A couple of weeks ago, Ron Keel (KEEL/Steeler/Iron Horse) took the time to chat with me about all things KEEL related...not telling me he was actually at a soundcheck for a KEEL show that night! Talk about a cool guy looking to connect with his fans! In our lengthy conversation, Ron touched on everything from KEEL and Steeler to his side projects, his country music releases, and his scheduled appearance at Skull Fest in October! If you have a few minutes, enjoy your chance to catch up with Ron Keel here on Glitter2Gutter!
Ron: Well, um,
Steeler was originally formed in Nashville in 1981. We were like the Motley Crue of
Nashville. I mean, we got a lot of
attention because we were really loud and we dressed really crazy, um…you know,
I screamed really loud and high…and, so, we ended up relocating the band to
Hollywood in 1981 because that was the place to be. It was, obviously, a very exciting scene in
LA and Hollywood, and Southern California in general, at the time, you know,
when you bands like Quiet Riot and Ratt and Motley Crue, all really making some
serious noise in a lot of ways. We were
just really glad to be a part of that. You
know, it was really a cultural revolution at the time, yet the people in the
business really didn’t take things very seriously. It was interesting that they were all digging
our own graves, that we would never get played on the radio, that no one wanted
to hear what we were doing, and this kind of stuff…you know, you guys are just
pissin’ into the wind…and, um, nobody stopped to take a look around and see
just how popular and how powerful the scene was becoming. Then, all of a sudden, in just a matter of a
couple of short years, bands like Steeler and Motley Crue, Ratt, Poison, and
such had created a cultural revolution that not only changed the musical scene
but that also generated, literally, trillions of dollars of revenue. But, getting back specifically to Steeler,
that album was released in 1983 and was the first album to feature myself and a
certain guitar player from Sweden named Yngwie Malmsteen. So, with our first album, you know his first
album and my first album, and the only real Steeler album to ever see the light
of day, it was an amazing experience. In
fact, it went on to be the biggest selling independent record of all time and
really got my career, and Yngwie’s career, started. And, just to be a part of that, to have been
included in that revolution, was a great accomplishment and something that I am
very proud of.
Ron: No, no…um…I’ve
never had a hiatus. I wouldn’t even know
the meaning of the word. I can’t sit
still for too long. Steeler’s last gig
was…it was March 4 of 1984 and KEEL’s first gig was the following month on
April 7, so there was just about four weeks between the last Steeler gig and
the first KEEL gig. I had come to
realize that I wanted to…well, it was really a business decision. Steeler was my baby, you know. I had moved to LA with that band, and had a
fierce determination to succeed, but after a number of personnel changes, with
Yngwie leaving to join Alcatrazz being among those changes, even though the
band continued to progress not only musically but also in terms of our draw, I
mean we were still packing the clubs and the venues in Southern California, but
there came a point where people wouldn’t take us seriously because of the
revolving lineup changes. Record labels
wouldn’t take us seriously or didn’t want to take a chance on a band that
seemingly never had the same lineup toward the end. So, I wanted to build something around myself
so that I wouldn’t be dependent upon any one particular musician. It was actually a solo project with these
four young, hungry guys behind me, but it became a band by default. The guys that I got in the band, Marc
Ferrari, Brian Jay, and so forth, we became not only friends, but we shared the
same work ethic, we shared the same goals, we were all hungry and were willing
to do whatever it took to succeed, and we became a true band in every sense of
the word. And it still is that way
today, 29 years later.
G2G: I was surprised,
personally, that “United Nations” didn’t get released as a single. I thought that song had “hit” written all
over it and that it’s just a monster of a song.
Ron: We were chosen
by the producer of the film. It was one
of those deals where we were in the right place at the right time, and we just
happened to have a great relationship with the people who were making the
film. For instance, our song “Speed
Demon” appeared in Men In Black II
and it’s because one of the people on the film was a KEEL fan and wanted that
song in that scene. So sometimes you get
lucky, man, and you never know what the next phone call will bring.
