Well, folks: after a couple of years of bated wait, after the ups and downs and all the in betweens, my southern rock band Crossfyre’s sophomore album release, Iron Horse, is finally here!
I personally did the layout and cover artwork for this slab, and I have to say I am damn proud of the end result. It looks as killer as it sounds! And I dare say, we are the equivalent of Finland’s Lynyrd Skynyrd without trying to intentionally sound like them, with Iron Horse.
The album features 10 orginals and two covers: Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower and The Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Produced by Hannu Leiden at Helsinki’s Seawolf Studios (Hanoi Rocks, Michael Monroe, Dr. Feelgood, Leningrad Cowboys, Amorphis), Iron Horse is as top-notch of a production as it gets in modern days. It’s also organic in sound: no drum grids, no auto-tuning, no bullshit. In other words, it has the old school human element to it, which is largely missing from over-produced and clinically-sanitized recorded music these days. Think of the organic vibe on Guns ‘n Roses’ Appetite For Destruction album and you will get my point.
This spring and summer, we have a slew of gigs upcoming with Crossfyre in several European markets, so mark these down and make sure to come out and see the band when we are in your area or near you:
Crossfyre tour dates:
May 8 On The Rocks, Helsinki FI (Iron Horse album release party — 6e tickets at the door!)
May 17 Motorcafe Suviranta, Turenki FI
May 24 Seurahovi Night, Porvoo FI (w/Skinny Molly & The Slidemobile)
This past week, I finished the last remaining vocal tracks at Seawolf Studios in Helsinki for the upcoming Crossfyre album, “Iron Horse”.
Captain ‘Buck lays down the verbal barrage for “Iron Horse”
I laid down vocals for four remaining numbers, including Rolling Stones cover Jumping Jack Flash. I know that song has been covered to near-death, but we arguably pulled it off in spades, as studio engineer Hannu Leiden was quick to point out. Hannu has heard everything under the sun, being the vocalist for Havana Black himself, and having gigged far and wide with a variety of acts, in addition recording a literal list of who’s who artistically.
Hannu Leiden recording the last vocals for “Iron Horse” at Seawolf Studios
So as it stands, “Iron Horse” will have 10 originals and two covers, the other being Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower, which is one of my personal favorites when we play live.
Crossfyre bassist and backing singer Dan Rönnbacka waits his turn as StarBuck approves the tunes
“Iron Horse” will be mixed shortly by Hannu Leiden at Seawolf Studios, and the album will be released later this year. Personally, I am hoping for a summer 2013 release, as Crossfyre will play a German mini-tour in July, in addition to the Southern Rock & BBQ Fest in Hyvinkää, Finland, which will be headlined by Skinny Molly & Monsters Southern Rock (featuring members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Black Foot and Molly Hatchet).
Well, it’s a been a few days since we landed back in Finland after our last German tour with Crossfyre over late September – early October 2012, and I am still feeling the exhaustion from that jaunt.
Last rehearsal before the tour: Jay Jay Asikainen, Jaakko Kinnari, Danny Cross, Jupi Hjelt and StarBuck (left to right)
Our drummer Danny and guitarist Jay Jay drove out to Germany via Sweden and Denmark, whereas bassist Jupi Hjelt (filling in for the MIA Dan Rönnbacka), guitarist Jaakko Kinnari and I flew out ridiculously early in the morning on Wednesday, September 26 to play Bremen on the same evening.
Waiting for our flight out of Helsinki at around 4:00am in the morning … I would rather be in bed fast asleep!
Danny and Jay Jay picked us up at Hamburg Airport, and from there we headed to Meisenfrei Blues Club in Bremen for our first gig. German wrestling promoter Eddy Steinblock of EPW (European Pro Wrestling) came out to say hello and talk shop.
Wrestling promoter Eddy Steinblock came out to shoot the proverbial shizzat — I have worked several times for Eddy over the years.
Jay Jay and Jupi jam it up in Bremen.
The following day, we drove out to Braunschweig to Barnaby’s Blues Bar owner Peter’s rock and roll mansion – a relic from WWII – before heading out on Friday to Magdeburg for our scheduled next show.
My good pal, Braunschweig promoter Peter’s Labrador dog, Buddy!
Much to our surprise and chagrin, once we arrived at UrBar in Magdeburg, the club owner informed us that the city placed a restriction on all live gigs in their city block back in June of this year. The problem was, the club booker forgot to inform us of the changes. It was Spinal Tap 2012 – or perhaps we could call it Anvil – as we realized that not only did we drive all the way out to Magdeburg for nothing, we also ended up losing money because of the lost date and fuel expenses. I tried to salvage the day by scoping out other venues in the Magdeburg area, should we be so lucky as to score another gig on that same night, but to no avail. We were screwed.
Crossfyre live on the air at Radio Okerwelle in Braunschweig.
On Saturday, September 29, we played Barnaby’s Blues Bar in Braunschweig. Before the gig, we did a radio interview plugging the evening’s show at Radio Okerwelle with DJ and all-around good guy Florian Damm. Florian has had us on his station and show for three years in a row now, every time that we have played in Braunschweig, which has kind of become our German hotspot. Barnaby’s is always a good show when we are in town, with capacity audiences on hand. This time was no different, as we rocked the house like nobody’s business.
Crossfyre commands the stage at Barnaby’s Blues Bar.
