just wanted to be a working musician. My dreams didn’t even go past a session player or a working musician. It was too far beyond my dreams. That’s kind of what the title means, that kind of thing, but also you can look at in the negative way, like when someone does a horrific murder, they always say, “Oh, God told me to.”

CB: I have read a lot of discussion in your recent interviews about serial killers and even the song “Night Stalker” being written about Richard Ramirez. Do you have an interest in serial killers and the history and stories behind them?

J5: I think it is interesting to me about how the mind works and how someone is wired, how their mind works, how it is completely OK to do these things, which I could never even think of doing something like that. It was always so interesting to read about this or watch documentaries. It is so odd for something like that to happen, so I have always had this little fascination with it — not that I am pro-for that kind of thing or anything but it is just very interesting to see something like that.

CB: I got a copy of the album and have been listening to it today. I love the acoustic Spanish-style versions on some of the songs. I know you are a lifelong learner. Did you take specific lessons around Flamenco or Spanish-style guitar lessons?

J5: Yes, I have always tried to learn, it is what keeps me sane. I love to learn and I started doing a lot of studying of Spanish-style music and really started getting into it and how it is just a completely different form of guitar playing. It is just like if you started speaking in a different language like Japanese or something. It is something that you have to study and work at a lot. That is what I enjoy because I love the guitar so much. Yes, I did a lot of studying and research on that.

CB: What current music is inspiring me right now?

J5: What current music is inspiring? You know what, and this will be a surprise, but I usually am very honest. I have had a little epiphany and this is very shocking. I was watching some movie or something like that and a N.W.A. song was on and I am no fan of Rap music, I really am not because I like the guitar. So I heard this N.W.A. song, I think it was “Gangsta Gangsta,” and I was like, “This is really, really, really good.” It was eye-opening to me and I appreciate it now. I was pretty taken back by it. I would have to say N.W.A. (is a current inspiration), which I can’t believe I am saying but it is the truth.

CB: There are a lot of bands right now collaborating outside their genres. Korn has collaborated with Skrillex and trying to create a lot of different sounds which would traditionally maybe not be in Metal music.

J5: Sure, and I think it is very important for that to happen because of the fact music has to always evolve and if it doesn’t, it has failed. It is good that it is evolving.

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Nashville-based Pop/Rock band Safetysuit formed as college friends in Tulsa, Okla., and went on to have hits like "Someone Like You" and "Stay" off its first album Life Let Go in 2008. The group (Douglas Brown, Dave Garofalo, Jeremy Henshaw and Tate Cunningham) is ready to release its sophomore album These Times on Nov. 1 and will be giving Cincinnati audiences a preview of it when perform TONIGHT with The Script at Riverbend's PNC Pavilion.

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Singer/guitarist Glen Campbell is truly Country music’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Starting out as a masterful, much-used session musician, in the ’60s and ’70s, Campbell represented the genre as one of its premier stars and was also embraced on the pop charts, scoring huge crossover hits with singles like "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Southern Nights" and "Rhinestone Cowboy."

This past year, Campbell's 50 years in the music business was celebrated at the Grammys, where he was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and honored with a musical tribute by The Band Perry and Blake Shelton that was capped off by Campbell joining the musicians for a version of "Rhinestone Cowboy."

After his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in the summer of 2011, Campbell decided to hit the road one last time while he still could. After releasing the collaborative album Ghost on the Canvas (featuring covers of songs by modern artists like Jakob Dylan, Teddy Thompson, Paul Westerberg and Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard), Campbell kicked off his extensive “Goodbye Tour," which comes to the Taft Theatre in downtown Cincinnati this Sunday. For ticket info, click here.

CityBeat was privileged to have the opportunity to speak with Campbell about changes in music from when he started to today and how close he stays with his family on tour.

CityBeat: How did you choose songs and artists to collaborate with on Ghost on the Canvas?



Glen Campbell: Julian Raymond is my producer. He found the majority of the material. However, he kept notes of things I said or did and some of this material makes its way into the album. (Closing track) “There’s No Me…Without You” is an example of this.

CB: What has it been like to see the changes in music technology from vinyl to 8-track to cassette to CD to IPod? Do you think music sounds better or worse with the new technology, analog vs. digital?