Ron: There is a
studio album of “Private Lies” that I released on my acoustic album in 2004,
which I’m very proud of, but that’s a good observation and a good call. We had always intended on perhaps doing full
band studio versions of those songs at some point, but as of yet they haven’t
made it out. It’s something we’ve talked
about also for our upcoming 30th anniversary album which will be
released in 2014. You never know, man,
those are good songs and like I said, that’s a good call and I’m glad you like
that record.
Ron: There’s always…obviously,
it’s a business…and these are calculated moves to either generate some revenue
or a helluva good time! (chuckles) So,
those were all…there were business reasons for all of those projects, and I’m
very proud of all of those records you just mentioned. The Saber Tiger record that I did in Japan
was the heaviest record of my entire career.
It was a session that I was literally hired for. They wanted an American singer that had a
good reputation in Japan, and so...literally, I had just gotten done with a country
gig that night, I think I made like $50 for that gig busting my ass in some honky
tonk bar, and so there’s this fax for me at home…we did things by fax back then…and
it says we are working for this label in Japan and we want you to sing on this
album with Akihito Kinoshita, a famous Japanese guitarist, how much do you
charge to make contract with us? So, you
know, I’m half drunk, so I called this guy in Japan, and I said, “I’ll do it
for $75,000”. They said, “we call you
back!” And so I put the phone down, I
was laughing, and I had another drink, and they call back not five minutes later
and they say, “we give you $30,000”, and I was like “that’s it, I’m there!” (laughing)
It was a cool negotiation!
(laughing) But, no, it was a cool
experience to get to go to Japan and work with these really great
musicians. And they really pushed me,
vocally, to the limit because that was some really heavy, screaming type of
music that the producer was pushing me for, and he was very demanding and knew
what he wanted, and luckily I was able to deliver the goods. I’m still very proud of that record. The Iron Horse stuff was a labor of love
really…there was no $30,000 for those. I
SPENT more than that on those records, but that was my attempt at combining my
love of country music with my love of arena rock. I tried to combine the loud, aggressive rock
style with the big drums and big guitars with the melody and songwriting sense
that country tends to bring. People
ended up calling it southern rock, which is fine, but… Anyway, all of those records had their
special place in my life and my career and my timeline, and there’s going to be
more where that came from. I’m working
now on my first full-blown, full band solo album called Metal Cowboy, which is a heavy metal cowboy record and I hope to
play you guys a couple of those new songs when I come out to Skull Fest in
October.
Ron: Yep, yep, that
was it…
Ron: Well, for these
solo shows like this, I like to mix it up with stuff from throughout my
career. You’re going to hear all the
KEEL hits, you know, “Because The Night”, “Right To Rock”, “Tears Of Fire”, all
that stuff, man. You’re going to hear
some of my favorites from some of the other records that you mentioned, and
hopefully a couple of new songs from the Metal
Cowboy album as well.
Ron: If their on my
show, I’m a big fan of theirs, and one band that I really like is this band
called Halestorm. They just…their songs,
their production, and that girl’s voice…it’s all money. They’re amazing. There’s a band from Columbus, Ohio called
Full Tilt that I’m really high on. And,
truth is, many of these kids grew up on me and bands like KEEL, and when I was
in central Ohio about ten years ago doing some rock shows, these kids who were
about 13 years old came out, the lead singer was especially young. His parents are actually friends of mine and
they would play my music and come to my shows and when he got older they would
bring him to my shows, and now that he’s 23 years old, he is bringing it
man. To me, he’s like Paul Rodgers for a
new generation, man. Some others that I
really enjoy listening to…Daughtry is number one. I think Daughtry has a great package overall
and…(phone cuts out)…Did I lose you?
Marc Ferrari’s calling on the other line. He can wait…
(laughs).
That was a great conversation with a guy who will tell you pretty much anything you want to know! Can't wait to meet one of my favorite singers after all these years when he finally gets to North Platte, NE and Skull Fest 2013! If you want to meet him as well, tickets are on sale NOW at THIS location! Get 'em while they are cheap, folks!!!
Back To Talkin' Trash With...
Back To Home
G2G: Ron, thanks so
much for taking the time to talk with us.
