Fire & Blood: Ricky Warwick on His New Solo Album, The Almighty, and Finding His Way Home

After decades in Los Angeles, legendary rocker Ricky Warwick is planning a return to his Irish roots. But first, he's got a scorching new solo album to unleash. The...

Interview by DJ

Photos Credit: Robert Cavuoto, Robert Sutton, Adrian Hextall

 

 

After decades in Los Angeles, legendary rocker Ricky Warwick is planning a return to his Irish roots. But first, he’s got a scorching new solo album to unleash. The former Almighty frontman and Black Star Riders singer opens up about sobriety, songwriting, and staying true to rock & roll’s soul.

From his early days with New Model Army to fronting The Almighty and Black Star Riders, Ricky Warwick has built a career on authenticity and raw passion. Now, with his latest solo album “Blood Ties” on the horizon, the veteran rocker reflects on his journey while looking ahead to new horizons.

 

MGM: Before we get into the music and stuff, I wanted to ask you because I knew you lived in California LA for a while, right?

Ricky: I’ve been here 20 years this year, but we recently just bought a house back in Ireland. I’m spending more and more time back there. I just got back from there about a week ago. We were all over for Christmas and New Year and eventually probably within the next year or two, I’ll move back to Ireland permanently.

MGM: I was going to ask how your house, your family is doing with all the wildfires wrecking havoc over there…

Ricky: Thanks man. We’re lucky. We’re good. We’re okay. All around us is just complete travesty and chaos – so sad. We’re about two, three miles from Pacific Palisades, which has been completely destroyed. We’re in Beverly Hills, we’re in the lucky areas, but it came really close and it still might come in. The winds are picking up tonight, but so far so good. The air is just horrible. You just get… It’s just horrible. I really feel, but we’re lucky. We’re okay. We’re the lucky ones. So many people aren’t, you know, it’s just terrible.

MGM: Right. Yeah, I sympathize. I’ve been keeping tabs on it. Obviously, I mean, how can you not? Whole communities are being just burned away.

Ricky: Completely. It’s like an atomic bomb’s gone off in some of these neighborhoods. The desolation and just the complete destruction is just unfathomable. It’s crazy, crazy stuff. Very sad.

MGM: Yeah. Hopefully, the weather will turn for the best here this week and the winds are what causes a lot of this stuff and makes it worse and spread.

Ricky: I hope so, man. I hope it drops and if we could get a bit of rain, that would be great as well.

MGM: Yeah. Absolutely. That’s what I wanted to ask you about because that is your livelihood. I mean, you lose your home, you lose everything – everything you work for your whole life.

Ricky: Yeah, absolutely. We’ve been here a long time and yeah, it’s worrying.

MGM: Right. Well, I’m praying for you and your family and hopefully everybody makes it through. You mentioned moving to Northern Ireland, which is part of your past, obviously, where you’re from. Let’s get into that because fans who read our work and we’ve been around a long time, the magazine, but they don’t know your work, your solo work, your work with Black Star Riders, when you were with Thin Lizzy, tons of work you’ve done, The Almighty, picking up of a lot of steam over there when we spoke to you in October our UK brass over there. The question was brought up – are there going to be any more dates and all that stuff? Will get into that later, but you’re a busy guy. You’ve done a lot of stuff in the industry since the 80s. So let’s kind of go back to where it all started, right? In Northern Ireland, kind of where it all started for you, how you got into the music scene.

Ricky: Wow. Okay. Well, it didn’t really start for me – I left Northern Ireland when I was 14 and moved to Scotland. That’s where I met Stump and Floyd, who I’d later go on to be in The Almighty with. We started playing together pretty much as soon as I got off the boat. We were in various high school bands, changing the name every week, changing the styles every week. But finally, when we were in our early 20s, we formed The Almighty and things just took off from there. But prior to that, I got a gig playing rhythm guitar for New Model Army and I got to do a world tour with them in 1987. That was fantastic for me just to see the world and get a taste of what rock and roll was like. Either I was going to fall in love with it or hate it and go back to the farm, which I grew up on. Thankfully I fell in love with it completely and it just made me want more. So I formed The Almighty and that was it.

