Glenn Hughes has rightfully earned a spot amongst rock’s greatest musicians. Rather than eke out a living on past glories, Hughes remains one of rock music’s most relevant musicians. In Black Country Communion Hughes seems to have found what can only be described as the perfect combination of great players, an impressive feat. A mere eight months after the band’s critically acclaimed debut the band is set to release “2” on June 14 2011. In this interview, I chatted with Glenn about the upcoming album and the origins of the band. The transcription does not do the interview justice, as it can’t capture the passion in Glenn’s voice, the same passion that is heard in the first BCC album and will be heard on “2.”
Thom: The first thing I would like to talk about is the upcoming Black Country Communion album. In a day an age where it is unusual for bands to come out with an album a year, why did you decide to get back in the studio so quickly and with all of your busy schedules how did you find the time to write and to record “Black Country Communion 2.”
Glenn: Kevin asked us to begin writing the follow up last summer and Joe and I had very busy schedules but I decided to free up three months and begin writing. The main reason we got back in the studio was so that when we tour this year we will have twenty-four songs to choose from instead of twelve. I come from an era in the sixties and seventies when bands were recording an album every ten months. For me, I don’t just do it for a living, it is a passion, I love to write songs so this wasn’t difficult for me at all.
Thom: What can we expect from your second album, how will it be different from its predecessor?
Glenn: It’s a lot darker than the first album. It’s hard for me to talk about it if you haven’t heard it, so I can just say that after you listen to it you will see what I mean.
Thom: Well then, let’s talk about Joe Bonamassa. He has always been regarded as a great guitarist but on the debut album for BCC and on “Dust Bowl” he has taken his playing to a new level.
Glenn: His manager called me up and thanked me for pushing Joe. He is a really good friend of mine and Kevin Shirley said I have taken him out of his comfort zone. Thats probably because I like to be taken out of my comfort zone as well. I like to engage people when I work with them, I am not a shrinking violet, I like to be slightly dangerous rather than comfortable.
Thom: Did you seek out Joe to work with you? I mean Joe is more of a blues guy and you are a rock guy.
Glenn: Joe is a purist who grew up listening to my music, along with Zeppelin, Clapton and The Who. Im thirty five years older but you wouldnt know it because our musical DNA is the same.
Thom: And you as a player are simply amazing. Most bass players that handle vocals just sit back and keep the beat, you are playing complex leads at the same time.
Glenn: I’m not a lazy musician, I am always pushing myself. I am aggressive, I am not content to sit back and play a bass line like Bill Wyman. I want to challenge myself and see if I can sing and play this riff, can I sing across the riff can I sing counter to the riff. I tell the guys that maybe it will be difficult to sing and play some of these things but we’ve got to do it. We want to continually push the envelope.
Thom: So when BCC goes out on the road I assume you won’t be playing any covers?
Glenn: When we went out last time we did “Burn” and “No Quarter” but that was because we were short on material. Now we have an arsenal of modern classic rock tracks. We might squabble about it but I am not a big cover guy even though I have recorded some things in the past. Since I write a lot I think its important to perform the songs that I write.
Thom: You have been in the industry for a long time and know that many super groups come with super egos and they never live up to expectations. BCC sounds like a band that has been playing together since they were twelve. That’s pretty impressive considering you represent three different generations.
Glenn: Well, we have a very healthy competition in this band pushing each other to be the best we can be and at the same time there is a real camaraderie. Most of the songs on the album are done on the first take, we don’t drop in and if it wasn’t sounding right or we weren’t grooving we stopped and started over again. We wanted the album to sound live.
Thom: That’s a formula that worked for years and years and now it seems as if people have strayed far away from it, especially in rock and roll.
Glenn: We think that there is still a marketplace for us; I’m the spokesperson because I am the songwriter and I take it very seriously. The rest of the band takes it seriously too but I’m the older guy kind of the elder statesman and I feel that this project is very important not just for us but for the music industry as well.
Thom: Did you ever think that this late in your career you would be forming another band?
Glenn: That wasn’t the original intention. I started jamming with Joe and I thought we were going to make an Americana type record in Nashville. When we started jamming at my house I knew we were going to make a record but I just wasn’t sure what kind of record. As we jammed it got louder and louder and louder and then I realize that Joe isn’t just a blues player when I met his parents. He was weaned on Kossoff, Townsend, and Clapton.
Thom: Those are your influences too aren’t they?
Glenn: Well I am fifty eight so I was weaned on The Beatles. I was around Keith Moon and John Bonham and Keith Richards, those guys were my peers. I was influenced by the stuff that was coming out of Memphis, Detroit and San Francisco, that was what was important to me.
Thom: It’s interesting, here you have formed this band with an American blues guitarist influenced by the British Blues which came from the American south. It all comes full circle.
Glenn: Well make no mistake about it, the band is named after the section of England where Jason and I come from. We sound American and are influenced by American music but we are very British as well.
Thom: And it works.
Glenn: The first album was the result of a great idea for a band but sonically and everything the new album is a huge step forward. Many bands fall off on their second album because of a few too many Jack Daniels but I am really proud of what we have done and protective of the lads I am working with.
Thom: What about Jason Bonham, how would you compare him to his father?
Glenn: I have witnessed the rebirth of one of the greatest drummers of all time. Right now Jason is as important to this band as he was to his fathers. Listen carefully to the drums on this album, Jason really pushed me on the album and is a great motivator just like his father was. I am a huge Jason fan.
Thom: I am too; he is a great musician as is Derek and the rest of the band.
Glenn: We are like a group of top athletes getting ready for battle; that is the best way to describe Black Country Communion.
Thom: I totally agree and I can’t wait to hear the new album. And thanks Glenn, for the great music and for taking the time to chat with Backstageaxxess.
Glenn: Thanks Thom.
Headline photo by Robert Knight
One solo shot and the B.C.C. shot by Christie Goodwin
Live shot by Marty Temme
We would like to thank Erin Podbereski Cook of Jensen Communications for setting up the interview with Glenn. For more information on Glenn, please go to his site at: http://www.glennhughes.com/. For information on Black Country Communion, please go to: http://www.bccommunion.com/.