I have to tell you, I am so very excited that you are going to be one of
the acts that comes here to Central Nebraska to our new event, Skull Fest. You are one of the acts from the 80’s that I
always wanted to see but never got the chance, so I’m really happy you will be
joining us…
Ron: Man, that goes
both ways. I’m really excited to do it,
so thanks for the opportunity.
G2G: Ron, let’s go
back and start from as close to the beginning as possible, at least as far as
your musical past goes. A lot of people
know you from KEEL, obviously, but a lot of people don’t necessarily realize
you were with Steeler first. What was
that experience like?
G2G: Did the breakup
of Steeler lead you directly into forming what would become KEEL, or did you go
through some down time, or some sort of hiatus?
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| Early KEEL promo ad |
G2G: Now, when you
recruited a guy like a Marc Ferrari, were you looking for another Yngwie? I mean, Marc has the skills, there’s no doubt
about it, so was that a conscious thing on your part?
Ron: Well, I was not
looking for another Yngwie, no. I wanted
a combination…I wanted a twin-guitar team that could emulate some of the bands
I was really excited about at the time, you know, like Judas Priest or Thin
Lizzy, where they would have these amazing guitar solos bouncing back and forth
between guitar players, and I wanted KEEL to be able to be like that. So, KEEL was pretty much built around that
twin-axe attack, although we were actually a three-guitar band, because I
played guitar as well, and still do.
Even today, if you come to a full KEEL show you will still see all three
of us up there, wielding our axes together.
Now, in terms of chops, like Yngwie had, yeah, you’re right, they have
the skills. In fact, they are even
better now than they were then. But, uh,
what I liked about Marc was the fact that he played real, American, hard rock
and metal-styled guitar with very melodic and memorable solos that you could
sing along with. That’s why he ended up
doing most of the solos in the more commercial stuff that KEEL did, you know,
the songs that ended up being hits like “The Right To Rock” or “Because The
Night”, stuff like that. But, actually,
Brian’s the real shredder. He’s not
necessarily like Yngwie, but he has these fast, fluid, sweeping, um, lightning
speed type of players, where Ferrari is more the grinding, melodic solo kind of
guy, and a great songwriter as well. So,
I ended up with the best of both worlds and, in my opinion, one of the most
underrated twin-guitar teams of the 80’s.
G2G: That’s
interesting. I think most people think
that Marc did most of the soloing, but Brian’s every bit “the man” too, huh?
Ron: Absolutely. You know, people think that because…that
perception about Marc was because he was the one doing the solos in most of the
videos. But, if you watch “Somebody’s
Waiting” or “Rock N Roll Outlaw”, you will see Brian Jay taking his share of
duties on the solos. It was really split
pretty much down the middle. It was
pretty much whatever guy’s style fit the song.
We were writing songs for both of them together where they could go back
and forth, too, so there would be a lot of that interplay bouncing back and
forth between the two of them, both on the records and on stage.
G2G: One thing that I
always stood out about KEEL in the 80’s was that you guys, especially early on,
were definitely more on the metal side of the scene as opposed to the poppier,
glam side of the scene. Was that by
design? Were you trying to stand out in
some way?
Ron: You know, each
album has its own identity, really. The Right To Rock, for example, really
is a metal album. That was a very
focused, energy-driven album that was all headed in one direction. Big, fast, hard, and crunchy, and a lot of
that had to do with Gene Simmons’ production.
Once we had some success with The
Right To Rock, we had established a strong enough relationship with Simmons
that he allowed us to stretch out a bit on the follow-up album, The Final Frontier. This allowed us to do a bit more
commercial-type music, more radio-friendly, I guess, you know like “Because The Night” or “Tears
Of Fire”. You know, there are no ballads
on The Right To Rock, but we were
able to stretch out on The Final
Frontier. Diversity has become one
of my trademarks, and I’m proud of that, not only in my KEEL projects but in my
other projects as well. I like to take
on the challenges of writing, creating, and recording different types of music,
as many people know. You know, on The Final Frontier, we even had a
classical piece that Marc Ferrari composed, we had some poppier stuff like “Just
Another Girl” and the remake of “Because The Night”, and then we had some more
bone-crushing, metal-like stuff like “No Pain, No Gain”, “Rock N Roll Animal”,
and so forth. So, The Final Frontier was a really diverse record, but there wasn’t
really a whole lot of intentional design to it then…or now, really. We play what we feel, write what’s in our
hearts and hopefully the audience will relate to it. We just enjoy the good, you know, fist
pumping, guitar driven rock n roll, the anthems that really get people going
and pumping their fists in the air and screaming along.
G2G: You brought him
up so I have to take the opportunity to ask the question: is Gene Simmons the megalomaniac that
everyone makes him out to be, or how was he to work with?
Ron: (chuckles) Gene,
you know…Gene was amazing to work with.
Obviously, he’s huge in the industry, there’s no doubt about that. He was a huge help to our career and, uh, in
terms of a human being, Gene is not what he appears to be. I’m sure there’s that side to him, but to us
he was one of the guys. Really. He would do anything for us, he was like a
sixth member of the band, and was an incredible help. And, you know, still to this day, when I see
him or we hang out, he’s just Gene. He’s
a nice, super nice guy, we talk about our moms and our kids and our lives and…it’s…he’s
just Gene to us, just a super-sweet, down-to-earth, nice guy. Now, the guy on the television show, I’m sure
there’s that side to him as well, but he’s been very driven and very
successful, and I think he’s still learning and growing, like we are. It was really nice to see him and Shannon get
married, and I know that Shannon is just absolutely over the moon about him, and
Gene and Shannon and my wife, Virginia, and I got to hang out together at an
event a while back, and it was a really nice time. It feels like family, it really does. And, you know, I get star-struck, even with a
guy like Gene. You know, I have this
radio show now, and I get to interview stars…not big stars, you know I haven’t
had anyone like Gene on my show yet…but I’m doing the radio show and I’m
interviewing people like Jack Blades from Night Ranger, or Lita Ford, and these
guys have a lot of platinum and gold on the wall, and I get a little
star-struck, a little nervous, when I’m meeting people like this. Like tomorrow I’m meeting Roger Daltry from
The Who, and I’m like shaking in my boots, you know? But whenever it’s Gene, it’s like, “it’s Gene!” you know, like just any
other old friend even though he’s this mega-popular member of one of the
biggest rock bands ever. So, it really
is a strange relationship in that way, but I’m really proud and happy that we’ve
been able to make it last for so long, and to know that Ron Keel and KEEL are a
very small thread in the tapestry that is the history of KISS…that’s pretty
cool, to me anyway.
G2G: Well, now you
know how I feel when I get to do these interviews with guys like you or Jack
Russell or CJ Snare from Firehouse..you know, guys I grew up listening to all
the time. I get nervous when I make the
phone call, trust me, so I know what you’re saying, at least to a degree.
Ron: I know, dude…right
before you make that call and you get them on the air or the recorder is going
and…for me, it’s like walking on stage.
Even now, I’m getting ready for a show at Planet Hollywood tonight, and
I know that I’m going to get those nerves when I walk out there, those jitters
when I first walk on, but then you hit the first verse of that first song and
you’re home. It’s a great feeling.
G2G: Was there a
point after the self-titled KEEL
album that you knew it wasn’t going to probably happen on the big scale that
you hoped things would break open for the band?
Ron: Well, you always
hold out that hope, you know. If you’ve
given up hope then you might as well pack it up. But, we did realize after the self-titled
album that it was going to be an uphill climb.
With our record company, MCA, we had not achieved the level of success
that we were hoping for, and a lot of that was just due to some decisions that
were made that were really out of our hands.
