Roadrunner Records’ latest signings, BLACK STONE CHERRY are set to release their eponymous debut album on 2nd April, to coincide with their UK tour with Hinder.

Hailing from the dry-county of Edmonton, Kentucky in America’s south; a place renowned for its music and family ties, BLACK STONE CHERRY have already racked up some impressive US figures for their tender years (the eldest member is 23 and youngest, just 20). With a sound that is a heady blend of flavours harking back to Zeppelin and Skynyrd, via Soundgarden and Alice In Chains, the band wanted to create their own take on southern rock and redefine it for a modern audience. And now they’re ready to bring their sound to the UK.

There’s little to do in Edmonton, so for the boys of BSC, music was their escape - and there was a lot of music around those parts. “There’s lots of great bluegrass and southern gospel groups which we all love,” says guitarist Ben Wells. Given all this music, it’s no shock that the four members of BSC have a rich musical tradition in their own families, handed down from their grand parents, through their parents, to the band themselves. Drummer John Fred Young’s father Richard is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Kentucky Headhunters, while bassist Jon Lawhon’s great-uncle was a jazz drummer. Frontman Chris Robertson received his first guitar from his grandfather, who built instruments by hand and learned his first chords from his dad. And it wasn’t just their family that encouraged them to play: whenever Chris got into trouble at school, he wound up in the principal’s office, jamming with the principal himself!