2014 has certainly been a good year for Welsh rockers Fireroad, but it’s just about to get whole lot better as they prepare to head off across the Atlantic for their first every dates Stateside for a trip that also includes a slot on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man Cruise. Uber Rock’s Johnny H caught up with the band’s singer/guitarist Richard Jones to find out all about what lies ahead for the four mates from Aberdare who’ve got sound.

 

Rich, thanks for taking the time out ahead of your busy schedule to talk with me today.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Let’s start with what everyone’s probably talking about right now, your upcoming trip to the US. How did this all come about?

 

Yeah it’s a big deal. We have booked a series of dates in and around Miami and are playing in Jacksonville’s Freebird live which is owned by the Van Zant (Ronnie) family. Reviews of our debut album have referred to a lot of American influences/artists. It’s a great opportunity to see if we can make a dent in the side of a massive country.

 

It’s all centred on the fact that you are playing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man Cruise though, right?

 

Our manager has a contact with the organisation running a series of Rock ‘n’ Roll cruises. The contact wasn’t enough though. Due to demand and the current financial climate regarding the music industry we had to work to get in the running for it. Matthew (Fireroad’s drummer) and I spent 4 months networking with US music fans to build a ‘digital’ following via Facebook. A lot of late nights resulted in the organisation putting us forward for the new emerging talent (soundcheck) stage along with several other US artists. We have booked a series of promotional dates either side of a 5 day cruise, including the Hard Rock Cafe in Miami with The Curt Towne Band.

 

I see as part of the cruise you’re are playing with a band who’s getting quite a bit of press here in the UK right now, Blackberry Smoke, are you a fan?

 

I first saw Blackberry Smoke on-board the cruise last year. 1 am on the deck. They blew me away. They have put a very new stamp on the ‘Southern Rock’ sound. Hopefully doing what we are, taking a very modern approach to a classic sound, whilst retaining the elements that people love. I think they are a great band. Good songwriting is key to what they do.

 

So let me get this right, Grammy Award winning producer Tom Hambridge (who’s worked with the likes of Buddy Buy, Steve Cropper and Lynyrd Skynyrd) and who is also playing with you guys has also got to hear ‘I Got Sound’ and is now looking to work with you?

 

Yeah it’s a bit crazy. (Laughing) He heard our version of his Skynyrd song ‘Good Teacher’. He loved the energy and heard our original material and said he’d like to meet us on the boat with a view to doing some writing. He’s playing with his band on-board too.

 

I have to say personally looking at the line up getting a chance to see Starship would be an AOR highlight for me. Any other bands on there I should check out?

 

Drake White and the Big Fire are a great band. Think mid-period Mellencamp with a bit more country thrown in. Plus I like Preacher Stone who have featured on the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack twice. They have a heavy country rock vibe. Higher Choir and then there’s Curt Towne who is a great writer and performer. We are doing shows with him and have been in contact. He’s a very cool guy. Skynyrd have a fantastic live show which is both a love letter to the past and a statement of intent. Done very respectfully.

 

This really looks like fantastic opportunity for you guys, what do you hope to bring back from the trip? And I don’t mean duty free here …so no fooling around…this is a serious question (Laughing)

 

I use the analogy at the moment of a dart being thrown at a massive dartboard. We are lucky enough have a number to aim for at the moment and hopefully that will let us work our way around the board. This is merely an introduction at the moment. Hopefully we will see if all the “you guys would be massive in America” and “a stadium band in the making” talk will prove to be right. I think we are going to a good place to start with people who have a good handle on the industry. The experience and hopefully the publicity from the trip will bring a booking agent to our door.

 

Talking of that, you come back off this trip and straight into Planet Rockstock – this year in Costa Del Trecco Bay – and them play some Xmas shows at Abertillery Dolls House and finally with Phil Campbell’s All Stars at the EVI. How do you feel you’ve progressed in the UK over the last 12 months? I know it’s been a busy year for you gig wise?

