Blackberry Smoke singer and guitarist Charlie Starr doesn’t
care whether you call his band a country band, a rock band, or a southern rock
band. He leaves it up to you.
Since the dawn of the aughts, this
quintessential quintet from Atlanta has been barnstorming the globe with a
good-time blend of all three of the afore-mentioned sub-genres. In my humble
opinion, it’s truly a Southern rock band in the spirit of genre godfathers like
the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd
and all that fly under that umbrella of influence. The band also swings with a
modern reverence, like The Bottle Rockets or The Black Crowes. But the sound
that comes out is surely its own.
The band writes air-punching anthems and salvos to a good time.
It rocks with vintage tone and classic panache on all of six of its albums,
which includes the brand new “Find a Light.”
You’ve probably caught Blackberry Smoke warming the boards
for bands like ZZ Top and Gov’t Mule, who the band is on tour with as we speak.
Starr paused to cool his heels and gave us a jingle from a tour stop in Lincoln,
Nebraska. It’s certain he had better things to do, but he was gracious enough
to answer a few questions. What a cool cat. An edited transcript follows.
CITY: How did you develop your sound?
Charlie Starr: I don’t think we really had sorta any idea what we were doing. I had written a few
songs and we jammed on those, and it sounded good. We felt passionately about
that immediately and thought, “Hey, let’s go play these songs for people.” And
it’s grown from that point literally.
Now you play for thousands. How do you keep your head
together?
We’re grounded. We’re not flighty, now that we’re old men. We
have strong family roots. We don’t have flights of fancy, thinking we can do
what we know we can’t. I take things one day at a time or one project at a time
or one tour at a time.
How do you make your music your own and balance it with
your classic leanings?
Not a lot has changed over the years as far as how you play
guitar or how you write a three-chord song. I think everything’s been said and
you just find your little way of saying it.
That being said, how do you find your own little way?
It varies. Sometimes it’s a guitar riff because I really am a
guitar player at heart. Sometimes it’s a phrase I can’t shake, a melody I keep
humming. It really varies from song to song. It’s a feeling I get naturally,
you know? If I get that “yes” moment and if it’s still there after a couple of
days, that’s special.
What do you avoid?
I try not to be overly clichรฉ. I’m not good at writing party
songs. I mean some people love that shit, but I can’t stand it. Steve Earle
said it not too long ago in an interview, “Jesus Christ, all people write about
in Nashville is about getting fucked up.” There’s no heart and soul to the art
form.
What do you consider a good Blackberry Smoke show?
Well it’s not only just playing well. There are some nights
I’m not playing that great, but if I get and feel that special energy and the
audience is giving it back, that’s when it’s complete.
Is there anything folks get wrong about you?
People don’t always know whether we’re a country band, a rock
band, a southern rock band or whatever. And I don’t think any of them are
wrong. Whatever we are to them is what we are. It’s up to anyone’s interpretation.
We just play music. I know we’re not a punk band. Some people may
compartmentalize to get some closure. “I’ve got it! They’re a Southern rock
band.”
When it’s all said and done, what will they say about
Blackberry Smoke?
I hope they say, “Hey man, those guys were pretty good.”
This article appears in May 9-15, 2018.
