Tag: Scott Gorham

RICKY WARWICK – County Downtime

By Carl Begai

Black Star Riders frontman Ricky Warwick will tell you he’s made the most of the downtime shoved down our collective throats by the ongoing pandemic. Having spent a huge portion of his life on the road going back to his days with The Almighty, if he wasn’t busy writing and recording new music, Warwick could be found on a tour bus or on stage somewhere in the world. Instead of going out to promote the latest Black Star Riders record, Another State Of Grace, Warwick has been forced to satisfy himself and the fans with Instagram livestream shows, writing new music, and promoting his latest solo album, When Life Was Hard And Fast. It’s been a long time coming, what with When Patsy Cline Was Crazy (And Guy Mitchell Sang The Blues having been released in 2014 followed by a cover album, Stairwell Troubadour, in 2015. The new album is not, however, the result of COVID-19 keeping him locked up. It was finished a good year-and-a-half before the official release, all according to plan. 

“I’ve been looking at it positively,” Warwick says of the pandemic forcing him to stay put. “I have my daughters and I’ve spent so much time away from them over the years – pretty much their whole lives – so to be at home for a year has been lovely. It’s been amazing to just be home every day; I’ve really enjoyed that. But, it’s been a year and I live for playing live, going on tour is what I do. It’s my job and I’m certainly ready to get back out there, but it hasn’t been the worst year of my life. My family doesn’t seem to be sick of me which is a good thing (laughs).”

“The solo albums are very much dictated by Black Star Riders and getting involved with Thin Lizzy right after Belfast Confetti (2009),” he continues. “And what a great problem to have. I’ve been sitting on a lot of these songs for quite a while and really just waiting for a worldwide pandemic to come along to give me time to put them out there (laughs). I’m always writing so I’ve always got a wealth of ideas on the go, and when I got together with Keith Nelson we actually started demoing this new stuff in 2018. The album was actually recorded in April 2019, so it was in the can before this pandemic started. We were supposed to be touring last year to promote the new Black Star Riders album, but this solo album was always slated to come out in February 2021. We just stuck to the plan.”

Continue reading RICKY WARWICK – County Downtime

BWBK Interview: BLACK STAR RIDERS – “I’ve Never Learned So Much From A Dead Guy In My Life”

By Carl Begai

“I lost my mind when I got the gig.”

That’s Ricky Warwick, former vocalist/guitarist for The Almighty, on being asked in 2010 to join the new and, as it turns out, altogether brilliant incarnation of the legendary Thin Lizzy by long time guitarist Scott Gorham. Which was, of course, a no-brainer decision. Several years of road dog touring later, the band got down to discussing the possibility of and need for a new Thin Lizzy record. The fans had embraced the new band with Warwick standing in for the irreplaceable Phil Lynott, so why the hell not? Of course, one doesn’t simply pick up where Lynott and Lizzy left off 30 years ago (with Thunder And Lightning) without taking long, hard repeated looks in the rear-view mirror and questioning the wisdom of doing so. In the end songs were written, music was laid down, and the band decided to leave the past where it belongs as far the Thin Lizzy legend is concerned, opting to release the new album All Hell Breaks Loose as the Black Star Riders.

BSR1

Before getting into the why and how of the Black Star Riders, Warwick is gracious enough to recap how he came to front his dream band even though he’s taken on the question a gazillion times since getting the gig. The story has lost none of its fire for him in its re-telling.

“Basically, what happened was is I’ve known Scott for many years, back from when I was in The Almighty in the ’90s. I did a solo record in 2002 and Scott payed guitar on a few tracks for me. So, he knew me well, he knew what I sound like, and when he was putting Thin Lizzy back together again he sort of had everybody except a singer. He was talking to Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) saying that he couldn’t find anybody to sing, and Joe asked him ‘Have you thought about Ricky?’ Scott’s reaction was pretty much ‘Fuck, why didn’t I think of that?’ and I got the phone call from out of the blue. It was like ‘Here’s what the story is, here’s what I want to do; do you want to sing?’ (laughs).”

“I describe it as winning the musical lottery. Thin Lizzy is the band I idolized my whole life, and I was given the chance to stand up there on that stage to play and sing those songs. You’ll say yes to that without even thinking about it. After I said yes and put the phone down, then I thought ‘Shit, what have I taken on? Phil is such a legend, he’s iconic, he was the greatest frontman in rock n’ roll, how am I going to pull this off?’ But, instead of freaking out I lived with it for a couple days and thought about how I as a Thin Lizzy fan would want to see the band presented. But, it never stops being surreal. It’s surreal every day and it will be for the rest of my life.”

“I never take it for granted,” he adds. “The honour is as huge now as it was when I got that phone call. And there have been moments where I’m standing there, I look over and there’s Scott Gorham, there’s the Thin Lizzy backdrop behind me. I have to be careful because there are moments where I’m off in dreamland thinking ‘Oh my God, I’m fronting this band, I have to put on a show.'”

“It’s a dream come true, absolutely. It really is, and it’s been an honour and a privilege to be involved in it.” Continue reading BWBK Interview: BLACK STAR RIDERS – “I’ve Never Learned So Much From A Dead Guy In My Life”