Black Stone Cherry
Appearing in: houston, austin-san-antonio, dallas-fort-worth
Black Stone Cherry — Chris Robertson (vocals/guitar), Ben Wells (guitar), Jon Lawhon (bass), and John Fred Young (drums) — grew up together in Edmonton, Kentucky, the sons of regional musicians who exposed them early to the blues and classic rock that would define their sound. The band formed while the members were still in high school and released their debut album in 2006, establishing a reputation for heavy, blues-influenced rock that drew from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, and Zakk Wylde-era Black Sabbath without simply copying any of them. Their chemistry as musicians who have known each other their entire lives gives the music a cohesion and ease that bands assembled in adulthood rarely match.
The band has developed a particularly strong following in the United Kingdom, where their brand of straight-ahead Southern rock has found audiences that American commercial radio has not always provided. Albums including Folklore and Superstition (2008), Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea (2011), and Family Tree (2018) have consistently performed well in UK album charts. Their live show is built around the joy of four musicians playing loud, bluesy rock together with complete commitment, and that unpretentious, generous approach to live performance has made them the kind of band whose concerts draw crowds that fill arenas with genuine enthusiasm rather than passive attendance.