MGM: Right. And I was going to ask you about New Model Army. How did that happen for you?

Ricky: Basically, I was in a punk band. We did a demo and the demo got to New Model Army’s management. They really liked the demo. They paid for us to do some more demos. They gave the band some shows with New Model Army. And Justin, the lead singer knew I was a fan and he wanted an extra guitar on a couple of tracks. He said, “When you’ve done your set, will you jump up with us and play guitar on these tracks?” He knew I knew the stuff and I would be honored. They were one of my favorite bands. Did that for a few shows, didn’t really think anything else about it. Phone goes about a month later and Justin goes, “Look, we’re going on a world tour. We need a guitar player. It’s yours if you want it.” And I was like, “Okay, where do I sign up? Let’s go.” That was it. The first shows were in Germany. I think the second show I ever played with them was opening for David Bowie on the Glass Spider Tour in front of 85,000 people in Berlin.

MGM: Wow.

Ricky: Which was my second show with New Model Army. I’d literally gone from the farm the week before to that within a space of a week.

MGM: You had to be nervous, right? I mean, a little bit.

Ricky: Oh, terrified. Absolutely terrified. But just couldn’t believe it. It’s a dream come true. Not only playing guitar in a band that I love and am a huge fan of, but being a complete Bowie nut as well, to open for the great man and then to be in Berlin… The main stage was set right in front of the Reichstag. The wall was still up. The wall used to run behind the back of the Reichstag and you could hear people on the East listening to the concert – they were up against the wall listening to it. It was a really powerful experience. One that I’ll never forget.

MGM: Wow, that’s amazing. That’s a great story. See, if you know that that’s a great story, I wouldn’t even think about that, but the time frame fits right.

Ricky: Yeah, that’s when it all started. I toured with them for about just over a year and it was great. Then they wanted to go into the studio and keep the nucleus of what they had for writing. So they said, “You got six months off.” And I said, “Look, this has been amazing. I’ve loved being part of this, but I want to do my own thing and I have an idea for a band and I want to see if I can get that up and running.” And that was The Almighty. So I went back to Scotland, called up Stump and Floyd and said, “Look, I have this idea for this band. You might think I’m crazy, you might not, but I think we got a shot.” They were great. Fair play to them, they bought into it and we started rehearsing. Things just happened really quickly. Within a year we were signed to Universal to Polydor Universal and we were off to the races, as you say.

MGM: Yeah. It’s funny, I was listening to your promo for the new solo record when I got it this past week. That got me into listening to the Almighty stuff just because I’ve been listening to a lot of The Almighty stuff last year. Some of it’s been re-released or different deluxe editions that were sent to the media. I started following your career with your solo work and then with Black Star Riders and then Thin Lizzy. I didn’t go back as far as The Almighty yet when I started listening to your music. So I had to catch up on a lot of that stuff. But when I went back and listened to those records, The Almighty records, there’s some great stuff. I mean, this is some killer hard rock.

Ricky: Thank you.

MGM: I don’t know if fans in North America are necessarily as familiar with The Almighty as they are in Europe. Because you guys were breaking all kinds of ground over there during that era from my recollection of what I’ve read and seen and your history. But if you have not checked out The Almighty, I want everybody to go and check out that stuff because there’s so much great music there. You’re known as a prolific writer on top of that. You said in the interview with us in October, Mark Lacy, who’s a journalist who does stuff for us in the UK, asked about something you said about the current state of the music scene. It’s just very – I’m using the word synthetic, but that’s not what you used – it’s very formulaic music nowadays, right? You were saying you pointed to The Almighty and said, “We’re these old geezers who can come out and just go out there and play. And it still sounds like it did 30 years ago.”

