Veteran American rocker/songwriter/vocalist Ron Keel has always been very savvy as to the business side of the music business, and usually has a well thought out plan and strategy for every new song, every new album and for the marketing, promotion and tour routing for his band.
He’s morphed from his early 1980s hair metal incarnation, which generated the hit album and song, The Right to Rock, through a more country phase into his present ‘cowboy metal’ incarnation over the past three decades. He’s been ensconced in the glam metal hotbed if Los Angeles, spent years in Sin City (Las Vegas) then Music City USA aka Nashville, and now calls him amidst the beautiful mountains, valleys and plains of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Through it all, Keel has always been the master of his own musical destiny, whose passion for writing, recording, and performing original rock music has not abated over his more than 35-year career.
On the heels of 2019’s critically acclaimed album of original songs, Fight Like A Band, the Ron Keel Band has now released a special tribute album to the music that still continues to fire up Keel’s heart, soul and spirit. Entitled South X South Dakota, to honour both his past and present, the record features 11 tracks, representing a who’s who of southern rock royalty, from Lynyrd Skynyrd, to The Outlaws, Allman Brothers, as well as the inimitable Waylon and Willie (Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys).
South X South Dakota was more of a stroke of inspiration than it was deliberation, and the result is a wonderful interpretation of some classic songs by classic bands for fans, and a helluva good time for Keel, his producer Mike Dresch and bandmates Dave Cothern (lead guitar), Scott Schmitt (keyboards), Jeff Koller (drums) and bassist Gene Arce.
“It’s absolutely a beautifully organic accident. I did not intend on making a record and releasing this stuff, until I heard it back in the studio. We were doing the Fight Like a Band album sessions and when we were in the studio, we would go in each morning and loosen up with some of these songs we love like Molly Hatchet’s Flirtin’ With Disaster, and some other southern rock classics that we all know and love, some of which we would include in the live shows from time to time. So, we were just jamming and warming up. My producer Mike Dresch was recording these sessions, because he records everything, and after a few days I listened back to what we had and I was like, ‘man we have something really special here.’ I thought at least those first four or five songs we were jamming could be the foundation of quite a southern rock tribute album. We thought of a few more and then added the Ghost Riders in the Sky single that we did a few years back and the Homesick [Atlanta Rhythm Section] single that we did in 2015 and realized we’ve pretty much got an album here,” said Keel.
“We had the foundation of an album and it was totally unintentional, which is contrary to everything I have ever done previously in my career. From the time I went into the studio to make that first Steeler record in 1983, I was on a mission and had a plan. Every time you go into the studio, you’ve rehearsed, you’ve written the songs, you have done your pre-production, you’ve got your game plan, you’ve got your charts, you’ve got your players, all the microphones are in place and you get down to business. This time it was just a bunch of guys hanging around the studio having a good time, playing some music that we love and having fun. And to realize that after four or five takes we had the foundation of a great record that would pay tribute to some of our southern rock heroes and share some of this with fans and audiences, it was incredible and totally unexpected.
“Releasing new music at this time is a no brainer, because everybody wants it, In these tough times, everybody needs songs and music and entertainment; it’s part of the fabric of our lives. So many of the fans are commenting back that they are out there grilling steaks on the patio, listening to the new South X South Dakota album from Ron Keel, or they’re in their garage and cranking up our new album while they’re working on their truck, or working around the house. One reviewer called it comfort food for the ears, and I really appreciated that comment. It is a great time to release new music, but it’s a tough time to ask people to pay for it, that’s why we’ve tried to make it as economically feasible for us and for the fans.”
Keel spoke eloquently and passionately as to why he believes southern rock music, as composed and performed by the likes of Molly Hatchet, Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, The Allman Brothers and The Atlanta Rhythm Section, among others, is so unique, so special and so timeless.
“I can honestly say that these are some of the best songs ever written and they are iconic classics from some of our favourite classic rock artists of all time. As you know, I had a great career as a metal artist in the 1980s and then I had a nice run as a country artist as well, but I never really felt at home on either side of that fence. So, when I combined those elements 20 years ago with a band called Iron Horse, I combined my metal heart with my cowboy attitude and I put it together into what I called it at the time, hard rocking southern country metal. When you listen to it, and you have to call it something, most people called it straightforward southern rock,” he explained.
“For me, being a guy who was born in Georgia, the son of a construction worker, as hillbilly as it gets, my family was southern to the core. And then to spend a decade of decadence in Hollywood with my contemporaries like Motley Crue, Ratt, Quiet Riot and Great White, I have both of those cultures in my DNA. When you play it and you sing it and you write it, it just comes out sounding like southern rock. With that kind of music, the people and the stories resonate with me and they resonate with so many people, regardless of whether they’re from the south or not. Think of the Eagles; if they had been from anywhere else other than California, they would have been called southern rock. CCR, who we cover with a medley on the new record, that’s southern rock, man. And maybe it’s the term itself that has not done the genre justice, because it does restrict you geographically to places like Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and what have you. But this is human music, this is human rock. And that southern rock spirit and attitude stems from working hard, playing hard and partying hard. That’s why you’ve got bands like Molly Hatchet killing it over in Europe these days, and that’s because it’s the music of the people.”
