What songs are you still really enjoying performing live from 'Find a Light'? Brit: We enjoy all of them and we play all of them. Our setlist changes every night. We aren’t a band that is focused on singles, because we really don’t have a team that does that type of business. We like and are proud of all the songs or they wouldn’t get recorded. I am most proud that I can listen to our records and not cringe and say “oh man, that’s embarrassing”, or “why did we do that”. Like I say, these records represent a moment in time. That’s where we were at that particular time in our lives and career.
Charlie: We are literally playing every song from the record on tour and we are loving it. I believe ‘Run Away From It All’, ‘Flesh And Bone’ and ‘I’ll Keep Ramblin’’ seem to be the fans’ favourites.
You guys once more self-produced the album. Can you tell us a bit about that process? Brit: We learned a lot along the way. Producer or no producer, we have to like what sounds we are getting and performing. Sometimes we self produce a record not because we don’t want a producer, but more like, “Hey we’ve got some time to record and whoever we’ve thought of that might be fun to work with isn’t available.” We are really controlled by our touring schedule. Anyone we’ve ever worked with is someone that we really wanted to work with and we always have been satisfied with the outcome. But at this point, 19 years of recording together, we operate just fine with a good engineer and the band.
Looking back on the album, how would you say that the sound of the band has grown/changed on this release? Brit: I think the more you record, you learn how to get sounds you want and that makes things easier and allows you to spend more time on creating. I feel like you start to think, “Hey, I love congas and Hammond B3, harmonica and trombones and this song would be perfect to shove all that in right now!” So you do it and if you like it, it stays!
So, how did the idea for ‘The Southern Ground Sessions’ EP come together? Charlie: We went in to Southern Ground Studios in Nashville to capture some video footage of us playing acoustic versions of some of the songs from the record in a very laid back atmosphere. We invited some of our friends to come and jam. We weren’t terribly concerned with the audio until we listened back to it. I think we captured some cool stuff.
What was it like to re-visit songs from 'Find a Light' in an acoustic way? Brit: These songs were born in that format with a guitar so it was easier to “break it down” if you'll pardon the pun. Like I say, you really see what a song is made of when someone plays it acoustically and without a bunch of production.
It might be early days, however, have you started work on any new material just yet? Brit: We’ve heard some great riffs at sound check and around our travelling vehicle. The plan is that we will be taking our time releasing the next record.
Charlie: I have several songs written. Much like the last few albums, they are all over the place. Haha. How excited are you for your upcoming slot at Download Festival, and what can fans expect from the performance? Charlie: I couldn’t be more excited about it!! Fans can expect Blackberry Smoke songs played loudly! What else can we expect to see from Blackberry Smoke in 2019? Brit: We'll have a new live DVD to share with everyone very soon. It was filmed in our hometown of Atlanta.