Legendary vocalist/bassist GLENN HUGHES (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, DEEP PURPLE) is featured in a new interview with Jeb Wright at Classic Rock Revisited. An excerpt is available below, including an intro from Wright explaining the basis for the interview:

While Hughes, Jason Bonham (drums) and Derek Sherinian (keyboards) long to hit the road with BCC, Joe Bonamassa (guitars) is enjoying an amazing solo career and time simply has not allowed this band to tour in the way they would need to garner the reputation to take it to the next level—a fact that frustrates Hughes and the other band members.

Truth be told, BCC has accidentally became much more than originally intended. While the members knew they would make great music, they had no idea that it would be this damn good. The frustration caused by having a great band that only works three weeks in the studio every three years, coupled by no touring, led to words being said in the press. Hughes and Bonamassa traded barbs and each stood has their ground.

In the interview that follows, Hughes speaks openly and honestly about the debacle and the uncertainly of what will become of Black Country Communion:

Hughes: "Let’s cut to the chase, last September and October, when Black Country Communion were finishing up the 33rd show of our tour—I will go over the statistics with you. We did three albums and one live DVD in two and a half years. Jeb, you’ve been around a long time and you know that never happens. That would take a band like Whitesnake or Aerosmith fifteen years to do that. We did it in breakneck speed. We’ve done a wonderful job with Kevin (Shirley).

Here is the kicker: There are a lot of Black Country fans. There are Joe fans, Jason fans, Derek fans and Glenn fans, but there are also a lot of BCC fans. I believe our band, Black Country Communion, is making the best rock music in, possibly, the last twenty years. We found ourselves in a situation. When the band set out almost two and half years ago, the template was that the band would make records and we would evolve in the studio and we would do some shows, from time to time. Joe and his manager, Roy Weisman, are right in saying that is how it was.

Do you want to know something? Derek, Jason and I kind of forgot about that. We are a great band and we are making great fucking records and all of the sudden, we get lost in the beautiful music we are making and we forgot about the template that was there. We just kind of went, 'Surly, this is going to go all the way. This could go global.'

Roy and Joe have not budged. We were supposed to tour in 2012 and we didn’t. Last November, Kevin Shirley was asking me to do Black Country Communion III, which became Afterglow, and this is the kicker of the whole thing: I’d been writing a solo record that would involve all of my friends in the industry. We were going to do a record and I was writing the songs.

Last November, Kevin asked me to do the Black Country Communion record. I said, 'No, I really need to do a Glenn record and take a year away, as we are not touring in 2012.' Seven of the songs I wrote became songs that are on Afterglow.

I want to be clear with you that the next solo album I make will not be a return to the funky sort of street thing; it will be the rock Glenn. The difference between the next Glenn album and Black Country Communion is sort of like walking a fine line.

After Christmas, Kevin and I got into some deep conversations and he thinks I really need to do another Black Country Communion album. I said, 'Kevin, I’m kind of committing myself to a record with X, Y and Z as guests.' I was on the fence, but I decided to do the BCC album. I told Kevin, 'If we do not tour behind it then this will be my last album with them.' Did Joe know that? I’m not sure. I know that Kevin knew it and Jason knew it.

I told them that in order for us to move on we needed to be a live band. Apparently, this is what really upset the applecart. Fans just want to see this band live, but, unfortunately, we have to go with Joe and the template that has been set.

This whole controversy got out before the album came out because things were said in the heat of the moment. The fact is that I’m not going to be the one that says Black Country is breaking up because I sure hope not. Are we going to play some shows? I bloody well hope so."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Black Country Communion entered the UK charts at #29 and the US Billboard charts at #48 with their third album, Afterglow.

Just like its two predecessors, Afterglow was overseen by Kevin Shirley, whose catalogue of hit records for LED ZEPPELIN, IRON MAIDEN, AEROSMITH, JOURNEY, THE BLACK CROWES and many more has made him the hottest producer that rock music has to offer. Shirley – who had the idea of putting Hughes and Bonamassa together in a band together after seeing them jamming onstage in Los Angeles back in November 2009 – is the group’s unofficial ‘fifth member’.

An Afterglow album trailer can be viewed below: