Sons Of Libery
Interview by; Welsh Gene
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Sons of Liberty are a five piece band from the Bristol/South Wales area. Formed in 2014, they play some of the finest Southern Rock I've ever seen or heard. They play from the heart with real passion and are indeed the 'Real deal'.
They have a real connection with the States as their song' Fools Gold' tells the tale of how their ancestors left the UK to join the American gold rush thinking to make their fortune, but inevitably failed.
The following interview with guitarist Fred Hale tells the tale of the formation of the band to their amazing rise culminating with some major festival appearances this summer.
WG So, this band was apparently thought of on a road trip with you and fellow guitarist, Andy (Moose) Muse, so please tell us more.
FH Yes that’s all true… fate really... It all started over a Gibson Explorer! Moose and I weren’t even in the same band at the time... but I invited myself along on a road trip to pick up this guitar he had bought… on the way back all this great Southern Rock popped up on the ipod in the van … we got talking about how much we loved this music and the next thing you know were putting the band together!
WG Rob Cooksley vocals, Steve Byrne drums and Mark Thomas bass make up the rest of the band, where you all friends or known to each other through music?
FH We all knew each other or about each other through playing music. Moose and I have been in bands on and off for years… Rob had been singing with Moose in a recent band… Mark was in Moose’s current band and we knew he loved his Blackfoot… and we knew of Steve… as he’ll play with anyone!
WG Rob formally sang with Mick Underwoods Glory Road (ex Gillan). That’s a bit of a different genre to what you play, but his vocals really sound naturally 'Southern'. Was he the obvious choice for you?
FH Yes… we thought of Rob straight away and knew he’d be totally up for it. He’s such a great showman and has that southern growl. He also seems to have an endless store of bangy/blowy/twangy instruments
WG The first EP Shinola, was popular both here and stateside with radio airplay. Did you realise just how 'high quality' it was?
FH That’s very kind of you… we left the studio thinking we had done something pretty good… but the reaction took us by surprise… that was a massive turning point for us though… and gave us the drive and confidence to start to transition from a local to a national band
WG The 2nd EP 'Aged In Oak' followed and each track seems to be a classic. Who writes the songs and how do you go about writing them?
FH It’s a team effort… I usually come up with the initial riffs or Rob will send me some lyric ideas and I’ll try and latch onto the essence of his words. We then try out the ones we like together and everyone brings their own things to the party. They often change drastically when we try them at full rehearsal. We also like to slip a few new ones in live to see how they go down with the audience. For Aged In Oak we also spent a day with Toby Jepson as part of his ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ – help for bands project… He is an incredible songwriter and musician and he helped us enormously in critiquing our music and helping us find our authenticity… and he left us with some golden nuggets of song-craft that we use all the time now… priceless advice from a real pro!
WG One track 'My Sister' is really personal to Rob and when I've seen you play it live you can see the emotion in him. How hard is it to play it knowing the story behind it?
FH I think committing some of these emotional things to music can be a help in dealing with lifes more difficult times… probably have to ask Rob this one as it’s his family... but it is a powerful song that we all react to his emotions when we play it.
WG Live you guys just go to another level and 2 tracks that really get the crowd going are 'Fools Gold' and ' The Brave', both tracks tell tales of American history. As all classic tracks do… the words 'paint pictures '. What is the tale behind those tracks and what made you want to set it to music?
FH With Fools Gold Rob wanted to tell the story of his ancestors, who were part of the Gold Rush, chasing the dream by prospecting for gold in Cripple Creek; where they ended up like so many - penniless. Rob was inspired to write this after visiting their graves in the US.
The Brave came from Robs affinity with the Native American people and the injustices and hardships of The Trail of Tears where they were forced in huge numbers from their ancestral lands. We tried to capture that tribal feeling in the music with droning guitars and the Native American flute.
You have picked all the happy songs WG!
WG There is an album due soon, What is the title and when will it be out?
FH Well… I can’t tell you either of these… it’s not actually named yet. We were aiming for an early autumn release, but it has to be as good as we can make it… so hopefully will be worth the wait
WG You've played a couple of tracks from it in your live shows and they sound excellent, 'Up Shit Creek' is really catchy. Can we expect more like this?
FH Hell Yes! Recording a full album allows us to cover a lot more ground than with the EPs so you can expect plenty of real rockers and some pretty big songs too. We think we have something special coming… but we would I guess!
WG The next few months see you being elevated from clubs to some major festivals. How excited are the band being involved in these?
FH Massively Gene… we love playing live more than anything and some of the festivals and big shows we have coming up make a musical lifetime of graft all worth it. We love meeting new people too… and we really enjoy ourselves on bigger stages.
WG Is there one in particular you can't wait to play?
FH No… all of them!
WG The rise of the band seems to have begun after you won the Giants Of Rock Festival ‘introducing stage’ this year. This means you will be opening the main stage next year. The reaction you received from the moment you hit the stage just seemed to elevate you and grew with each track. Were you surprised by the reaction you got?
FH You bet we were. We had played with the Quireboys in Bristol a few weeks earlier which was incredible and our tails were still up from that… but we didn’t really know what to expect. The place was packed and the audience were so up for it… as you say… we fed off of that and when you start to really enjoy it on stage the audience feel it too… and it all lifts into something a bit special. When we heard we had won the fan vote and were coming back we might have celebrated a bit!
WG So finally, apart from the album being released and the festivals what lies ahead in the near future for The Sons of Liberty?
FH We are working on next years shows already and we have some great things lined up… but we can’t announce anything yet. We hope to reach more parts of the UK… need to get up to Scotland and the North East... and maybe some shows in Europe next year too. We’d also like to do a few tours, ideally with some of the US Southern bands when they visit… promoters call us!
WG Thank you for your time and giving us an insight into your great band.
FH Thanks for asking us Gene
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