The choice of singles, for example, or the fact that we never had a
follow-up single. Back in the day, it
used to take a band two or three songs to establish an album, with your radio
hit and your power ballad and then maybe another follow-up or two, and by that
time you likely had a gold or platinum album on the wall. We never got that, we never had that
shot. After “Somebody’s Waiting” was
released in 87, they decided not to release a follow-up single even though the
album was climbing the charts and we were on tour with Bon Jovi. So those are things we didn’t have any
control over; we had to roll with the punches and just do what we do. Unfortunately, for whatever reason those
decisions are critical and when you’re in a big situation like we were, where
you’ve got producers and mangers and labels and record company exec’s calling
the shots, and they’re holding the purse strings that fund those critical
decisions, sometimes they’re going to make the wrong call. They’re only human, you know. They’re wrong but obviously they don’t want
to be wrong, but still a band like KEEL is on the bad end of the deal. But like I said, all we could do was roll
with the punches.
Ron: Yeah, it should
have been, and thank you. That was my
intention in writing the song and putting it first on the record. It was a song that I think really could have
crossed over worldwide and brought the fans together under that powerful,
anthem-styled song. I agree with you
wholeheartedly that that was the money song.
For whatever reason, the people at MCA chose “Somebody’s Waiting”, and,
you know, looking back, it’s happened to some other bands as well, where people
released the wrong single. Black N Blue
was a prime example. These guys were one
of my favorite bands of that era and we are still really good friends to this
day. But, their first single was “Hold
On To 18”, but most of their fan base at the time was 15, 16 years old. They couldn’t relate to a song called “Hold
On To 18” because that’s years away for them.
It’s just simple logic that someone who is 13, 14, 15 years old isn’t
going to grasp the urgency of “Hold On To 18”.
Same thing with “Somebody’s Waiting”.
That’s a song about cheating on your wife, or your wife cheating on you…and
the kids, they can’t relate to that. Not
that there’s anything wrong with either song, but they didn’t hit with the core
audience at that time. The kids, from us
at least, they wanted “United Nations”, they wanted “Rock N Roll Animal”, “The
Right To Rock”…they didn’t relate to the subject matter of “Somebody’s Waiting”
or “Hold On To 18”, and as a result the songs did not succeed. “Rock N Roll Outlaw” and “United Nations”,
though, even though they weren’t singles, we still play them at the show and
get great results every time. People
still yell for them, still put their fists in the air, and those are songs that
will live on. But like I said, those
choices of singles are not up to the artist at that point. You have a lot of other people making those
decisions and the artist has to hope that things work out.
G2G: How did you get
pulled into the Dudes movie
soundtrack? I always thought KEEL was an
interesting band to be selected for that album.
G2G: You actually
kinda stole my thunder a bit there because I was going to ask you about Men In Black II. I remember seeing that movie in the theater
and I broke out laughing and I was like, “That’s KEEL!” when I was watching the
movie, and I knew that nobody sitting around me knew what I was talking about
but I thought it was very cool to hear that song on there.
Ron: Yeah, me
too. Those things are always a thrill
and we will take ‘em when we can get ‘em.
G2G: One thing that
surprised me was when the Larger Than
Live album came out after you had seemingly disappeared from the
scene. I really liked a lot of the songs
on that album, including a couple of them that you only recorded live for that
disc. Is there any chance we will ever
get to hear studio versions of those?
(For reference, “Private Lies” and “Hard As Hell” are the songs being
spoken of.)
G2G: Streets Of Rock N Roll kind of brought
you full circle as a band when it came out a couple years ago. Marc was back in the band and…you didn’t have
all original members, but all but one, right?
Ron: Yeah, our new
bass player…well, he’s not really new because he’s been with me since 1998…Geno
Arce replaced Kenny Chaisson, joined myself, Marc Ferrari and Brian Jay on
guitars, and Dwain Miller on drums. But
without these guys, there is no band.
Despite the fact that it’s my last name…and I had many opportunities
through the years to go out and perform as KEEL without the rest of the guys…I
wouldn’t go out any other way than with Marc, Brian, and Dwain, that’s for
sure. Like I said earlier, it’s a family
situation as much as a band situation for me.
G2G: Ron, can you
tell me a bit about some of your side projects?
You were in Saber Tiger for the one album, you’ve had a couple of Iron
Horse albums, you sang with Liberty N Justice, you did the Fair Game project. Was there a method to your madness, if you
will, with those projects or was it, again, more right place, right time?