Ricky: There’s way too many shortcuts now that kids and people can take and anybody can make a record. There’s no filter. There’s no learning your craft or really learning an instrument or learning the craft of writing songs or learning to play with other people. I think a lot of that has been replaced by technology. And I don’t care how good you say technology is going to be or is going to be. We know it’s coming. You can’t replace soul. You can’t replace the human spirit. And for me, a lot of records just sound the same. It’s the same production, same plugins. It’s the same auto tune. It’s the same formula. It just sounds the fucking same and it’s bland and rock and roll was never, ever meant to be that. Never. It was all about taking risks. It was all about playing from your heart, from the soul, from your gut, interacting with people, grooving off people, getting a vibe going, learning your craft. And to me, that’s what it’s about. Yeah, some of the stuff’s great and it saves time in the studio and I get it and I’m guilty of it as the next person. But what I’m not guilty of is not standing there singing and actually playing the whole way through the song. I don’t use auto tune. I sing it till I get it right. And that’s something that Keith Nelson from Buck Cherry and I are very passionate about on the new records in the last few years. It has to be real. All the gear we use is vintage and all the stuff is the real deal. And that, to me, that’s why it has soul.

MGM: Right. Well, you said it best. The reviews from over there when The Almighty played earlier in the year, some of the dates over there in England and London and other places were great. Adrian our UK Editor, who does our shows, takes pictures, does reviews – he was there at that show and he said the guys sounded amazing. And it’s hard to get that feel for a live band.

Ricky: We didn’t change anything. To get together after 30 years and step into rehearsal room with the original lineup and just play – we didn’t stop. Nobody stopped. Nobody fucked up. We didn’t look at each other. We played the first song the whole way through and it was like 30 years never happened because all the guys are great players and that never leaves you. The fact that The Almighty can still go out and play to 2000 people a night after all this time is a testimony to the band and what it means to people, and what it means to us personally. It obviously means a heck of a lot to a lot of people. And that’s just a wonderful thing that after all this time, people still love the band as much as they do.

MGM: Right. Absolutely. And I don’t want to take all the time on The Almighty, but I feel it does deserve time because there’s just ton of great music there. Some of the questions were open-ended in October when we talked to you over there about possible new music, more dates. I know all the guys are busy doing other things. You’re busy all the time too.

Ricky: Well, we’re doing it because we want to, not because we have to. And that’s the big difference. We’re not doing it because we’re broke. We’re not doing it because we need to put out a record. We’re doing it because we want to because we’re enjoying it and it’s fun. And we’re very conscious that as soon as we start going in the studio or saying “Let’s go out on the road for six months,” suddenly the dynamic changes, we may be back to where we were 30 years ago arguing and fighting. And right now we’re not. Right now we’re getting on great. We’re really enjoying it and it’s a lot of fun. And we love playing the songs. So it’s just, let’s take it one step at a time. If you’d asked me five, six years ago if the band would get back together, I’d probably said not a chance. But here we are. So if you say to me, “Is there going to be new music?” it would be really crass of me to turn around and say, “Well, this is not going to happen because it could.” Yeah. It could.

MGM: Yeah. And you know, Damon said the same thing when I talked to him about the Brother Cane reunion stuff that they did, which again, he said a lot of the things that you’re saying in terms of soul and kind of the essence of some of these bands that people, in my opinion, both your band, The Almighty and his band should have been a lot bigger honestly because they were making great music in that era. And for whatever the reason, things probably beyond not your control or anybody else’s control, it didn’t work out.

Ricky: Yeah, it just happens. We tried, we just didn’t get a real shot at America with The Almighty, which is unfortunate. A lot of things conspired against us. I can sit here and blame this, that and the other. It just didn’t happen. And it’s a shame. But thankfully, we got to be very successful in the UK and Europe and the Far East. And that’s great. So I’m not going to sit here and bitch and moan. It would have been lovely that I think the band could have done really well in America. But for whatever reason, it didn’t happen.

MGM: Yeah. I mean, it happens. But at the end of the day, the legacy is there and to still sound the way you guys do, obviously, there’s still a lot of chemistry left there. So that’s a good thing, right? For fans.

Ricky: Yeah, absolutely. 100%.

MGM: Let’s get into the new record, Blood Ties. You’re prolific for songwriting, you have a bunch of solo records and they’re all great from the acoustic stuff to other studio stuff that you do. And that’s a big part of when you got back into the music scene. I know that years ago, you thought about giving it up at one point. And you came back with your solo stuff and it’s been something that’s carried you over to these other ventures like Black Star Riders and Thin Lizzy. So talk about the new record that’s not out till March, but there’s a lot of really great artists on this one. Lita Ford and you mentioned Buck Cherry, your buddy Billy Duffy. So Charlie Starr as well, right? He plays as well.