GC: It has been wonderful to see all of the technological advances with recorded music. I think the music sounds better with the new technology.

CB: You are often highly autobiographical in your own songs. Do you regret ever sharing any of your stories through your music or songs?



GC: I have no regrets about the autobiographical songs I recorded.

CB: Are your children still on tour with you? What is the best part of having them on the road with you?



GC: My son plays drums for me. Shannon is on guitar and Ashley plays keyboards and bass. It’s wonderful sharing the stage with them. I love it. They are terrific musicians in their own right. The best part of having them with me is that our whole family and my wife Kim are all together and doing great shows which people have warmly embraced.

CB: What is your favorite guitar solo on any recording that you have done?



GC: One of my favorite guitar solos I recorded was for Frank Sinatra on his “Strangers in the Night.” I also like my guitar solo on “Wichita Lineman.” Jimmy Webb never finished the song so I just filled the hole with the guitar solo.

CB: What is your favorite guitar to play?



GC: Ovation.

CB: What is the longest time you have gone without playing guitar?



GC: I play every day.

CB: Would you ever consider playing with a Beach Boys reunion? (Campbell filled in for Brian Wilson on tour in the mid-’60s and recorded on Pet Sounds and other records.)



GC: I would not want to do a Beach Boys reunion at this point. They just celebrated their 50 years together with a big tour. I think that more than covered it.

CB: How has music helped you cope or deal with your Alzheimer's diagnosis?

GC: The music has brought me much joy and comfort.

Jackyl is a Southern Metal band led by one of the most charismatic frontmen around, Jesse James Dupree. The band has been making the rounds since the early ’90s but have gained their biggest fame with Dupree appearing regularly on the TruTV show Full Throttle Saloon. He also has infamous for turning a chainsaw into a musical instrument. CityBeat caught up with Dupree this week to preview Jackyl's upcoming return to Cincinnati. The two discussed where Jackyl stands in today’s Rock n Roll landscape and the group's new album, Best in Show. Jackyl performs Friday night (Oct. 26) at the Inner Circle (formerly Annie's) in Cincinnati.

CityBeat: I think you are still out on tour with Nigel, your son, correct?

JD: No, Nigel is not on this date with me. I have a band called Wayland that is opening for us and they are doing really great. They are getting a good bit of airplay on 96Rock and I am proud to have them on the run with us.

CB: I have been listening to the new record Best in Show and I think “Horns Up” is my favorite song. Can you tell me a little bit about that song and how you put it together?

JD: It came about with Roman the bass player; obviously you can tell that song originates from that bass groove. Roman came in and said, “I have an idea but don’t know what to do with it though.” We basically stopped everything and we said “Let’s hear it,” because when Roman says he has something going on it is usually pretty interesting.

So we stopped everything and he started this looping, playing it round and round, and then I picked up the guitar and started grabbing the soft beats with it and choking through, and next thing you know we had a really cool groove going. So we laid that down so we wouldn’t forget what we had.

I actually got up and went for a run the next day and it was playing over in my head, and it seems like it was one of those songs that every now and then you come across something that writes itself. That one, all the parts fell together, even the gang vocals part; it has that old Sly and the Family Stone type of gang vocal, you know, “Everybody grows…”

So Roman and I got up to the microphone and did it and sounded like him. We laid down the idea and that is what ended up being on the record because it had such a natural flow to it. It was one of my favorite songs too. It has such a fun energy to it. I think our record is non-portentous in a sense. It is just a celebration of the fundamentals of Rock & Roll.

CB: I have been a Jackyl fan for a long time. I have talked to you over the years and seen the shows. Have you ever had women approach you that are offended by some of the lyrics?

JD: I really haven’t. Can I imagine that within my lyrics that I have offended lots of groups or whatever? At the end of the day, if you are analyzing the music that close, you are missing out on the essence of what it is all about.

In Rock, some of these artists are so self-righteous and self-proclaimed geniuses and Rhodes Scholars or whatever, I don’t subscribe to that. I think music is something that should move you and excite you. I think Rock music should be considered right alongside going to see a movie, whether it is a comedy or a drama or a horror movie, whatever the case may be. I think it is just an expression of a vibe and blowing off some steam. How many people work their asses off for 40 hours or more a week? I don’t think they want to stop in Rock & Roll to have other issues to be upset about. I think they dial in to something that is like going to see a great movie of a different genre. It is about an escape.

