From Peeing In Bottles To Carving Their Mark Worldwide, Black Stone Cherry Stay Humble

"If we can make one planet and put all of the kick-ass rock fans on it, where all the kick-ass rock bands could go play, that would be killer," Black Stone Cherry's loquacious tub-thumper John Fred Young says in a friendly Southern drawl, before bursting into laughter. "We wouldn't have to tour so much."

Not that the Kentucky heavy rockers are averse to hard graft. Their maiden trek Down Under last year supporting glam jokesters Steel Panther afforded a useful introduction to many Australian rock enthusiasts. It's also a sizeable head start compared to how they carved a following in the UK, for instance - a market where they're a bona fide arena outfit nowadays.

"We were blown away by the great amount of really good bourbons you guys had."

"It's crazy because in England, we started touring over there in 2007. We were riding around in this little airport shuttle van, peeing in bottles because we were trying to make the shows and didn't want to stop," he chuckles at the memory. "Just craziness, and playing for like a hundred people. Now, over there we're headlining Wembley and doing headline arena tours, and doing the Download Festivals. It's unreal.

"Coming down to your guys' way, our band has never been that band that looked at a stage or a club and if it was a smaller place be like, 'Oh man, we should be playing somewhere bigger'. As long as the people are in there, Man. We've played for ten people and we've played for close to 100,000," he laughs again. "We're used to it."

After an abbreviated set last year, Aussie devotees will receive the full headline treatment this time around. "We're just a grassroots band, man. We've got fans that travel all over to come see us play. And we're a live band. That's from being influenced by great bands like Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, Zeppelin and Sabbath. I think if we had been (around) in the '70s, we would probably be one of those bands, hopefully," he laughs again.

"But we're here now, man. We're trying to look to the future, keep the tours going. And we're coming to Australia again; I'm so excited. Live, that's where we come to life. That's where all those years huddled up in a little practice house on my grandparents' farm, just hours and hours, missing school... That's where it pays off."

The Music's interview occurs the week of the Cheaper To Drink Alone (from last year's Kentucky record) single/video being issued. Surely Black Stone Cherry sampled the local alcoholic product during their initial Australian jaunt. "I'm a bourbon guy," the drummer explains. "I know that sounds so spot-on to be from Kentucky. Probably five out of nine of us on this bus are bourbon guys. We were blown away by the great amount of really good bourbons you guys had. Everywhere we went; the hole in the wall bars, they're cool, just laid-back places. I had some beer down there that was really good, I can't think of the name. I'm a beer connoisseur too. We just had a blast."