Ricky: Yeah, there’s a lot of really great musicians on here. But it still sounds like me. They’re great musicians that are friends, and that’s amazing. I mean, I’m a fan of all these individuals as artists, but I can call them friends as well, which is just amazing. And the great thing about doing a solo record is the narcissism that comes with it because it’s you and you can do what you want. You don’t have to have a democracy of like, “Hey, what do you guys think?” I’m in bands where I get to do that and that’s okay. It’s great where there’s three or four other guys where you go, what do you think? But I love the freedom of just getting in the studio. It’s me and Keith and just doing what the hell we want to do. And if that means calling Billy Duffy and seeing if he’ll come down and play on a few tracks, then we’ll do that and thankfully Billy will come and play. That’s the beauty of it. And it’s a real buzz for me. And it’s the freedom that it gives me doing a solo record. I love it.

MGM: Yeah, absolutely. I was going to ask you about – so is it true that you and Billy were in a band years ago together?

Ricky: Billy and I played in a band called Circus Diablo for a little while. We made one record way back in 2007. It came out with myself, Billy Morrison, Billy Duffy and Brett Scallions from Fuel. That was the band. We did a few shows, but the record came out and it’s a good record. It’s a really good record. You should check it out. But I’ve known Billy – I go way back to the early 90s with Billy from when I was living in London and The Almighty was starting. And we were huge Cult fans. And I remember Billy and Ian coming down to the Marquee club in London to check us out and just being so excited that they were taking the time to come and see The Almighty play. And we’ve been friends ever since. Billy’s great. He sort of moves between UK and the States, but when he’s here in LA, we hang out.

MGM: Excellent. And his guitar work is very authentic.

Ricky: He’s great. What was great about Billy is that when he played on the record, he turned up. He didn’t bring a guitar, he didn’t bring an amp. And we handed him a Les Paul and we had a couple of amps in the studio and we just said, “Hey, which one?” And he said, “I’ll use that one.” But the minute the guitar was in his hands, he started playing it just sounded like Billy Duffy. It’s in the hands, you know, and the way you play. And he was great. And Billy’s just so cool and laid back and he played on two or three tracks and they’re all amazing.

MGM: So one of the songs, “Don’t Sell Your Soul to Fall in Love.” That’s one of the songs with Billy.

Ricky: Yeah.

MGM: And “The Hell of Me and You” – both great songs. And you can say, “It’s very iconic on guitar playing.” It’s just the way he picks the guitar, right? The strings.

Ricky: That’s his own, as we all know, he’s got that unique Billy Duffy guitar sound. And as soon as you hear, it’s like a singer, as soon as you hear a certain singer say, “You know it’s that singer.” Billy’s like that with the guitar. As soon as Billy starts playing guitar, that’s Billy Duffy.

MGM: What about the Lita Ford collab, “Don’t Leave Me in the Dark”?

Ricky: Oh man, that was just awesome how that came about. That was one of the first songs that was written for the record. Keith and I demoed it about four or five years ago. And we were just sort of sitting on it. And the more I sort of listened to the demo, I sort of thought, you know, this should be a duet. This sounds like a male/female duet vibe going on. But I wanted a real kind of gritty rock and roll female singer like Lita Ford. I’m a huge fan of the Runaways. And I wanted like a Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Chrissie Hynde, you know, that kind of real meaningful personality in the voice, the real deal.

So purely by chance, my management picked up Lita Ford to manage. And I was like, “Ah, I have this song.” So the manager sent the song to Lita. And Lita loved it. And she just said, “I’m in 100%.” And she came down to the studio and knocked it out of the park. And then I said, “Look, I’m going to make a video for this. I’d love you to be in the video.” And she said, “Absolutely, no problem.” And that was amazing. And I said, “Hey, will you bring your original hammer guitar that you used in the Runaways?” She said, “Absolutely.” And I can’t say enough good things about Lita. She’s just fantastic in every respect. Like her work ethic. And she’s the real deal. And it was wonderful getting to work with her. And a dream come true for me to have her on there. And she just sounds amazing.