 

We have built up a very loyal following all over the country and had a fanatical response to the album and live show. We are constantly being told we are a great live band by ‘first timers’. We have shown we can play on a big stage, cramped pub or club and still put on a show. We have had a lot of great feedback from peers and having a band I love like Little Caesar speak about us with such enthusiasm was great. Out of all the bands on my bucket list they didn’t let me down. Incredible players and gentlemen. I’d like to think it’s down to professionalism and hard work that we are getting a great response from critics, fans and peers alike. Pontus Snibb (Bonafide) mentioned us in a Swedish magazine when they asked him who he was listening to currently. He said he’d love to see us live. That’s the kind of tour we need to get us out there.

 

 

But isn’t it about time someone put you guys, 4^th Street Traffic, and Electric River out there on an extensive UK tour to show that you don’t have to look across the pond to bands like Blackberry Smoke, Black Stone Cherry etc.

 

You’re right Johnny. Its finances, logistics and schedules at the moment that are dictating. Electric River said they’d like to get us up to London, and we have played with 4th Street also. There’s enough talent in this country for sure. I think the current problem is the ‘indie’ or singer songwriter acoustic guy is king. You only have to look at the current mainstream festival line-ups.

 

So what about album number two then Rich? When can we expect to see it? Also anything you can give away about it right now?

 

We currently play a lot of it live and are letting few tracks swim around under the radar. I personally think it’ll blow the first one away in terms of its songs and mainstream response. We are a song band. Like The Gaslight Anthem or, dare I say it, The Darkness, they don’t get enough credit for their songs. None of the band are ‘the best’ at anything but as a group we have a great chemistry. It’ll be varied like the first, it’ll be Fireroad. I used to love going to see bands who played new song from their next album. I’d be at fever pitch by the time I got to Spillers. I will say we have the blessing of boxer Johnny Owen’s family to make the album a little love letter to what it means to live in Wales and be Welsh. Lyrically it’ll be about survival and good and bad qualities we have as human beings.

 

One of my bad qualities is to through in stupid stuff to end interviews so if it’s Okay with you lets have a little fun before we finish up, via a little game I like to call ‘Musical Therapist’s Chair’. The idea being I fire something at you and you tell me what comes into your mind. So are you ready?

 

iTunes…..

 

Pick up a copy of ‘I Got Sound’.

 

Tribute bands….

 

Great if the ‘tributed?’ band is no longer around. Pointless if they are still around. I’d feel stupid dressing up as a current band and doing ‘the moves’ etc. Perhaps we should start a Fireroad Tribute band. We could charge more for doing our own songs. (Laughing loudly)

 

Richie Manic….

 

Saw them in Cardiff with The Wildhearts supporting. They changed when he disappeared. Who wouldn’t still love them? The Heineken festival in Swansea was a wild one. Great band and I’ve seen them loads of times.

 

Monsters Of Rock. As in the UK’s original hard rock festival…..

 

One day a year when 50 odd of my friends would get drunk for 48hrs and live in rock ‘n’ roll heaven…oh and ‘Thunderstruck’ in 1991.

 

 Johnny Van Zant….

 

Doing a great job of carrying on a great American legacy. Respectfully.

 

And finally…. Ffalabalam….

 

Ffalabalam baloom balam balay. (Laughing)

 

Rich let’s finish off then with anything you want to say to the fans that I haven’t maybe covered already.

 

On behalf of the band I’d like to say thank you for the support and we fully intend to justify the faith you have in us. We do work hard and you always show us we are doing something right. 2015 album number two, a few tours and some great times.

 

And on that note, I’d like to once again say thank you for doing this. Good luck in the US and don’t forget to send us a postcard (Laughing)

 

Thank you Johnny you guys have supported us from the start. It means a lot.

 

https://www.facebook.com/FireroadRock

http://www.fireroadrock.com/

 

Live photography by Russell Prothero http://www.russellprothero.co.uk/

 

To pick up your copy of ‘I Got Sound’ – CLICK HERE