MCB: As the release date of the album looms, what is the anticipation level for the new record?

JFY: Well, first off, I am anticipating they are gonna try and put me in some panties tonight or something so I am avoiding that. But as the album is getting closer to coming out, and I’m excited because we really worked hard on the new record and eager to show everybody our new stuff. The new single, “Blind Man,” is doing really well and moving up the rock charts, so this makes more excitement for the record as well.

MCB: Was there anything that you or the band wanted to get out on this new record?

JFY: Well, I think we wanted it to show our roots and where we’re from. On the first record, it was more like “here we are, this big and bad rock band and we’re gonna take over.” On this record, I think we still had those same sort of elements on this record. But we were more interested in telling the stories and folklore of the area where we’re from. There is so much musical history from where I’m from and so much storytelling that needs to be passed down that we felt it was important to get that out on the record. One of those stories is on “The Ghost of Floyd Collins” who was a spelunker from Kentucky that went missing at Mammoth Cave and it really became this big event in our plans. Things like that… Like in anything, if stories aren’t passed down, they become forgotten.

MCB: How much of a role did gospel and bluegrass music play on the record?

JFY: A lot. With that sort of music all around, it influences our music. When we started out, most people we knew where into bands like Korn and things like that. But with my background (Note: John’s father was the singer of the band the Kentucky Headhunters), we had all these other great musical influences around. In my dad’s farm house/studio, there were all these great albums, some of the vinyl copies unopened. We got into things like Aretha Franklin, blues guys like B.B. King and things like that. I think gospel and bluegrass along with those other influences have helped shape our record.

MCB: How do people perceive those influences today when meeting you?

JFY: We have a lot of people that say a lot of different things. Some people call us “gospel rock,” others use the term bluesy. All those terms are fine, because I think there’s some parts of that in our music. But if you were to call us “southern rock,” I think that’s the greatest compliment you could pay this band. To put us in the same musical category as someone like Lyndrd Skyndyrd makes us very proud.

MCB: The band toured with Buckcherry extensive in 2006? Were those guys the crazy type or pretty laid back?

JFY: We spent a lot of time on the road with those guys, and actually, they were pretty calm dudes. We first started touring with them when their latest album was just coming out, and no one knew what to expect. It's amazing to see them go from a comeback band to where they’re at now. It was funny because the names of the bands are kinda similar and some of the fans kept confusing some of our songs with theirs. People would come up to us and say “I love your song 'Crazy Bitch.'” The first few times, you correct them but after a while, you just end up saying “Thanks a lot, man, appreciate it” and take it in stride. But with Buckcherry, they deserved to get big again and can't wait to see what they got coming next.

MCB: You guys played a gig with the Newark School for Performing Arts choir? How was that experience?

JFY: Well, that started out when we were writing the song “Peace is Free” on the new record. It was a song that discussed the price of freedom and we think it’s a song that doesn’t take sides but says that if people can put differences asides, this can be attained. We used a choir for that song, and it was cool when we did the show in Newark that the choir could sing on the song during the show. The choir seemed to like being on stage and it was great to have them on stage with us.

MCB: Do you feel you’re at a comfortable spot with the band’s success right now?

JFY: I feel we are doing great and excited with everything going on, but you always want more. For a band from Kentucky to get to open for bands like Def Leppard and Whitesnake and do tours like this one (with Shinedown & Theory of a Deadman) and get to tour with such great people, its an honor for us. We’ve gotten to tour 13 or 14 different countries and see the world, its beyond all my expectations. But that drive in us always wants more to be the biggest band around.

Black Stone Cherry is on tour with Shinedown through August 10^th. Their new record “Folklore and Superstition” is due out August 19^th. For more information, check out www.blackstonecherry.com.