Anybody that is looking for music to cure a rare disease or something needs to be re-aligned. I’ll just tell you this, I’ll leave it to Bono and U2 to go save the world in that respect. I just want to provide some sanity for people when they blow off some steam.

CB: The Flaming Lips broke the record for the most concerts in 24 hours. Would you guys ever try to do that again?

JD: The record, if you look at it, the record they broke is something else. I think our record still stands. We did 21 shows in a 24 hour period and we did 100 shows in 50 days. I think they did a certain amount of shows in certain states. They added something more of a twist to it. At the end of the day, it is just something we did to validate our work ethic. If we are going to be out there, we make it stick.

CB: Since I saw Jackyl last time, you had your motorcycle accident last fall. Has that changed your views on riding at all?

JD: Hell no! I was riding all day yesterday.

CB: It is so scary to me. I know people love it, just love it. I talk to people all the time and they have had accidents just like you and they say they would never give it up.

JD: Nah — hell, if I quit riding today, I would probably get run over by a train tomorrow. You can’t run off and be scared of life.

CB: You guys did Throttle Fest this summer in Kansas City. What was the highlight of that for you?

JD: We were shooting the Full Throttle Saloon fourth season. The TV show has been a blessing as far as kind of sharing the lifestyle we celebrate every day. It is the No. 1 rated show in its time slot and we are very, very proud of the success the show has had. Bruce Chappell is a big part of that TV show. At Throttle Fest, we ended up doing some really cool things with the Full Throttle brand this year. We took it to a whole new level that I don’t think anyone will expect. It is going to be a pretty interesting season for sure.

CB: That was one of my questions actually — what can we expect from season four?

JD: You know that bigger is better and I will leave it at that.

CB: I actually had the privilege of seeing Run-DMC re-unite live this summer for the first time in a long time. I wasn’t sure if you had any thoughts on that. I know you are friends with Darryl and he is a great friend of yours. Were you excited about them reuniting?

JD: I was proud for Darryl. It was something that meant a lot to him to be able to do that for the fans. They have had their issues with stuff as far as performing together. It is good when that can be put behind them and they can get out there and mix it up. I just love him to death and anything that excites him, I am proud for him.

CB: Going back to the album for a minute, what made you choose to cover “Cover of the Rolling Stone”?

JD: I just felt the tongue-and-cheek aspect they wrote that song. I don’t think they (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show) would have ever expected to be on the cover of Rolling Stone so they wrote that song. I think Jackyl has a lot of that cynical, fun outlook on things — not cynical in a negative way.

I think with Jackyl, we scoff at being the whole critically-acclaimed thing. It is kind of a joke. I don’t need Rolling Stone magazine to validate Jackyl. The fact we are going to play a sold out room in Cincinnati, Ohio, validates Jackyl. The fact that people come out and support us. I don’t need Rolling Stone or any other critic to validate us because every night we hit the stage and everybody that comes to support us validates us, and shows that the core and what the heart of Rock is all about. It is not about a critic or a magazine. We did it with a fun twist and kind of (worked) a couple other influences into it and even used the chainsaw on it. It is an appropriate song.

CB: You guys spend a huge amount of time in Cincinnati and I know you have a hugefan base here. What can the fans look forward to Friday at the show?

JD: We are celebrating the release of this new album and we will be playing some of the new tunes for everybody and looking forward to doing it. At this point and time it is more like a family reunion. We normally come (to Cincinnati) around this time of year and we look forward to it every year. If (Inner Circle) place went out of business, we would still have to open the doors up every year about this time to do a show.

The first time lead singer of The Dukes Are Dead, Lucas Frazier, eagerly told me about his band, in between puffs of a hastily smoked cigarette while on a quick break from the coffee shop where we both worked, I’m pretty sure I said, “Aw! That’s so cute.”

Three years and a lot of hard work later, The Dukes Are Dead are far from cute. Stoic. Diligent. Loud. Confident. Any number of adjectives, but unequivocally, definitely, absolutely, not cute.

