The 2006 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inspired the musicians in Lynyrd Skynyrd in many ways.
"We're trying to get new material for a new record out," guitarist Rickey Medlocke said during a recent phone interview. "Well, get a new download out. How's that?"
So much has changed since those days in the mid-1960s in Jacksonville, Fla., when Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Leon Wilkeson and Allen Collins started a high school Southern rock band that went by the curious name of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Energetic songs "Sweet Home Alabama," "Saturday Night Special" and "What's Your Name" made the Billboard pop charts from 1974 to 1978; "Free Bird" became an anthem for more than a generation of fans for the musical style that chugged shamelessly from the deep and refreshing pools of country and rock sounds.
Members have changed. Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines died in a plane crash in 1977. Collins was paralyzed in a car accident in 1986 and died of pneumonia in 1990. Wilkeson died of natural causes at the age of 49 in 2001.
But the spirit remains unchanged.
Rossington's still in Lynyrd Skynyrd, which he helped name with Collins and Van Zant after their old gym teacher Leonard Skinner. Original member Billy Powell still mans the keyboards.
Johnny Van Zant took over lead vocal duties when the band got over the death of his brother and the Gaines siblings and got back onstage in 1987.
Medlocke, front man for the band Blackfoot, has been playing those notable Skynyrd guitar licks for 11 years now. Bassist Ean Evans, drummer Michael Cartellone and the Honkettes singers Dale Krantz Rossington and Carol Chase complete the current lineup.
They're as popular as ever on the touring circuit. Their Rowdy Friends Tour included a diverse array of acts that included Hank Williams Jr., Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Shooter Jennings, the Doobie Brothers and Three Doors Down.
"It's all good. The band is having a great time," Medlocke said.
He says they all like the road scene, which hits the Mohegan Sun Grandstand to open this year's 12-day state fair lineup on Thursday.
"We roll in in the afternoon; they got it down," Medlocke says of the band's loyal fans. "They're cooking, and people are visiting. Some are selling goods, leather stuff. It's like a gathering. I think it's cool. There's very little trouble. I wish the rest of the world could be like that. We might have a lot more peace."
Once the band is onstage, however, the fans are known for getting rowdy.
"We do feed off the crowd," Medlocke says. "We need that energy. We love that energy. It feeds us, and we give it right back. I feed off the energy for sure. I like being full tilt all the way through, all night long."
Medlocke says that's why the musicians started writing new songs last winter.
"It's been over four years now since we had new product out," he says. "It's time. It's very important, the only way for a band like Lynyrd Skynyrd to survive.
"I think if we went out there every year and didn't try to strive to keep some kind of newness going, even we would get to the point where we'd say, 'We're done with this,'" Medlocke says.
Medlocke says he likes to step out and listen to the bands they join on tour. Thursday at the grandstand, it'll be country singer-songwriter Tracy Lawrence who opens the show.
"We watch the bands and see what they're doing and hear them," Medlocke said. "You have to open your mind up and listen to what people are doing. It's about learning. You never quit learning until the day you die."
When it comes down to recording a new album - or download - Medlocke says there's a pretty good chance it'll sound familiar to Lynyrd Skynyrd fans.
"Any band that has the success like Lynyrd Skynyrd has, there's never going to be a day when you're not compared to the old stuff. That gives you a blueprint to work toward," he says.
"Believe me, Skynyrd don't need to rip anybody off. In essence, I've heard other people rip us off," he says. "We've been doing this long enough, we're not really intimidated by anybody. It's all about the music, brother. We have classic songs that will be here long after I'm gone."
Original source: Syracuse.com.
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