BLACK STAR RIDERS' RICKY WARWICK: PHIL LYNOTT 'Became Like A Brother To Me'

Vinny Cecolini of JAM Magazine recently conducted an interview with BLACK STAR RIDERS guitarist/vocalist Ricky Warwick. In addition to discussing the uncertain status of his other band, THIN LIZZY, the singer-lyricist admitted that band's late leader, Phil Lynott, had a big influence on him during the creation of BLACK STAR RIDERS' debut album, "All Hell Breaks Loose". A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

JAM Magazine: Would you agree that despite all of the reservations, Phil Lynott's spirit resonates throughout "All Hell Breaks Loose"?

Ricky Warwick: Absolutely. People need to realize that when I got the LIZZY gig, I knew the songs. But Phil became like a brother to me. I have never learned so much from a dead man before and probably never will again. I lived and breathed him every day at an insane level. For five or six hours each day, I would listen to Phil's lyrical phrasing. I had to in order to do the music any kind of justice. In order to pull of the THIN LIZZY gig, I had to be that well informed. I had to absorb everything Phil Lynott put into those LIZZY records. For three years, that's what I did. I still do it now, though not to the same extent. Those three years of playing THIN LIZZY music, I really feel like I got to know Phil. I got to know what he was writing about and what he was trying to do. Phil was always there. He was always on my mind.

JAM Magazine: In some ways, Phil is immortal.

Ricky Warwick: When I close my eyes and think of THIN LIZZY, I don't think of the band with me singing. I see the band with Phil behind the microphone. That is the way I will always see it. But I learned things from him by studying his words, his rhyming and phrasing that will stay with me the rest of my life.

JAM Magazine: So there will be life beyond "All Hell Breaks Loose"? What is THIN LIZZY's status?

Ricky Warwick: All of our energy and focus is on BLACK STAR RIDERS. THIN LIZZY has very much been put on the backburner. There is the chance of the odd show, or the odd couple of THIN LIZZY dates, if it makes sense. If that occurs, then Brian [Downey] and Darren [Wharton] will come back in. But that will be the extent of it. There will be no more mammoth tours under the THIN LIZZY name. If we were offered the chance to open for another artist, we'd push for us to be billed as BLACK STAR RIDERS. That is the plan moving forward. We want to continue making new music and establish the name.

JAM Magazine: Don't you find it ironic that BLACK STAR RIDERS have the potential to be more successful in the States than THIN LIZZY?

Ricky Warwick: It's a strange ol' world. After what has happened to me the last few years, I would never rule anything out. I would be delighted, if that is the case. If more people went back and discover THIN LIZZY's wonderful catalogue because of BLACK STAR RIDERS, then that would be a great double whammy.

Read the entire interview from JAM Magazine.