Oh sure, they’re an attractive bunch. All slender and tangle-y-long-haired fellows, TDAD are four young men with serious, hungry ambition and serious, twinkling eyes. Randy Proctor, the prodigious bassist for this band, is perhaps the most vivacious, and assertively business-like.

I sat down with the gentlemen of The Dukes Are Dead to discuss their current role as the musical accompaniment for The Know Theatre’s production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, about the tumultuous and yes, bloody, life of the seventh president of the United States, running through May 12. (Read CityBeat's review here.)

“I was hanging out at MOTR one night,” says Proctor, his red curls all hip length and slightly mussed after a Saturday night performance of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, “getting really drunk, and Eric Vossmeyer, the production manager — he also does Fringe Festival — I overheard him talking about Fringe Festival and he says it nicer than the truth is, but, I was drunk, and kind of being cocky, and I guess I just felt like interrupting his conversation and telling him what he should do at one certain part of the production and this, this and this with the poster, and [I was like] ‘I’m in a band’, and I was being kind of cocky and he was like, ‘Oh, ok, thanks. Wait. You’re in a band? Why don’t I get your number?”

Proctor speaks quickly and efficiently, dropping anecdotes and inflection all over the place.

“And then I had no idea what he was talking about, and I called him up and we went to MOTR and he told me, ‘I like your ideas, but I’d like you to be in a musical with your band.’” Proctor relays. “I thought it was really wacky, and I was not too keen on it at first, actually, and then he just kind of described it to me, and then he told us he was going to pay us, which was cool, and then it just kind of won [us] one by one over to the idea of it. And then the wheels went into motion from there.”

Like Proctor said, TDAD was slightly hesitant at first to agree to being a part of the production.

“It was a lot of time. It was a lot of time that pretty much cancelled [us out of] being able to do anything [else],” says Luke Darling, lead guitarist for TDAD. “We were trying to do big things, and then this came up, so it was very cool, it seemed like a cool idea and like a lot of fun but that was the problem, was time. But we decided we did have time. We had enough.”

Rehearsals began a month and a half before production started, and TDAD quickly adjusted to the different setting and atmosphere.

“It was really fucking hard and stressful. They gave us all the sheet music, they gave us a CD, and basically we had to teach ourselves how to play these songs in, like, a week or two,” Frazier says matter-of-factly. He’s sitting one chair over from me, drinking a Moerlein, with Proctor, Darling and drummer Dave Reid sitting in the row directly behind us.

“Through this process, I think we all have learned tons of shit when it comes to playing music and understanding music. Like, I mean, just chords we’ve never played before, time signatures, key changes, all sorts of stuff that we’d never really attacked as The Dukes Are Dead, all of a sudden we were faced with,” says Frazier.

“And it wasn’t like, ‘Well I don’t like this, let’s just change it’, it was them telling us, ‘Play it like that.’ And they gave us this CD and this music, but then we get into this practice space and all of a sudden there’s all these lines and there’s these, like, times where we’re just playing the same thing over and over and filling the space, and having to get quiet and loud and everything’s fluctuating and changing and it’s just completely different from anything we have ever done before. And it has made us much better musicians, whether we like to admit it or not.”

The intensive rehearsal schedule is best explained by Proctor: “[At one point there were] two weekend days in a row, where we did twelve-hour days back to back, which means we worked a total of like fourteen days in a row [besides] the weekend. And we all have other jobs, too.”

But TDAD is nothing if not diligent and pervasive, and their smoking, blazing Rock and Blues-infused style made itself evident during rehearsal.

“I think that’s unavoidable,” says Darling. “We’re all particular tone snobs in our own way, to our own liking, and we were told to turn things down very far. Because it needed to be done. It’s a guitar-tech-nerd thing. I think tone’s the only reason it’s different.”

Proctor chimes in. “I think we got, three different times, formal requests to say, ‘take your volume down, you’re rocking a little bit too loud for the house.’ I’m proud of that. I think it’s cool that they had to tell us to turn it down.”

“It sucks to turn it down, but it makes sense,” says Frazier. “Because the music is not the most important thing. The vocals are.”

As lead vocalist for TDAD, Frazier has an especial appreciation for the way in which the story must be told.

