JOSH SMITH On HALESTORM's Longevity: There 'Was Just Always This Family Vibe' Within The Band

In a recent interview with Chas Byrne of Express FM, HALESTORM bassist Josh Smith spoke about how he and his bandmates — guitarist/vocalist Lzzy Hale, drummer Arejay Hale and guitarist Joe Hottinger — have managed to stay together and remain successful for more than two decades. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "When I joined it, it was — it is, but it was — this family thing. Arejay was, I think, 18 when I joined. I was, 20, just turning 21. Their parents would still come out, and their mom was tour managing it for a few years. And it was just always this family vibe. And it still feels like that. It feels like they're my brothers and sisters. And we've certainly had our disagreements, and it's like we're best friends. Lzzy and Arejay are siblings. Lzzy and Joe are in a relationship; they have been. And so you're juggling that with also, 'Hey, we're bandmates, we're business partners.' You're wearing a lot of different hats."

Josh continued: "I think in any situation, whether it's your brother and sister or your wife, you live with someone long enough, you know what buttons you can push to upset someone. You know that — you know what to do to push buttons or to not. And I think that's a big part of it, is — I don't wanna say 'compromise', but just being truthful and respectful to each other. And I don't know — to all of us, we just made up our minds quickly: this is what we're doing. And so going back to that mantra thing, it's, like, let's make it work. And we've worked hard at that, we've worked hard at our relationships with each other and as musicians on stage. It's something we put a lot of time and effort into. And when we go home, we're still getting together to work, to prep for tour or anything, but very early on, it became an absolute: 'There's no backup plan. This is what we're doing.' I don't know. It sort of left any question behind about what we're doing and how we're going to work together."

HALESTORM's music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has built a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV's "A Year In Music".

"Love Bites (So Do I)", from HALESTORM's second album in 2012, won the Grammy Award that year for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance".

In 2019, HALESTORM was nominated for "Best Rock Performance" Grammy for the song "Uncomfortable".

HALESTORM worked with producer Dave Cobb on the band's latest studio album, "Everest", after making three records with Nick Raskulinecz.

Last month, HALESTORM shared a new two-track bundle of singles, the retrospective ballad "How Will You Remember Me?" and the sultry tribute to bisexuality "Like A Woman Can". Recorded live from the road on the Pennsylvania-bred and Nashville-based quartet's recent "nEVEREST" tour, the songs are taken from "Everest", out on Atlantic Records. Lending orchestration to the tracks are tour buddies and Finnish symphonic metallers APOCALYPTICA.

Awarding "Everest" four stars, The Times declared, "There is fantastical appeal throughout." The Daily Star concurred, reminding fans about the band’'s upcoming tour with their four-star review, stating "headlining arenas in November, every track here is sure to get phones out en masse."

"Everest" came hot on the heels of HALESTORM's fiery European tour with metal icons IRON MAIDEN. The U.K.'s Metal Hammer said of opening night, "Before all that, it falls to HALESTORM to take on the famously unenviable task of warming up an IRON MAIDEN crowd — a task they ace pretty effortlessly, in fairness. Decades in and arena headliners themselves at this point, the Pennsylvania rockers also have the ace in the hole that is Lzzy Hale, whose screams, croons, cries and shrieks reaffirm her status as one of the best singers of her generation. Half of their support set is comprised of tracks from imminent album 'Everest', and you can understand why they're feeling confident about it: the new material sounds excellent."

After wrapping the IRON MAIDEN tour, the band had the honor of performing at BLACK SABBATH's "Back To The Beginning", Ozzy Osbourne's last show.