Jaime St. James reportedly does not want to do another Black ‘N Blue album without Tommy Thayer
Jaime St. James reportedly does not want to do another Black ‘N Blue album without Tommy Thayer
Black ‘N Blue and The Loyal Order guitarist Brandon Cook was recently interviewed by Shannon W. for Rockin’ Interviews‘ Facebook page.
Cook was asked whether there will be another Black ‘N Blue album coming in the future. Black ‘N Blue have released five studio albums with the last one dating back to 2011’s Hell Yeah!. The line-up for that record consisted of singer Jamie St. 
James, bassist Patrick Young, guitarists Jeff “Woop” Warner and Shawn Sonnenschein, and drummer Pete Holmes. The last Black ‘N Blue studio album to feature guitarist Tommy Thayer dates back to 1988’s In Heat. Thayer has been playing lead guitar in KISS since 2002.
In terms of a potential new Black ‘N Blue album, Cook indicated:
“We are gonna be on the Monsters of Rock Cruise so that’s a cool thing. We have a festival we’re playing in Dickinson, North Dakota and we’re trying to schedule some dates around that show. We’re getting close on that. There are also a couple of other major festivals that are in process and they will be announced as soon as I’m able. For the foreseeable future, we’re sitting tight with the coronavirus issue. But we do have a surprise coming up later in the year. I’m just gonna say it’s a surprise and anyone reading this should pay attention to the Black N Blue page. We’re super excited about it. The ink is dry, we’re just waiting for our time to announce it. Unless something happens where we have 6 months more of coronavirus.
About a record, I think about Black N Blue songs I wanna write all of the time because I love that music and I’d love to write a record. However, I don’t make the rules in Black N Blue. They feel like the way the music industry has changed, they don’t believe it is a viable option in their career. I understand it. Maybe I don’t even know all their thoughts about it. But last I heard, Jaime said if Tommy Thayer is not involved, he doesn’t want to do a record. I understand that because Tommy was his writing partner and one of his best friends. Those two know what Black N Blue sounds like more than anybody. I know what Black N Blue sounds like but I don’t create Black N Blue as my default. Tommy Thayer and Jaime St. James are Black N Blue, they’re like Joe Perry and Steven Tyler or like Simmons and Stanley. They breathe Black N Blue. I might be able to get close and create something that fits the vibe, but it’s not the same and I can recognize that. I would love for it to happen, but I don’t see that actually happening in the near future.”
You can read the rest of the interview with Brandon Cook at Rockin’ Interviews‘ Facebook page.
In an interview with Ruben Mosqueda for Sleaze Roxx back in July 2017, James was asked whether he had unreleased songs in his “vault” to which he replied: “Tommy and I have… From ‘82 through ‘88, we have enough songs that we could have put together two more records. We recorded everything really cheap during rehearsals on a four-track tape player. There’s tons of songs that were never used. We would write for a record with nine-ten songs. We’d write 20-22 songs. They’re all on cassette in a box in my garage.I see those songs as a time capsule, because I can’t write like I’m 22 or 25 years old anymore.”
Black ‘N Blue‘s “Hold On To 18” video (from Black ‘N Blue album):