“[The musical's actors] have to be heard above everything else, because they tell the story. The music is extremely important, but it’s still second to what they’re doing.”

Showmen of a different variety, TDAD performs emphatically, exuberantly at their own shows, with Frazier exuding a magnetism that is firmly in the realm of broody young lead singers. During BBAJ, TDAD is relegated to an elevated platform on the right side of the stage, mostly in dim lighting during the production. Learning to take a backseat was “so weird”, says Frazier. “When I’m on stage and I’m playing in a Dukes show, there’s that connection [with the audience]. [We know] we’re [all] having a good time. But this, they’re hardly ever looking at us, because we’re just playing the music. They’re performing. It’s very interesting to take a step back and really focus on what [I’m] doing. And increasing…”

“Dexterity,” inserts Darling.

“Right, exactly,” continues Frazier. “It’s just a chance to practice and focus and think more about it, because no one’s looking at you. It’s nice. It really is.”

With the spotlight off them in the musical arena, TDAD is eager to get back to their daily grind of performing, writing, recording and being a band.

“I think through this experience, it’s put us all in the mindset of [being] even more determined to do what it is we really want to do,” says Frazier. “Not that we’re not enjoying ourselves here, and we’re very grateful for the people around us, and this is a wonderful experience, but after this, it’s time to get back and hit it even harder than before.”

Proctor agrees.

“This production’s here because some other guy went out and wanted to make music and change the world that way. It’s our turn to do the same thing.”

The coming summer of 2012 holds a lot in store for the gentlemen of TDAD. They will be embarking on an extensive tour, in cities “as north as Chicago, as south as Nashville, as west as St. Louis, and as east as Washington, D.C., and a lot in between” Proctor notes.

“We want to let people know that we’re going to be taking this and then going on out and expect to see us doing some bigger things. More content is going to be on it’s way, and we’re only going to get bigger and stronger and more incredible as time goes on.”

The Dukes Are Dead will continue performing in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson through May 12, and their next show is on June 15 at MOTR Pub.

New York-based band Return to Forever made a name for itself in the ’70s as one of the premier Jazz Fusion ensembles, alongside Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra. After a brief return in the ’80s, the band re-formed in 2008 and has seen wild worldwide success since the comeback. The group was a breeding ground for some of the biggest names in Jazz, including Al Di Meola, Earl Klugh and all of the members of the current lineup. Dubbed "Return to Forever IV," the all-star ensemble currently features original members Chick Corea (the founder) and Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty, Frank Gambale and Lenny White. RTF's second world tour since the return comes to Riverbend's PNC Pavilion this Thursday with Dweezil Zappa's tribute to his father, Zappa Plays Zappa.

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Formed in 1978, Classic Punk band Social Distortion reached the height of its fame in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The band has seven studio albums beginning with its iconic Mommy’s Little Monster. Although there has been over a dozen ex-Social D members, the group — known as a touring juggernaut (sometimes at the expense of making new music) — has maintained a lineup that has been fairly consistent for the past decade. 

CityBeat caught up with rhythm guitarist Jonny “2 Bags” Wickersham in anticipation of Social D's current tour. The group performs at Bogart’s on Saturday (Oct. 13) night and will surely wow fans new and old.

CityBeat: I know Mike (Ness) has said in the past we won’t have to wait seven or eight years for a new Social D record. Are you guys working on new music right now? How is that coming along?

Jonny Wickersham: In a perfect situation we would love to get a record out sooner than we have been putting them out. I don’t know that it looks like it will happen real soon. We have been really busy touring the last couple of years. As far as new material there are always new songs in the works. We will work on them at sound checks and rehearsals. When it comes time to get serious to put a record together, the songs that stick in our minds are the ones that are the best stuff and they typically make the record. We will finish it up. We will see. Conceivably we can get together and start really getting serious in the beginning of next year and have a record to follow shortly after that. It has to feel right. I have always felt it is a good thing not to rush records. I know that people like to see a record come out on a certain schedule with bands, but it is also good to evolve a little bit as people and as a band in between albums.

CB: You spend most of the time as a touring band on the road. Do you ever write down the tour stories or keep mementos from the tour to remember them all?

JW: I have never been a big journal keeper or anything like that. I don’t. Certain stories definitely do stick in your mind but not really.