MGM: Yeah, she does. It’s a great song. I liked the video as well when it came out. That was cool. It’s funny you mentioned the Runaways. Today we just published an interview with former Runaway singer, Cherie Currie. She had some interesting things to say about the Runaways, which is kind of interesting with the whole Lita Ford thing.

Ricky: Yeah, well, you know, they were a hell of a band. And there’s a lot of history there. And again, a band that probably should have been way bigger than they were. But they’re definitely done in rock and roll culture. They left a mark.

MGM: That’s right. Absolutely. That was one of the stuff that we talked about with her. They still, I mean, they sounded great for the time. They were kind of revolutionary when they were making music. But that’s cool. That’s a cool story with Lita. I’m glad that worked out. It’s one of the better songs. I mean, the whole record is good. I was going to ask you about this specific song because it didn’t matter how far you get away, man. Your voice, you know, is your voice, right? So whether you were doing the Thin Lizzy gig, before Black Star Riders, or even your solo stuff. And I know you probably mentioned it before. Like, it’s just you singing. I mean, you’re not trying to imitate anybody.

Ricky: Well, you know, I obviously wrote most of the Black Star Riders stuff. And the difference with this record was with Black Star Riders kind of being on a hiatus right now. I didn’t have to hold anything back. So everything I was writing, I write something, I kind of go, “Oh, hang on a minute. I need to keep that for Black Star Riders.” So with this going into the solo record with the Black Star Riders being on hiatus, I didn’t need to hold any ideas back. I was like, this is all going on the solo record. So again, talking back to what we talked about earlier, the freedom to do that was the first time I really had that. Making a solo record when out with Black Star Riders. So all the recent ideas I could just go, “Hey, these are all going on the solo record.” That was really liberating to be able to do that.

MGM: Yeah, absolutely. And the song specifically I’m talking about on the solo record that’s coming out is “The Crickets Stayed in Clovis.” When I heard it I was like, yep, that’s one of the songs that could have been on any of the other records. But you know, it sounds like you, it’s you, it’s Ricky Warwick. Like you just know it’s a great song.

Ricky: Keith actually, Keith Nelson had a lot to do with that one. Keith came up with a lot of the riffs musically on that. And we kind of went for, I think, you know, it reminds me of Thin Lizzy meets Social Distortion, which I think is a great thing being huge fans of both of those bands, obviously. And I think Keith captured the essence of that. And it’s a great song. It’s actually going to be the next single from the album. Yeah, we just shot a video for it last week in Belfast.

MGM: Good choice. That’s one of my favorite songs on the album. So that’s a good choice.

Ricky: Excellent.

MGM: It’s interesting, you know, when I was listening to the record and there’s not a bad song on it. I mean, you know, all your solo stuff is great. And I talked to Damon about this as well. By the way, he was very complimentary of your influence on his songwriting from the Black Star Rider days.

Ricky: Yeah, he has. We did a little co-write on one of the tracks. I think it was the B-side of one of the singles he put out. I think I might have told you we did a little co-write on that, which was great. Listen, it was great working with Damon. It was great working with Black Star Riders. I still talk to him a lot. He’s my bro and I love him and he’s a phenomenal guitar player. And it was good for me, you know, because I learned a lot from Damon as well, as I’m sure as he did from me. And we just were sort of two kindred spirits and it was a lot of fun working together as I’m sure it will be in the future. Because I certainly plan to work with him again at some point when we have time and paths align.

MGM: Yeah, Damon’s an interesting dude. He’s got some stories. I was asking him about the Black Star Rider stuff because when I went to that show, that was the first time I’ve seen the band live. Of course, there’s so much talent in that band. Obviously with Scott Gorham, who’s a legend, and Marco and Jimmy. I mean, everybody in that band was fantastic when that whole thing got together. And he was just saying, you know, when you told him, you’re saying, we’re going to have to write some stuff for this going forward, I mean, this is not like a cover thing. This is a new thing that we’re doing. And he learned a lot from that.

Ricky: Yeah, absolutely.

MGM: One of the other songs that I have on here – well, I was going to ask you about this because Adrian mentioned this to me, the Christmas song that came out.

