I was at the Moondance Jam in Walker, Minnesota last year when Black Stone Cherry took the stage. The crowd was sparse at the beginning of their set but by the time their slot was over, people had left their campsites to come check out this band of 20 something year old Southern Rockers. The show was filmed for Direct TV and thousands left Moondance as new fans of the band.

The music is part classic Southern Rock, part Nickelback meets Theory of a Deadman and part in your face attitude, power chord Metal. This band, while new to most, have been slogging it out on the road, releasing albums and playing live for over half a decade. Hailing from a small town in Kentucky, the band are not the flavor of the month, yet they sneak in just enough modern to be able to play a bill of current Top 40 bands one night and a classic rock festival like Moondance the next.

Lead off track, “White Trash Millionaire” is a fun tune with great lyrics, as is the wild “Blame It On the Boom Boom.” The band has multiple sides of their musical persona, however, as “Stay,” “Killing Floor” and “In My Blood” are all pretty modern tunes. “Like I Roll” is another modern day Skynyrd rocker while “All I’m Dreamin’ of” is a heartfelt acoustic song.

The band know their Southern Rock as they remade, and recreated, the classic Marshal Tucker tune “Can’t You See.” They replaced the opening acoustic with an electric riff and rock up the song. Purists won’t appreciate what they have done but this Southern Rocker likes the modern spin they put on the tune, and the way they make it theirs while still leaving enough of the original in there to keep it real.

This is a good band that, in all likelihood, will continue slogging it out on the road, writing tunes on the tour bus and winning over fans one person at a time. Keep an eye on these guys as if they stay true to themselves, and resist the temptation to become another Nickelback, clone then it is only a matter of time before they are rock stars.