CB: What current music or music you are listening to right now is currently inspiring you?

JW: You know what a really great record is, the new Hot Water Music Record, have you heard that?

CB: No.

JW: I have been listening to a lot of that in my car.

CB: Good driving music?

JW: Oh yeah. It is such a great album. It really is good. I also like the Drive By Truckers a lot. I don’t listen to a lot of new music to be honest. I listen to a lot of old Blues and stuff and old Rock N Roll.

CB: From your standpoint, what are the characteristics that make a good Social D song?

JW: I would have to say a good riff and a good lyric that is poppin'. You can’t go wrong with a good lyric. You can try to stretch that a bit, not just stay with our formula as a band. We have a different division of sounds with the band. We are not trying to re-invent sound in an extreme manner or anything but it is good to try to mix it up. I am hoping in the future, in the stuff coming up, we can do that and re-visit some of the earlier stuff.

CB: We are heading into a critical election year. Ohio is a crazy place to be during this whole thing. Do you guys have any political views or support for any of the candidates?

JW: Well, I am going to vote for Obama and hope for the best.

CB: What is the worst job you have ever had?

JW: I don’t know. I had a job at the Orange County jail once a long time ago. We had to cut the bunks down from three bunks to two and carry them all out to the loading dock and get them out of the jail. Any job where you are locked up is not a great job. I had so many jobs growing up. I started working in construction fields at a really young age because where I come from that is just what you did when you got to the age of going out to get a job, try to get a construction trade. I have also worked at Carl’s Jr. and Burger King as a teenager and neither one of those jobs lasted more than a couple weeks. I have worked as a stagehand. I have worked in an Art Department building sets for film production. Those are cool jobs. I really liked the Art Department work. Any job that anybody could have at this point is a good job is kind of how I feel. I definitely never want to think I am beyond any kind of work. You never know what is going to happen in life. There are times where being able to get any job is critical for you.

CB: Do you have any scars?

JW: I have a scar on my upper leg.  When I was a little kid, me and a couple friends built this bicycle Motocross track on a dirt lot by our house in our neighborhood. We went out and worked really hard with shovels and built this really cool track and the enemy kids down the street, who were our nemesis, came over one day when we weren’t there and totally ruined our track, kicked in all our berms and jumps and trashed it. So we went down the street  where they had built this really shitty tree fort that was like three stories tall off the ground into the tree. We went up there and we started hammering at it, we brought sledgehammers over and we started bashing in their tree fort. The stupid thing on our part was that we started on the bottom and climbed up to the next level and up to the next level. We were breaking this tree fort apart and we were way up at the top and the thing collapsed. I fell and my leg got clipped up on a nail. It ripped my leg open so I have a scar. I have a bunch of other scars too.

CB: What is the last thing you do before you go to sleep?

JW: Well it depends. Turn out the television if I have been watching the television. I don’t always watch TV at night. Sometimes I do. If I am on the bus on the tour, I listen to music on my iPod. The last thing I do is turn that on and I usually fall asleep listening to a record. Then I have to wake up and pull the headphones off and fall back asleep. If I’m reading a book, close the book and turn out the light. It can be one of many different things.

Lucero developed their unique sound — a mix of Country, Roots, Rock and Soul — in Memphis, Tenn., and provide a big production every night on the live stage. You will hear everything from a three guitar assault to a horn section to steel guitar pinings on the band's ninth (and so far most successful) album titled Women & Work.

CityBeat spoke with guitar player Brian Venable from the road to preview the band's show Wednesday in Cincinnati at Bogart’s.

CityBeat: I wanted to catch up with you guys to try to talk about the show that you have at Bogart’s on April 11.

Brian Venable: Well thank you. I am excited about that.

CB: I actually caught you guys at Orlando Calling this year. That was the first time I had seen the band live. It was an amazing show.

BV: Oh, thank you.

CB: I am kind of sad that the festival is not going to happen this year. They announced last week it wasn’t coming back.

BV: Is it going to be a different “Calling” in a different city?

CB: No, I think it just lost a lot of money. Unfortunately, that happens. It’s a lot of overhead.

