Like a phoenix rising from the flames, Black Country Communion return with their fifth studio album V, which will be released via J&R Adventures on June 14th.
The album sees Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian return under the auspices of producer extraordinaire Kevin Shirley.
In recent times drummer Jason Bonham has been working on a multitude of projects including work with his Led Zeppelin Evening and also former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar. “I’ve been keeping really busy since 2014, which is now 10 years ago. And it all came about as I bumped into Sammy Hagar in a hotel in Denver. And I tried to avoid him. The reason being was that I went and jammed with them when Chad left Chickenfoot,” explains Jason. “Not many people know this. I went and jammed with them, and I didn’t get the gig. So, I was kind of a little bit upset. And they went with Kenny Aronoff. So, you shrug it off as you do as a drummer. I always say it’s not that you couldn’t play well enough, it’s that you weren’t the right fit.”
This came at a time post Bonham’s participation in the legendary Led Zeppelin reunion at the O2 in London in 2007. “I was feeling pretty confident at the time because I had just played with Zeppelin. I’m like who are you to say I can’t play with you,” says Jason. “So, I was kind of avoiding him [Sammy]. I was walking into the hotel; he was coming out of the bathroom. And he goes, Jason. And my wife said – he was trying to avoid you. He said – hey, you live in Florida, right? Yeah, I’m playing there. So long story, I went to see him play. He got me up on stage. And then I was in the band from 2014.”
Despite his involvement with Sammy Hagar, the Red Rocker as he is known, has given Jason a certain degree of flexibility to explore other projects. “In between, because he didn’t like to work too hard. He allows me to do my other projects within reason. And with my other projects, like JBLZE – Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, I never like to overwork that because it’s such a fun thing for me to do, to go out and play those songs. And here we are 14 years later, the little project that we started is still going.” He adds: “I’m sorry if we haven’t been to England yet, but we promise we will be there next year before we are all too old to play.”
In between working with Sammy Hagar and Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, the artist got the call that the engines had been started for a potential new Black Country Communion album. “We still get together. Kevin [Shirley] makes the call and says come on, stop being such a stick in the mud. Let bygones be bygones. We do our usual thing of going in there with no preconceived ideas and start,” explains Jason. “It’s like a whirlwind because nobody gets any ideas before you go in there. I think Joe had been together with Glenn twice. So, we’re listening to the ideas through an iPhone. And it’s just an acoustic guitar and somebody humming. Then Kevin goes, let’s go and track it. I’m like, hold on a minute. And that’s the way it’s always been.”
This organic approach to creating a new album in the studio can be somewhat of a whirlwind. “This time, it was just acoustics and that and then you’re gone. Seven days later, you haven’t even had a chance to comprehend what you just did. And then the next thing you know we got together, and we played a quick one-off show before we went on to the cruise. And that was one of the more nail-biting things that I’ve done in a long time. Because we’d had three rehearsals in January, this was March. What do we remember? I’ve done three other things since then. So yeah, as normal, but it was really nice to be around the guys again, we’re laughing and joking,” explains Jason. “I had another one of those gizmos that made them laugh. So, when Kevin would start talking about the composition of production, what his values were and everything, I would press the snoring app on my phone, and everyone just started laughing. That camaraderie – everyone’s place in the band was back to normal. Me for taking the p*ss and whatnot.”
Getting the supergroup into the studio can be somewhat logistically challenging in terms of scheduling. “It was 15 months to say yes, to get the studio time. First of all, it was going to be January. We planned to record in January, and then something came up for Glenn. So, we pushed it to June. So yeah, originally the album probably would have been out at the end of last year, like we’ve normally done. It’s usually been around an October/November release. And then we’d usually plan to come and play in England.”
Aside from BCC’s recent appearances on the Cruise and in the US. How much of an appetite is there within the band to take their new album on the road? “We have a group text between us all. And I think it’s better that way. Because then if any of us aren’t responding, or wherever we can go, hey, listen, look guys, you can see that one person’s not responding. They know if I don’t respond, it’s because I’m being the hard ass that’s holding out. I don’t want to be the one that says yes. And everyone else holds out. I always like to go as long as everybody’s into it. Because I enjoy playing. I mean, I’ve got to a point in my life now. I’m 58 this year. I don’t know how much longer I can play to the ability I want to play. I’m a very physical player, I don’t want to go, and tip tap and look frail,” says Jason. “I’ve had injuries. I tore my bicep off my forearm. There was a table in the middle of the dressing room, and I thought I’m going to trip over that, and I’ll move it. Of course, it was bolted to the ground. And when I originally grabbed it, I thought I’d ripped my jeans. But it wasn’t that, this was now completely detached from my bicep. And now my arms are a mess and I’ve got a gig in the next two hours.”
The legendary drummer planted the seed within the band for potential Black Country Communion tour dates. “I sent a text. I just said, hey Joe, on the group text. For what it’s worth, if you ever want to do it again, let’s just do more shows. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the challenge of coming up with the stuff because it’s my own drums. It’s my parts. It’s one of the very rare things when it’s your creative baby. Not playing anybody else’s parts. These are mine, whether they’re lame or whether I like them or not. Sometimes I like to have a chance to play them live because I wasn’t happy with the way I played it. Because of the short time, we had to do the albums,” explains Jason. “He was like, hey, if everybody else is in, I really had a good time. And I really want to do more. And I don’t mean just more recording, more shows. And everybody else responded immediately. So, I went if you are serious. So, that was literally just within about three weeks after we did it. So, who knows? And that is really positive. We haven’t had that before.”
Perhaps now is the right time for the group to return to touring. “I think Joe gets it. Glenn being the elder of the band and still being able to wail the way he can – but for how much longer? So let’s do it while we are all in that way, and it can only get better. Two shows, I would say is the tip of the iceberg. It was like the O2 when we did the Zeppelin thing. I always go, imagine if it was good, then imagine how good we would have been on the second week. Imagine how good it would have been in three months. Imagine how good it would have been on the fifteenth show. Oh, my God, how good it could have got.”
Perhaps only time will tell if more touring from Black Country Communion will come to fruition. But for now, there is always the band’s excellent new album.
V, the latest release from Black Country Communion will be released via J&R Adventures on June 14th.
Words by Adam Kennedy
Photo Credit: Rob Bondurant