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| Beauties and the Beast, Ron Keel,in Fair Game |
Ron: There’s always…obviously,
it’s a business…and these are calculated moves to either generate some revenue
or a helluva good time! (chuckles) So,
those were all…there were business reasons for all of those projects, and I’m
very proud of all of those records you just mentioned. The Saber Tiger record that I did in Japan
was the heaviest record of my entire career.
It was a session that I was literally hired for. They wanted an American singer that had a
good reputation in Japan, and so...literally, I had just gotten done with a country
gig that night, I think I made like $50 for that gig busting my ass in some honky
tonk bar, and so there’s this fax for me at home…we did things by fax back then…and
it says we are working for this label in Japan and we want you to sing on this
album with Akihito Kinoshita, a famous Japanese guitarist, how much do you
charge to make contract with us? So, you
know, I’m half drunk, so I called this guy in Japan, and I said, “I’ll do it
for $75,000”. They said, “we call you
back!” And so I put the phone down, I
was laughing, and I had another drink, and they call back not five minutes later
and they say, “we give you $30,000”, and I was like “that’s it, I’m there!” (laughing)
It was a cool negotiation!
(laughing) But, no, it was a cool
experience to get to go to Japan and work with these really great
musicians. And they really pushed me,
vocally, to the limit because that was some really heavy, screaming type of
music that the producer was pushing me for, and he was very demanding and knew
what he wanted, and luckily I was able to deliver the goods. I’m still very proud of that record. The Iron Horse stuff was a labor of love
really…there was no $30,000 for those. I
SPENT more than that on those records, but that was my attempt at combining my
love of country music with my love of arena rock. I tried to combine the loud, aggressive rock
style with the big drums and big guitars with the melody and songwriting sense
that country tends to bring. People
ended up calling it southern rock, which is fine, but… Anyway, all of those records had their
special place in my life and my career and my timeline, and there’s going to be
more where that came from. I’m working
now on my first full-blown, full band solo album called Metal Cowboy, which is a heavy metal cowboy record and I hope to
play you guys a couple of those new songs when I come out to Skull Fest in
October.
G2G: Very cool! I wanted to tell you when you mentioned your
love of country music, I was actually working as the music director for a
country music station about a hundred miles from here and all of a sudden,
across my desk comes this CD by Ronnie Lee Keel, and I’m like “wait a second,
there’s no way…” I remember it was a
promo album, so it just had a black and white cover of you standing there in
the desert or something…
Ron: Yep, yep, that
was it…
G2G: So I picked that
thing up and started reading through the credits and thank yous and, sure enough, it was you! I was like, “What the heck?!” So, I held onto it and since then, I’ve seen
a couple of other country releases come out from you and I’ve got to say that
you while it’s not overly commercial country music by today’s standards, you
pull it off and I dig what you’re doing.
You sound like you enjoy it.
Ron: Thanks,
man. Whatever I do it’s coming from the
heart. It’s real. And it has to be for people to buy it. Whether it’s a heavy metal record or a
country record, the fans of those styles are in tune with what they like and
they’re not going to buy what you’re doing if it’s not real to them and it doesn’t
come from the heart. The two styles are
a lot alike in that way. You can’t get
up in an arena full of metalheads and scream and shout with your fist in the
air and be fake; they will throw shit at you! (laughs)
G2G: (laughter)
Ron: Same thing…you
can’t get up in a rodeo arena full of cowboys and cowgirls and sing country
music and be fake about it. You don’t
just put on a hat and do it, they will kill you, they will eat you alive. So, both of these styles of music that I love
and I love to play, they both come from the heart. I’m also very proud of my accomplishments
from my younger days with jazz music and classical music and playing in the
orchestra. To me, music is one huge
landscape and I want to explore it. Now,
there’s some stuff I’m not interested in; I don’t like hip-hop or rap, it’s not
my cup of tea. I don’t get it, I don’t
relate to it, but after being broke, homeless, divorced a few times, and thrown
in jail, you start realizing country music’s got something to it, man!