Ricky: Yeah.

MGM: So is that not going to be on the record?

Ricky: No, the record, no. I just put it out as a fun Christmas song and just put it out as a standalone track. Don’t really feel that it fits on the record. You know, there’s not really a place for it on the album. It certainly wasn’t written to be on an album. It was just to be as a Christmas song.

MGM: Right. I think a lot of people like that tune.

Ricky: Well, you know, it’s just one of those don’t overthink it, you know, which is good time rocking old Christmas song. And there’s no agenda behind it really or anything like that. I mean, I think a lot of people – I write a lot of heavy songs with heavy lyrics and stuff like that. And I think I wanted to show that, you know, there’s another side to what I do as well.

MGM: Blood Ties – assuming there always going to be progression and growth when you go from album to album? But I mean, on this specific record, is there a progression from the last solo stuff? Is it a little bit different? I mean, what do you see in terms of musical-

Ricky: I mean, different as the songs are always going to be different. I worked with Keith again, Keith Nelson, who just co-produced the last record with me, When Life Was Hard and Fast. And I like working with Keith and we get on really well. And I’m really close to him. So I didn’t see any reason to change it or to shake it up, you know, because there’s a chemistry there. So we probably know each other better now going into this record. And I think that’s a good thing. And so it was very relaxed making the record. Keith and I pretty much played everything on the record. And there was no real band to speak of. And so we had a lot of fun and a lot of freedom. We probably had a little more time on this one than the previous ones, which was a good thing. And it’s kind of cool. But just, you know, the real differences is you’re bringing in a new batch of songs and whatever they bring with them.

MGM: Do you have plans for touring just the solo stuff this year?

Ricky: Yeah, absolutely. I start in March and I’m out in the UK opening for Stiff Little Fingers with my solo band. I got festivals throughout the summer with the band, some solo acoustic in another UK run in September. And yeah, I’d like to try and do some stuff over here in the States as well, if I can.

MGM: That’s one of the things that I don’t – I mean, well, I don’t know when was the last time you toured over here with Black Star Riders.

Ricky: Last time I toured was last May. I did a full UK tour, sorry, US tour opening for Stiff Little Fingers.

MGM: Okay, yeah.

Ricky: All over the country, but solo acoustic opening for them.

MGM: What dates or what cities did you hit? Was it the East Coast or West Coast?

Ricky: There was a lot of East Coast, really was East Coast and West Coast. We didn’t get into the Midwest or even into sort of Texas or anywhere like that. It was really, you know, East Coast and up the West Coast. We didn’t really do much Midwest stuff at all.

MGM: You know, I’d be good to see that if you can make that happen. I think that’d be good.

Ricky: Absolutely. I think for me, it would be better to get on a tour, either solo acoustic or with the band. Obviously with the band, the costs are more and everybody wants to eat and get paid. Obviously, when it’s solo acoustic, it’s a lot easier, but I’m happy doing both. I feel just as comfortable doing both.

MGM: What are the – I know you said the Black Star Rider stuff is on hold for now. Is there plans for that at some point in the future again?

Ricky: Yeah, hopefully. We did a show in November. There’s a radio station in the UK called Planet Rock, which is the rock station in the UK. We headlined their 25th birthday bash and we did it as a four piece and it was great. So it was myself, Marco and Jimmy and then a guy called Sam Wood playing guitar and I played guitar as well. And it sounds great. It’s really good. And it was a great show. It went down really well. And yeah, I mean, the band doesn’t finish by any means. And I think, you know, I want to concentrate on the solo record this year. And once I get that cycle out of the way, I’ll have a look at it and see where we’re at.

MGM: Do you have any favorite tunes from the new record?

Ricky: I mean, it kind of changes, you know, you’re sort of listening to it a lot after you make a record. You go through a period of a couple of months where you just listen to it all the time because it’s new and exciting. I think “Angels of Destination,” the first track, it’s pretty important to me because I got sober about three years ago. I wrote that song about just dealing with my own sobriety. And that song really helped me to sort of exercise a few demons. So that was kind of a personal favorite. And I think “Rise and Grind” is another one as well. I think I really like that song.

