Rock-tober 06, 2018

With the advent of CD players, I thought music technology had reached its apex. Kids today will never know the struggle of trying to fast forward or rewind to find a specific song on a cassette. Neither will they know the disappointment of finding a favorite mixed tape totally unspooled and chewed up by the tape deck. For me, having the ability to play specific tracks, in order, shuffled or on repeat was the equivalent of Marty Mcfly getting his hands on a hoverboard.

Apparently that was just the beginning because eventually MP3 players, satellite radio, and YouTube arrived on the scene. Today, even these have been supplanted as streaming services are now the norm and apps like Pandora and Spotify allowed me to explore new bands in old genres that I might not have discovered on my own. I was browsing through Amazon Prime's online stations one day and came across a radio channel titled "Southern Rock". BOOYAH! It became my go to source for workouts, commutes, and my de facto workday soundtrack to keep daily stresses to a manageable level.

The streaming station included the usual suspects like Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, and Marshall Tucker. But it introduced me to some new names, also. One of these was Black Stone Cherry.

Formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky, the same land that spawned The Kentucky Headhunters, the four man lineup of Black Stone Cherry started by playing to local clubs in the area. In 2006, they released their self titled album, Black Stone Cherry and followed up in 2008 with Folklore and Superstition. They continued to pay their dues as their popularity grew and opened concerts for Def Leppard, Whitesnake, and Nickelback.

In 2014, they released Magic Mountain, and it claimed the #1 spot on the US Hard Rock Album chart. Two years later, they dropped Kentucky, and it, too, went to #1 on the Hard Rock list. The group is popular in, of all places, the UK, having done several tours there as well as on the continent. It brings a smile to my face to think of Brits grooving on the tunes of this quartet from south central Kentucky.

A number of their tracks reveal the influence of their bluegrass state, and they successfully meld this sound with a harder rock and roll edge. This is the case with "Fade Away" off 2011's Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. The first time I heard this track, I knew it would make Rock-tober. This taught me two things. First, music technology keeps evolving and I look forward to continuing developments. Second, maybe, just maybe, music formed after 1989 isn't so bad after all.