(laughs) There’s really a lot of common
ground between country and rock and it’s all party music built to have a good
time, it’s all entertainment and escapism.
Songs about drinking beer and chasing girls, it doesn’t matter if there’s
a fiddle or a screaming electric guitar, if it’s good it’s good and it’s all
party music.
G2G: I’ve been telling people for several years now that I
think modern country music stole the power ballad from the 80’s hair bands,
added some steel guitar to it and then marketed to it basically the same crowd
that had just gotten older and had some kids.
Ron: Yeah, you’re
exactly right, man. You hit the nail
right on the head. They are very
similar.
G2G: Now, when people
come to Nebraska to see you at Skull Fest, what are we going to hear from Ron
Keel?
G2G: Do you ever
break out “Cold Day In Hell” from Steeler?
Ron: We still do that
song, yes. We do it at the KEEL shows,
also, and this is the 30th anniversary of the release of that
Steeler album, so we’re hoping to celebrate that in a number of ways, one of
which is including it in our shows, including on the Monsters Of Rock Cruise
coming up in March.
G2G: That Monsters Of
Rock Cruise has exploded into a pretty big deal…
Ron: It is, it’s a
very big deal and we’re glad to be a part of it for the second year in a
row. It’s, to me, one of the signature
hard rock events of the year in terms of getting people together from all over
the…excuse the noise, man, sound check just started…umm, getting people together
from all over the world together on that ship.
It’s just a brotherhood of hard rock and metal and the relationship that
we have with all the other bands on the ship, or with the fans that you run
into at the bar or the meet-and-greets, that’s something that’s so special to
us as a band. The camaraderie is an
amazing experience and I think it brings out the best in the performers,
because when I’m up there on stage, I know that, you know, Night Ranger and
Tesla and Kix and all these other bands are also out there in the crowd,
watching us do what we do, and we’re watching them during their gigs, so
everyone brings their “A games” to events like this. The Cruise is sold out already, which I
expected it to be, no surprise there.
G2G: Is there anybody
from today’s scene that you listen to that you would consider yourself a fan
of? You mentioned watching each other
play at these festivals and on this cruise, so who else do you listen to or
watch besides your peers? I listened to
the podcast of your show and you feature several of what I like to call the New
Wave of European Glam and Sleaze bands like Crashdiet and that, so I’m curious
who Ron Keel is a fan of now.
 |
| Lizzy Hale |
G2G: Ron, you are
obviously busy with the show coming up tonight, so how can fans stay in touch
with you? I know there’s the iTunes app
people can get, of course they can come out to Skull Fest and some of these
festivals and meet you, but how do people stay in tune with Ron Keel now?
Ron: The best way is www.RonKeel.com . I’m a big fan of the old-fashioned,
conventional website. I’m not a big
Facebook guy. Twitter’s cool, but
Facebook is the devil. So, RonKeel.com
is my home online. You can listen to the
radio show, check out our tour schedule, there’s a forum there where we talk
and I post things that you don’t normally hear on Facebook or Twitter. We’ll talk about sports, food, politics…whatever. All the show dates are there on RonKeel.com ,
including Skull Fest, so I encourage fans to stop there, hang out with me, and
check out what I’m doing.
G2G: Awesome,
Ron. Thanks for taking the time to talk
with me and I’ll let you go ahead and call Marc back, he’s probably a little
more important than me right now (laughing)…
Ron: Yeah, he knows
what he’s doing, but we are getting tuned up and ready to rock…
G2G: Well, I will let
you go and I look forward to meeting up with you at Skull Fest in October in
North Platte!
Ron: Thank you,
Arttie. I appreciate what you are doing
and you’ve got my number, so if there’s anything you need, anytime, just give
me a holler. Count on me, my friend, I’m
all yours…
That was a great conversation with a guy who will tell you pretty much anything you want to know! Can't wait to meet one of my favorite singers after all these years when he finally gets to North Platte, NE and Skull Fest 2013! If you want to meet him as well, tickets are on sale NOW at THIS location! Get 'em while they are cheap, folks!!!
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