Keel ran through some of the song choices on South X South Dakota, outlining why he believes they are classics, and why he and his band chose to cover them.
“I chose Fire on the Mountain by the Marshall Tucker Band, because it’s written about South Dakota, where I now live, and it’s a place I love. The lyrics of that song are about the gold rush in the Black Hills back in the 1800s, so that song has geographical and historical significance with South X South Dakota. I was good friends with George McCorkle, the original guitar player from the Marshall Tucker Band, we played in Nashville together many times and George actually gave us an unreleased Marshall Tucker song for us to record for the 2004 Iron Horse album, Bring it On. So, for this new album, a tribute to southern rock, you have to have a Marshall Tucker song on it, and I didn’t want to do Can’t You See because everybody does Can’t You See,” he said.
“Some of these songs have always been a part of my life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve learned Rockin’ Into the Night by 38 Special. I did it in cover bands when I was younger and have probably learned it and forgotten it more times than I can count. So, it’s on the album. And of course, you need an Allman Brothers song, right? I mean, you can’t do a southern rock tribute album without an Allman Brothers tune. I have been doing Rambin’ Man in my acoustic shows for a long time at biker events or for a patio gig. I love that song and of course we had to have it. What you hear on the South X South Dakota record is one take of our version of that song. That’s all the guys in the band storming through Ramblin’ Man from top to bottom without any breaks or fixes or stops or anything like that.
“And then looking back through southern rock history and what happened with the Rossington Collins Band song Don’t Misunderstand Me. It’s a song that a lot of people aren’t that familiar with, but it was the first that we heard from the survivors of the 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash. That was the first take we got when Gary Rossington and Allen Collins and company got back together in 1979 and put out a couple of albums. And I thought that song, which was the biggest hit for them, had a special place in southern rock history and deserved to be on the album. But I needed a female voice to accompany me because it’s a male-female duet and chose Jasmine Cain, who is awesome.”
The first single from South X South Dakota was a cover of a more modern song by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Red White & Blue from their 2003 album, Vicious Cycle.
“We could have chosen Sweet Home Alabama, Freebird or Gimmie Three Steps, but that’s pretty scary; that’s sacred ground and you don’t want to mess with that. But a song like Red White & Blue, which was a top-30 single back in 2003, it’s one of my all time favourite Skynyrd tunes. It really testifies to the power of their longevity, their evolution, their ability to deal with adversity. And it’s not just a patriotic anthem, because red, white and blue is a state of mind. It doesn’t have borders, it’s not Canada or America or Switzerland or Australia. It’s an anthem that speaks to the work ethic and the convictions that we all share. And I felt it was great to cut it; I have been doing it in my shows or years and I am really proud of the way this version came out,” Keel said.
“I am extremely proud of the video as well because, as you know Jim, we are isolated at this time so to try and film a proper music video, to try and get the whole band and crew together was impossible. What we did was we took each guy in the band to a different iconic South X South Dakota location; for example, I am at Mount Rushmore, the bass player is on top of a Kenworth Truck and the drummer is in front of a fighter jet. So, we’re paying tribute to our troops, truckers and out history and our way of life with this single.”
Of all the songs covered on the album, and there are 10 in all (add three more if you want to count the live CCR medley that brings the record to a swampily awesome conclusion) Keel said he is most satisfied with the way the aforementioned Flirtin’ With Disaster turned out.
“We’ve been playing that song for so long and it always seems to work, it feels good and feels like home. It’s a song I didn’t do back in the day in a cover band or growing up as a kid. It was one of those songs that I never approached or performed in any type of bar situation for some reason. I only started playing it in my later career. That one surprises me just how much energy we give it. It’s one of those songs that always works for us and I am glad we captured that for South X South Dakota. It’s got that combination of power, energy, heaviness and the lyrical content really seems, to me, to hit home right now. We’re all kind of flirtin’ with disaster – it’s a great song for Armageddon or the pandemic or whatever you want to call it. I listened to it the other day and all of this corruption and all of this real life disaster happening makes it still hit home pretty hard,” he said.
“Some of the songs on the record are very faithful to the originals. On that one, maybe the guitars are a little heavier, the drums are a little more intricate, but it is a very faithful recording. Some of the other songs have been severely ‘Keel-ized’ in my opinion, such as Fire on The Mountain. The guys in the band heard the original and thought it was too much of a country song and were kind of lukewarm to the idea of doing it. One night in rehearsal I made some suggestions around chords and key changes and about hallway through the first verse on the run through they heard me singing the lyrics and they knew what I was doing. We Keel-ized it. We really took that song, added some power chords, some stomps, some pauses and thunderous drums, the screaming guitars and made it a metal cowboy song.”
For more information on The Ron Keel Band, South X South Dakota, and any tour dates that are booked once pandemic restrictions are lifted, visit www.ronkeel.com, or www.SouthXSouthDakota.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for 30 years. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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Driving home from work around 11 at night listening to Eddie Trunks broadcast and he played “Flirtin’ with Disaster from the Ron Keel Band’s album South X South Dakota and all I can say is, not only was it true to the original, it kicked butt!