BLACK STONE CHERRY's BEN WELLS Offers Advice To New Artists: 'Take Full Advantage' Of Technology

May 3, 2021

In a new interview with Two Doods Reviews, guitarist Ben Wells of Kentucky rockers BLACK STONE CHERRY was asked what advice he had for new rock artists looking to create "brand and band awareness" in 2021. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I would say take full advantage of every technology, app, whatever is out there. There are superstarts on TikTok right now. So take advantage of it, 'cause that's stuff that we didn't have even when we started. We had MySpace. That was it. But also, don't be afraid to get out there and hustle. If you use technology, you should use it to your advantage, but don't use it as a crutch, because I think there's something to be said to for going out there and drawing up your own flyers, getting a bunch of copies made and promoting a show that way. Word of mouth. Get out there and hustle. If there's one thing I don't like, [it's] when bands say, 'Well, we put it on Facebook. We had an event, and nobody showed up.' I'm, like, 'Dude, you can't rely on that. You have to get out there and sell that show — sell the show.''

He continued: "Don't sign away your publishing. And even though record deals are great, you shoudn't look at that being the 'end all' for your career. So many bands now are doing it on their own, and they're getting more creative, figuring out ways to release music and cutting out… Not that the record label is always the middle man. We love our record label, but we were able to sign a distribution deal with them, so our deal is a little different where we can keep all of our creative rights and they put it out. They've been really great to work with. But I can't say that for every label."

Ben added: "Don't sign a 360 deal. Don't sign away your publishing rights."

BLACK STONE CHERRY's seventh studio album, "The Human Condition", came out last October via Mascot Label Group. The disc was produced by the bandmembers themselves and tracked in BSC bassist Jon Lawhon's recording facility, Monocle Studios. The release was completed mere days before the COVID-19 lockdown was imposed and as events progressed, it became apparent that the album the band was completing featured lyrics that were eerily prescient.

Find more on Black stone cherry
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).