In a new interview with Chris Akin from “The Classic Metal Show”, CINDERELLA frontman Tom Keifer talked about his new solo album ‘Rise’ & Cinderella fans.
When asked whether he feels like more of a “musician” today versus in CINDERELLA‘s heyday, Tom said:
“I got to be honest, we’ve never, or I’ve never, CINDERELLA never did and I certainly don’t know, have been dictated by a label. Actually, the label gave us complete creative freedom back with CINDERELLA and obviously we still control that with the solo records. We basically create them on our own and give them to the label. I think maybe what you’re referring to is that there’s kind of a classic structure to the songwriting. It’s like the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and most of the songs that I’ve written or been involved in writing.
“I would say in terms of experimental, I think that’s actually starting with ‘Long Cold Winter’, I think a lot of things came in that were pretty different for the time, like the ‘National Steel’ intro on ‘Bad Seamstress Blues’ starting the record, which was not very ’80s. [Laughs] It was pretty broken-down, intimate, Robert Johnson kind of thing and the title track itself was a straight-up heavy blues song. I don’t know…I feel like an answer to your question, I’ve always created music that was in my heart and that felt real. A lot of it has that formula that you’re talking about, but I get that from probably listening to, I grew up on Rod Stewart, I grew up on THE ROLLING STONES. There was a formula to the writing where it was verse-pre chorus-chorus, verse-pre-chorus-chorus. It’s like that, I guess ‘pop’ song structure, but they’re hard rock songs. Yeah, I think that structure is in there that you’re talking about, or that formula, but it’s not something I do intentionally for success or because a record company told us we had to. I think it comes from my influences, I guess, is what I’m saying. My influences were great songwriters.”
On whether he thinks it’s possible to please longtime CINDERELLA fans with music that he finds “viable” to him as a solo artist, Tom added:
“What people choose to like or not like is out of anyone’s control, or what their expectations are. The only thing I can say is that this is a new band. It’s a new entity. Part of it involves my past because I wrote and sang those songs. I did the majority of the guitar work; I was heavily involved in the production. They’re a part of me.
“I love playing and singing those songs, still to this day. They’re as new as they were 30 years ago for me. And the fans make it that way because they want to hear them. I cannot sing at all and just hold out the mic and they sing every word. Clearly, that’s something that’s always going to be a part of me and I want it to be, and I’m going to perform them. But this is not CINDERELLA; it’s a new band. There are two new albums now, which both of which the material has gone down incredibly well and we had great success with the first and so far doing pretty well with this one. That material is mixed in with the other songs. It’s whole new energy. It’s a new chapter. It’s a new band. In terms of performance, the show, if you come out and watch it, the way I perform and sing and play guitar is still the same as it’s always been, and the show is very high-energy, but it’s a new band. It’s a new entity and I think that without the new material, I think the fact that there are new records being made and fresh music being injected along with the stuff from my past, I think that makes it legitimate.”
Tom Keifer is a prolific songwriter and has enjoyed massive success as the lead singer of Cinderella. Having dominated the radio airwaves for years, Tom Keifer knows how to craft songs and with ‘Rise’, we get 11 songs that display Tom Keifer and his band’s talents. Tom Keifer’s first solo album, ‘The Way Life Goes”, was released in 2013 and later rereleased in 2017 as a deluxe edition. So, it’s great to have some more new tunes from the gritty vocal wonder that is Tom Keifer. Having gone through numerous vocal cord surgeries, the fact that Tom Keifer can even talk is a miracle but the true miracle is hearing Tom Keifer sing and belt out those songs. There are several slower paced songs on this album that ooze emotion and touch your soul as Tom’s raspy vocals rumble out on tunes like, “You Believe In Me”, “Waiting On The Demons” and “Taste For The Pain”.