SKID ROW's JOHNNY SOLINGER Goes From Metal To Country
June 3, 2008Mario Tarradell of The Dallas Morning News recently spoke to SKID ROW singer Johnny Solinger about Johnny's newly released self-titled country debut CD. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:
On where the disc comes from:
"I remember going to parties from junior high to college and the DJ played AC/DC 'Back in Black' and then 'Whiskey River' by WILLIE NELSON. MTLEY CRE... JOHNNY CASH. It was all the same to me. I grew up with that music. I always wanted to cut an album that was my version of Texas country. So when we finished the SKID ROW tour last year, I moved the family to Austin."
On moonlighting as a country artist playing Lone Star honky-tonks while SKID ROW is on tour hiatus:
"It's an amazing scene, so unique in comparison to the rest of the country. SKID ROW pays the bills, but this is a labor of love. I'm watering it, watching it grow."
On whether he's afraid he'll have trouble convincing the purists:
"People are so cynical. Anybody that knows me from the band knows I'm just a redneck from Texas. It is for real. This is where I live. This is where I'm from. It's totally written, recorded, produced in Texas."
"Here, we are open-minded enough to listen to both country and rock side by side. I listened to Hank Sr. I could never sing that stuff. I don't think I'd ever be good at it. But I sure liked listening to it. So when it came time to make mine, I wanted some of that influence in my music."
"At some point I'm going to be just doing country. It's not totally unique for a guy with a rock background to jump on the country bandwagon. But it's not a bandwagon for me. The influence comes from my parents and grandparents. When you grow up in Texas, you better like this kind of music cause that's what you're gonna hear."
Johnny Solinger peforming with his country band in San Antonio, Texas May 2008 (clip uploaded by YouTube user "wsj48").
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