Heading up into the mountains, on Sunday, September 30 we played Rockkneipe Jungfer in Arnstadt. Club owner Udo is one of a kind, a burly and loud, warm-hearted German bloke whose club is like a cross between a living room and a rehearsal pad. Udo even got on stage with his harmonica and jammed with us on our final number, ZZ Top’s Sharp Dressed Man!
Rockkneipe Jungfer owner Udo plays a mean harmonica.
Laying down a soulful mood in Arnstadt.
Jaakko Kinnari rips into a solo.
After Arnstadt, it was back to Braunschweig for us, as we had one more gig to play on Tuesday, September 2nd at Barnaby’s. This was the absolute highlight gig of the whole tour, as the “magic” was most definitely in the air that night, and the band played on “10”, bringing the audience on hand to life. Truth be told, the folks at Barnaby’s that night had such a blast, that they didn’t want to let us off the stage! That – I would say – is a job well done.
Jay Jay showcases his blues aptitude for the appreciative audience in Braunschweig.
Yours Truly tears up the stage with a rocking rendition of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower.
Be sure to check out our newest Crossfyre studio offering, called Born to be Free, recorded just before our tour at Seawolf Studios with engineer Hannu Leiden in Helsinki.
When I got back to Finland, I was asked to perform in pop star Jessica Wolff‘s new music video Broken Wings. The video shoot was on Friday, October 5th in Helsinki, and I portrayed a violent alcoholic who was down on his luck. Truth be told, that is rather funny and ironic, as I am not a drinker … but I do partake in a rather aggressive sport, being a professional wrestler. As an interesting side note, Jessica Wolff’s producer Eric Gast has also worked with Britney Spears as an engineer on her hit, Oops!… I Did It Again. Read Jessica’s own blog about the Broken Wings music video HERE.
StarBuck and Jessica Wolff, on the set of “Broken Wings” (photo by Mikko Löppönen)
By the way, for anyone who wants to “like” my official Facebook page, you can join up HERE.
Also, you can subscribe to my personal music channel on YouTube HERE.
Well, now almost everything is in the proverbial can for my southern rock band Crossfyre‘s follow-up album to Southbound from 2010. We had a very intense recording jaunt at Seawolf Studios, located off the coast of Helsinki at Suomenlinna sea fortress, with engineer Hannu Leiden (some of you might know him from his own band, Havana Black) over this past week.
Hannu Leiden (left) says I sound like Jim Mangrum from Black Oak Arkansas! (photo by Jarmo Katila)
From Tuesday to Saturday, we recorded all of the drums, guitars, bass and keyboards for our new Iron Horse album, which will be out next year. We simply ran out of time before I could lay down all of the lead vocals, but I was able to amass an amazing total of eight songs yesterday … and considering the fact that I have been suffering from an extremely aggressive influenza virus for the past four weeks, it is an irrevocable miracle of Almighty God that my voice somehow sounded better than ever yesterday. Even engineer Leiden had to admit that I did a helluva job, and Hannu really made sure that my best material made tape. Think about that, folks — eight songs in one day! Just like Leiden said, the most that any vocalist will reasonably perform in one studio day is four songs. I did double that.
StarBuck lays down some of the best vocal tracks of his life for Iron Horse
The title track – music and lyrics – were written by Yours Truly, and overall this new album will be honest, classic southern rock in the vein of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet. Whereas the music for Southbound was written by and in large prior to my joining the band in 2010 – with much more in the way of raw blues – the material for Southbound was written for my vocal approach and in light of my strengths as a rock vocalist. That said, I can honestly say that the material on Iron Horse does not take a back seat to the latest Skynyrd album Last of a Dyin’ Breed in any way, shape or form. A bold statement, yes, but I am 110% certain that we can back that up, as everyone will hear once Iron Horse is officially released.
Jay Jay Asikainen lays down his solos while Jaakko Kinnari awaits his turn
Iron Horse was supposed to be released last year, in time for Crossfyre’s jaunt aboard the Rock Legends Cruise with ZZ Top and George Thorogood in December 2011, but we only made a limited edition pressing of the demo tracks for the new album to be sold at that gig. The band decided to up the ante and hire Hannu Leiden, who in all honesty is the number one studio man for southern rock in Finland, to record the official Iron Horse album, which carries a slightly different tracklisting as compared to the Rock Legend’s demo version of the album. However, I painted the cover art for Iron Horse last year, and this cover will be the one used for the official release of the new album also.
We are now headed next week on a tour of Germany, and our tour dates are as follows:
26/9 Meisenfrei Blues Club – Bremen, DE @ 20:00
27/9 TBA (updates at www.myspace.com/thecrossfyre)
28/9 UrBar – Magdeburg, DE @ 21:00
29/9 Barnaby’s Blues Bar -Braunschweig, DE @ 19:00
30/9 Rockkneipe Jungfer – Arnstadt, DE @ 22:00
2/10 Barnaby’s Blues Bar – Braunschweig, DE @ 21:00
Crossfyre’s German tour line-up (l-r): Jay Jay Asikainen, Jaakko Kinnari, Danny Cross, JJ Hjelt (filling in for Dan Rönnbacka) and StarBuck
Photographer extraordinaire Jarmo Katila (www.jarmokatila.fi) came out to Suomenlinna sea fortress to shoot the band line-up for Iron Horse, and below is one of the great shots from the photo set.
Crossfyre’s Iron Horse album line-up 2012 (photo by Jarmo Katila)
starbuck.fi 