Since their debut UK show at London’s Barfly back in 2013, Blackberry Smoke have established themselves among the biggest and best-loved bands on the British circuit.
Back in February, the six-piece southern-meets-country outfit from Atlanta, Georgia, released Be Right Here, their sixth studio album and the last to feature co-founding drummer Brit Turner, who soon afterwards lost a battle with brain cancer at just 57 years old. Frontman and guitarist Charlie Starr sets the scene for their European tour.
Classic Rock sends its condolences over the passing of Brit Turner, whose loss is a huge blow to the band, musically and personality-wise. Brit even designed the sleeve for Be Right Here.
Thanks. I haven’t really come to terms with what happened. I’m not sure that I ever will. I still think that he’s going to call me every day, or I have the urge to call him whenever I hear something funny or ridiculous. It still feels surreal.
Did you get the chance to say a one-to-one farewell to him?
Yes. Towards the end I got to spend a fair amount of time with Brit. As you’d expect with someone you care about that much it was quite hard, but I’m glad I had the opportunity.
With respect, a band is a sum of its parts and bigger than any one person.
That’s right. It’s about more than any of us. It’s something that we all worked hard to create. So we carry on.
What’s the latest with a replacement?
Kent Aberle has been touring with us since 2022, for the entire eighteen months that Brit was ill Kent was there, and when Brit was too ill he played some shows. He’s an old friend, we’ve known him for years and years. He knows this band’s music and he feels it.
Can you describe the mind-set of Blackberry Smoke right now?
‘Determined’ is a good word. Thanks to the people who buy tickets, we’ve a lot of work to do. I know it’s corny to say that it [the loss of Turner] has drawn us all closer together, but it’s true.
Six months back, Classic Rock’s effusive review of Be Right Here said that with Blackberry Smoke it’s all about the songs – nothing else matters.
Well, selfishly, I hope that the guitar solos matter as well [laughs]. No, I’m kidding. I agree with that assessment because the song is the vehicle with which one attempts to convey the feeling. I once overheard two crew members in a discussion and one told the other: “Oh shut up. Nobody goes home singing the lights.” The songbook is the reason that people come to see us.
The review noted the album’s excursions into country-pop, psychedelia and acoustic territory, saying that after all this time the band are “still reinventing their very own musical wheel”.
For me, it’s very important that each time we make a record the band continues moving forwards. We’ve got a fingerprint – a certain sound – and there’s an obligation to observe that. We can’t go in [to the studio] and be chameleons. Nobody wants a reggae or a hip-hop record from us. When I listen to the Stones or the Marshall Tucker Band, I go: “I’ve heard that lick before.” That’s not a bad thing, it’s a fingerprint.
Will the band be playing most of the latest record on these upcoming dates?
Yeah, we’ve played every song live. It’s an easy record to play. I don’t think we’ve made any so far that weren’t, but with this one everyone agreed: “Let’s play the whole damned thing.”
You mean selected tracks from the album, as opposed to playing all of it?
Across the tour you’ll hear the entire record. In a two-hour show it’ll be, I don’t know, maybe four or five new ones. With some bands, the announcement of a new song inspires an exodus to the restroom, but our fans want to hear new songs, and I love that. But of course we’ll also play the old favourites.
Did you hand-pick the support act, Nashville-based singer and songwriter Bones Owens?
I wouldn’t say that we chose Bones, because our original opening act, the Steel Woods, had to pull out. They have a connection with Bones, maybe the same booking agent. I like Bones a lot, he’s a great guitar player, so that was an easy ‘yes’. It’s going to be a full-band show from Bones, too.
Next year Blackberry Smoke turns 25 years old.
Uh-huh. That’s a little shocking for those of us who still consider you to be a fairly new band. [Laughs] But it’s not if you were there from the very beginning.
Are there plans to commemorate the fact?
Yeah, we’re cooking something up. There are a few ideas up our sleeves. [Changing the subject] A twenty-fifth anniversary is for silver, right?
I believe so.
The other day I was laughing about the traditional gifts that spouses give to one another on those occasions. My wife and I are… is it boxing gloves for a twenty-fifth? I don’t know. Or maybe pistols at twenty paces [chuckles].
It sounds as though you’re not going to spill the beans about the band’s anniversary plans.
No. Not just yet. But I think it’s going to be worth the wait.
Blackberry Smoke's European tour begins in Glasgow on September 9, before a return to the US in October. Dates and ticket details are on the band's website.