I just wanted to start and ask you a couple questions about the album and yourself. I know you had the new album come out recently, Women & Work. Can you tell me the story behind the album name?

BV: I think it just sums up everything sometimes. It was more of a flip or a funny line, like “Hey what’s going on?” “Oh you know, women and work.” You are always doing something about work. You’re at work or you are working, and whether it’s your wife, your ex-wife, girlfriend, soon to be girlfriend, girl you met that night, there is always something involving a woman. I think it is kind of where we are right now. We are always on tour. We are always leaving our wives and girlfriends behind, trying to just make it all happen.

CB: Do they ever come out on the road with you?

BV: Every once in a while we will do a weekend. I have three kids so she can’t get away too much, but she’ll come out for a weekend every once in a while.

CB: Well you guys have a pretty large band to move around.

BV: Yeah, we have the bus right now.

CB: What is the best and worst thing about being on the road for you?

BV: Missing the kids. Everything that you know is at home. Some days it is nice to sit on the porch and hang out. But in the same breath, you play rock shows every night which is awesome and you tour with your friends and you get to see the country. There is good and bad in everything.

CB: I am originally from Tennessee and I spent a lot of time in Nashville and Memphis over the years and the music scene in both of those cities is incredible; there are huge amounts of talent that will probably never be discovered.

BV: That is always the thing with Memphis, there are always great bands that will be together for six months or a year and then they break up. Yeah, that is definitely a true statement on your part.

CB: What is your favorite track on the new album?

BV: I like the “Downtown” song but I also like “Sometimes.”

CB: Can you tell me the story behind one of those?

BV: “Downtown” is like the happy beginning. The night is full of promise I guess. You are getting dressed or you are having a few drinks, you are about to go downtown and hang out and do your thing. Nothing good or bad has happened but anything could happen, and I think that air of optimism is exciting to where we might end up hammered drunk at the police station or I meet my next wife of 30 years, you just don’t know. I think it is just that kind of feeling, where it is happy and a “let’s see what happens” feeling.

CB: You guys just played South by Southwest. Any crazy stories from Austin this year?

BV: Not really so much crazy. We did two shows a day for three days plus interviews and in-stores. It was pretty busy. It was exciting to get to play with Dinosaur Jr. Any chance that you get to play with people you listened to when you were younger and looked up to musically is always a fun thing.

CB: That was one of my other questions,  do you have any current musical influences that are giving you inspiration today?

BV: We just did a five day run with Larry and His Flask. Those guys are amazing and really energetic and fun to watch. Todd Beene who plays pedal steel, he is in a band called Glossary. Their songs are awesome and their live show is great. They make good records. We have been really lucky to be able to play with all the people we like usually. We did 15 weeks with Social Distortion. You are able to grow up with a band and then get to see those people who started 30 or 40 years ago still make relevant music and be fresh. It is exciting to know that you can get to a certain age and you don’t fall back and rest on your laurels and still keep pushing.

CB: I love those guys.

BV: Personally, I listen to crazy Southern Metal and Modern Country right now.

CB: What is Southern Metal?

BV: Bands like Black Tusk  and Weedeater. There are a lot of bands out of Atlanta, Ga., and Wilmington, NC, and that whole Southern coast has spawned a whole crazy group of bands. There is Coliseum in Louisville and Skeleton Witch in Ohio. They are pretty awesome if you like Metal.

CB: Can you tell me what your writing process is as a band? Do you guys write together, lyrics separately, music later? What is your process?

BV: With the last few records, we have a practice space and a studio space we use upstairs. We will come to the practice with a part or half of a verse or a bridge and a chorus and just a section a lot of the times. Sometimes it is a full song and we work it up but most of the time it will just be a few pieces. We’ll work with Roy and get a tempo going and a pattern going and a groundwork and then we just add our parts while he is working on the words for it. It’s been pretty awesome. This last record, which was fun for us, horns came in after the fact and we put horns on top of the record, so this one we actually wrote with the horns and the pedals, everybody was there helping with writing and arranging.

CB: What can we look forward to in Cincinnati next week?

BV: Eight dudes getting wild on stage unless the night before was pretty hard then it might kind of be the standard. We will do about two hours. We will do a lot of the new songs. We will do the back catalog. We are all going to have a good time just playing music.