Lynyrd Skynyrd to Play Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, 9/5

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts presents Lynyrd Skynyrd on Friday, September 5, 2014 @ 8:00 pm at HEB Performance Hall at The Tobin Center. Tickets are on saleThursday June 12, 2014 @ 9:00 am, for $54.50, $69.50. $89.50 and $124.50. Tickets available in person at the Tobin Box Office (115 Auditorium Circle), online at www.tobincenter.org or by phone at 210-223-8624

Legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd returns with a fiery slice of Southern style guitar rock heaven in Last of a Dyin' Breed, their newest release on Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records released August 21, 2012. This is the kind of record guaranteed to feed the needs of the multi-generational Skynyrd Nation, and continue the renewed vigor the band exhibited with their last album, 2009's God & Guns.

For the passionate, longtime fans of the band, this is Skynyrd at the top of their game, complete with instantly memorable songs, more hooks than a tackle box, and a blistering three-guitar attack at full power. From the raging guitars of the title track and the pounding, funky homage to local talent in "Home Grown" to the mind-blowing "Honey Hole," Lynyrd Skynyrd sound like young bucks having one hell of a good time, which, regarding the latter, founding member Gary Rossington says is very much the case.

"For me this is one of the happiest and most fun albums I've ever done," says Rossington. "We didn't have a lot of problems goin' on; it was just fun goin' to work every day."

Having survived enough tragedy and just plain hard miles for 10 bands, Skynyrd is, remarkably at this stage of their career, on a roll. God & Guns debuted at #18 on the Billboard Top 200, giving the band their highest debut since 1977. Last Of A Dyin' Breed re-ignites the in-studio alchemy the band found with Guns producer Bob Marlette, and the sound is traditional Skynyrd blended to perfection with the edge of immediacy. In short, it's rock 'n roll for the times.

Led by core members Gary Rossington (guitar), Johnny Van Zant (vocals) and Rickey Medlock (guitar), Skynyrd has recorded an album that continues to build on the legacy that began over 35 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida. Joining them in the studio and on the road are new bassist Johnny Colt (Black Crowes, Train) guitarist Mark "Sparky" Matejka (a "Nashville cat, just a pickin' fool," according to Rossington), and keyboardist Peter Keys, who replaced Powell on the God & Guns tour.

In a tragic tale oft-told, the Skynyrd story could have ended in a Mississippi swamp with the 1977 plane crash that killed three band members, including Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines. Since then, the band has lost vital players in Billy Powell, Ean Evans, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson and Hughie Thomasson, yet here they are again with a hard-rocking, stirring album that can sit proudly alongside any recording that bears the Skynyrd name. The breed may be nearing extinction but Skynyrd is very much alive and ready to throw down.

Van Zant, now in his 25th year standing where his brother once stood agrees with Rossington about the making of Breed. "We worked with Bob Marlette again who's a great guy we just love as a producer," he says. "During the recording of the last album we were going through Billy and Ean passing away, and with this album we were able to laugh and joke a lot."

Medlock says that after the hard touring behind God & Guns he and the other primary writers Van Zant and Rossington took their time writing the songs. But the actual recording came together quickly, aided by the band's in-studio chemistry. "This time what we wanted to do was go back to doin' stuff old school," he says. "A lot of the album was done with all of us in the recording studio, playing all at one time, the way we used to do it when we'd go into the studio to make records."

With a catalog of over 60 albums, sales beyond 30 million worldwide and their beloved classic American rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama" having sold over two million ringtones, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd remains a cultural icon that appeals to multiple generations. But far from resting on their laurels, any illusions that this may be a band at anything less than the height of its powers are quickly lost with the distorted fury of the fiery guitar licks that open the album's title track and further put to rest with the gritty triumphs that follow.

They could easily continue cranking out old songs to rapturous audiences around the world but the fact is they've got plenty left to say musically, personally and as social commentary. "Every once in a while the record label will ask us if we want to put a new album out and we always say yes, because, although we love playing all the classic stuff, it's fun to do new stuff too," says Rossington, "for our own heads, our own peace of mind."

Lynyrd Skynyrd is a band of today, carrying a steely mantle forged in the sweaty confines of the Hell House in Jacksonville decades earlier. And this is a band album, to be even more specific, a guitar driven band album. The triple guitar assault has never sounded more on point, with passionate musicality, expert harmonics and of course, plenty of attitude to burn. There's a reason this is one of the most beloved bands of all time.

To post a comment, you must register and login.