MGM: Congratulations on getting sober.

Ricky: Thank you.

MGM: That’s definitely a life achievement. It’s not easy to do. I mean, I put a lot of people struggle with that.

Ricky: Yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you.

MGM: That’s good that it reflects in the music. I mean, that’s one of the things I like about your work is, I mean, and a lot of bands, when they’re writing lyrics, it’s true. You know, it’s personal. It hits different to the artists. And that’s one of the things that I like to get across to fans when they’re listening to stuff. Especially when it’s a song like that and it’s personal, it means a lot to you. You know, other people can relate to things like that.

Ricky: No, thank you. Absolutely. I always try and write from the heart and write about what I know or what’s going on. It’s really just, it’s a diary. It’s what’s going on in my life. Here it is. This is me laying it out, you know, here’s what I did today. Here’s what I thought today. Here’s what happened to a buddy of mine. Here’s what I think about this. You know, you may dig it, you may disagree, but here it is.

MGM: Yeah. You’re a realist, my friend. I think that’s – no BS. I would say that’s a good thing. So you’re moving back to Northern Ireland, I’m assuming.

Ricky: Yeah. Pretty much where I’m from originally. And we have a great house over there, which we’re kind of renovating at the minute. And it’s beautiful and it’s just nice to be back with sort of friends and family. And yeah, we’re enjoying it over there. But we still have a place here in Los Angeles and we’re not giving that up anytime soon. So we’ll try and go backwards and forwards until we feel we’ve reached the point where we will move permanently.

MGM: Understood. Yeah. And you know, with the situation over there and well, I mean, it’s not just that, but I mean, let’s just be honest. I mean, the cost of living in California is not the most affordable out there.

Ricky: No, you know, but I mean, kind of everywhere is kind of expensive now, you know, just all over the world. But we’re very blessed that we’re able to have both right now. We’re very lucky. But myself and my wife have worked very hard over the years to get what we have. And now sort of maybe it’s the time to enjoy, you know, the kids are growing up and we’ve a bit more time to ourselves. And it’s nice to be able to take a project on like the house in Northern Ireland. It’s an old house by the way. It’s built in 1878.

MGM: Oh, wow.

Ricky: Yeah. You know, a lot of history there. And it was built by Thomas Andrews. Thomas Andrews is famous. He designed the Titanic. And he actually went down with the ship. But the town where it is, he owned the huge linen mill. And they employed hundreds of people in the mill and our house is one of the old mill workers houses they would have lived in back in the day. And it’s just got a lot of history. So it’s pretty cool.

MGM: Cool. That’s pretty cool. I can see why it would be a special project.

Ricky: Yeah, you know, it needs definitely some TLC, but we’re getting there and it’s a lot of fun.

MGM: That’s awesome. I mean, listen, when you get back over there, obviously it makes it simpler, I guess, with work with people. Although nowadays everybody works seems to just shoot audio stuff over the internet and yeah, mostly, right?

Ricky: Seems like the way it’s going, you know, it’s handy for me, you know, most of my touring is in the UK and Europe. So I’m not doing the 11-hour flight seven, eight times a year. I can actually go over, base myself there for a couple of months and fly into the UK and Europe and everything’s usually within two hours, three hours max. So it works quite well.

MGM: Very convenient. Well, listen, if you do get a chance to tour here solo in the States, I hope you get a chance to at least go around Nashville someplace around there close. That would be cool.

Ricky: I’ve been in the South for a while, I’ve been in Nashville many times, but not recently. And it’s a city that I’ve always had a good time in and I’ve been there to write a few times over the years. That’s always fun and interesting. And it’s definitely a fun place.

MGM: Yeah, it is. Well, I live two hours south of there. So, you know, I do go up there sometimes to cover shows and stuff, but it’s harder when you have kids. I’m sure you have older kids now probably, but my kids are still young.

Ricky: Oh, I know. I know what you’re going through.

MGM: So, you know, I’m kind of like, you have to make plans, don’t you?

Ricky: This is like, it’s like, it’s almost like going on an expedition. You have to plan ahead.

