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PREACHER STONE

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There aren't a lot of southern rock bands who reach the European continent these days. It made us twice as happy when the debut album of Preacher Stone from Charlotte, North Carolina, fell on our Hell Spawn Headquarters door mat. And extra happy when vocalist Ronnie Riddle and guitarist Marty Hill were willing to answer some of our questions. Let's rawk!

PREACHER STONE
Preacher Stone's just formed in 2008, according to your bio, but I've got a feeling you've already been around? How did the band get together?
Ronnie Riddle: We're all veteran musicians.  Marty wanted to form a true Southern rock band.  He and Benny had played together in Phantom Park.  I knew them from the NC music scene.  They asked me to write with them and it just took off.

Musically the whole southern rock legacy is weaven in your sound? There's no beating around the bush, you get what you expect and it sounds mighty fresh! Is this a well talked through musical direction or just the style that came out when you first got together?
Ronnie Riddle: The music really reflects the band's personality.  We are all just being ourselves.  Our writing process is very organic. Marty and Benny come up with the music and I write the lyrics, the rest of the band will add to the arrangements and were off running.

The first thing that came to mind the first spin, was ZZ Top. Ronnie's voice has a Dusty Hill sound to it... (In my humble opinion that is). A comparison you can live with as most people who read review like names to get an indication?
Marty Hill: Absolutely!  That's a supreme compliment!  Ronnie's voice has also been compared to The Van Zant's and early Bad Company.  We are just glad to have all the guys we have in the band!

The album is self released. Consciously to have to all the freedom you want or also a tool to shop around for a good, trustworthy label?
Marty Hill: We wanted the freedom to make the record our way.  We also thought that we would have a better position to negotiate with a successful record under our belt.  We are looking forward to the second album. We have completed the writing and will be headed into the studio this Spring.  We are fortunate with the second album as will be recording with a SLS 9000 Console and working again with double Grammy award winning Glenn Tabor at GAT3 Studios.

The lyrics are quite direct, often tongue in cheek and for the most part about the more fun things in life. "Brother's keeper" has the most striking lyrics as being a genuine and straight forward protest song. To give listeners something to think about as well?
Marty Hill: Yes. "Brother's Keeper" is a social awareness song. Many of the songs on the CD have our sense of humor which we throw in just for fun.  We want our projects to be fun for us and for the fans!

The band's name suits wonderfully and sounds great. Is there a great rock 'n' roll story behind it or just two words that fit together?
Ronnie Riddle: Marty came up with the name and it just fit.  It's southern and powerful with a dose of irony.

I guess we have to experience Preacher Stone live to get the real deal about your music, I found some very promising footage on YouTube, but any chance we'll ever see you in Europe?
Marty Hill: We can't wait to tour Europe!  We are looking at putting something together after the second album is completed.  European fans rock and are true lovers of music!

Found some excellent and very fun acoustic stuff as well, something you do more often?
Ronnie Riddle: We do unplugged shows from time to time.  It's a very honest way to perform.  It has a back porch feel which is a big part of our musical heritage.

The southern rock genre rarely makes it to Europe, we know and saw the obvious 'greater names' but seldomly the rest of you.  Any explanation for that? And anything, besides Preacher Stone, you can recommend?
Marty Hill: We've admired bands from the Europe since we were young, so touring Europe has always been part of our plans.  As far as bands getting over to Europe it's probably a financial issue.  As far as other southern bands we rock to -  we really like The D.B. Bryant from South Carolina, Zed Head a band out of Canada and I really dig a guitar player over in the UK  named Robin Hirschfeld, he has a band called Stash the Silver.  He's a talented player and I think he has a great career ahead of him!

I've mentioned it above, there's quite some footage of you on YouTube, but you're also on MySpace, Twitter, Facebook. Do all these forums or networking helps you get your music through?
Ronnie Riddle: Absolutely!  The internet has been extremely instrumental in breaking this band.  We've made friends with many great people that we would not been able to meet if it weren't for Myspace, Facebook, and youtube. These sites also allow us to talk to our fans which we do often and really enjoy.  We also have our official website: www.preacherstone.com

I know the first one's just arrived here, but are you guys already thinking about a follow up? Will it be in the same line of this debut or are there things you absolutely would or want to do differently?
Marty Hill: We have had more time on the second CD.  The band had only 4 rehearsals when we went into the studio the first go round and the album was written in a month.  We are more prepared this time, but the style and method shouldn't be that different.  We wanted this album to be for the fans and break the myth of the sophomore album jinx, a term bands hear often.  Our 2nd CD is even a bit more guitar driven.

That's it for now, if there is anything you'd like to add to these few questions, please be my guest...
Ronnie Riddle & Marty Hill: We want to thank everyone out there for supporting the band because it means a lot.  We've enjoyed this interview and look forward to talking with you again upon completing the second album, so Thank you Pow and Hell Spawn!  You have a cool website!

http://www.myspace.com/preacherstonerocks

Pow

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