MGM: Yeah, that’s right. Well, and the other thing too, you know, when in 2014, when I went to that show down there in Birmingham, it’s two hours south of here, of Huntsville. I hadn’t been out to a show in forever because me and my wife had just gotten married. We had checked out here to Huntsville. We went to school in Mississippi, Mississippi State University. That’s where I met her, but she’s from here, from Huntsville. And of course, you know, I started the magazine a long time ago. 2008. That’s how long we’ve been doing this. And we went down for the show and I took her with me and of course she hadn’t heard. I was like, do you, how do you not know who Thin Lizzy is for Christ’s sake? Like you should know some of these classics. You know, she’s a younger generation. So she listens to some classic rock, but so I got her into it. You know, I took her down there and she loved, she loved the show. That was one of the best shows that I’ve seen live. And I was so lucky to see you guys live because I know there was, it wasn’t a bunch of dates that you guys did on that specific tour here in the States. So I was really happy to be able to see that and I’ll never forget that show. And I think that’s one of the best shows I’ve seen. Everybody sounded fantastic.

Ricky: Thank you. Yeah, it was good. We made a couple of good runs and we did the Priest tour in 2018, which was really good as well. And we couldn’t really capitalize on the back of that because Damon left the band. So we kind of had this sort of retreat and regroup, you know, so we couldn’t get back out as quickly as we wanted to. And then obviously, boom, you’re into COVID and you know.

MGM: Yeah. And that actually leads me to what I was going to say. So I kind of derailed my question, but where I was going with it, you know, years ago, that show, that Black Star Riders show, I didn’t do photography, right? So I run all the stuff in the back, the back end for the magazine. I’d never did photography until four or five years ago. But what got me into it was COVID after it started coming back from all that mess. And this influx of bands and touring, all the stuff that was back on for years because of the touring situation. So I said, you know what, I took a chance and I went out there and started doing shows and started learning from my other team members, I would say. My buddies over there in the UK and here, people have done stuff for me. And I learned, you know, I became pretty good photographer. So I’ve been doing shows the last four or five years, but at that specific show in 2014, I was there with a crappy point and shoot camera trying to take pictures. And they weren’t the best, but I always said that was the first show that I ever did. It was the Black Star Riders Show in Birmingham. And that was the biggest thing.

Ricky: That’s really cool.

MGM: It’s become an obsession, I would say, you know, music is a passion for you. Music is a passion for me too. That’s why we do the stuff. But the photography part of it has become an obsession for me the last five years.

Ricky: Well, that’s good. Good for you, man. Congratulations.

MGM: So if you ever get down to Nashville or, I mean, heck, even Birmingham, you never know, right? I mean, a couple of cool places down there, but there’s a lot of really cool venues in Nashville. I would definitely go to the show and check you guys out. Your solo stuff or, you know, if anything that comes up that you’re involved in is usually pretty good. And I hope one day I can see the Almighty. That would be pretty fantastic.

Ricky: Yeah, you know, I mean, it’s just, financially to come to America, it’s just, as great as it would be. And I’m sure a few people would come out as well. It’s just the cost involved. We’re just, you know, it is a big country. It’s hard for bands to come overseas over here and do an extensive tour run. Like I said, we’re not touring, we don’t want to do any more than we’re doing. We’re doing five, six, seven shows a year. We usually do three shows every November, city halls over here. We usually headline one or two festivals. And that’s it. And that’s enough for us.

MGM: Do you have anything you want fans to take from the new album?

Ricky: Just, I mean, just, I hope they just enjoy it, a sense of enjoyment. It’s rock and roll. It’s not rocket science. It’s not complicated. It’s just pure, unbridled power rock and roll. That’s it. And I think the songs are great. I think the playing is great and I’m really proud of it. And hopefully it can make some people smile and make them happy. And they’ll listen to it time and time again.

MGM: Absolutely. Have a good night brother.

Ricky: Take care. See you. Bye bye.

 
Band/Artist: Ricky Warwick
Place of Origin: Ireland
Album Title: Blood Ties
Album Release Date: March 14, 2025
Record Label: Earache Records
Genre: Rock
For Fans Of: Black Star Riders, Wayward Sons, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons
Social Links: FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | X | YOUTUBE | SPOTIFY

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