Black Star Riders insist drummer Jimmy DeGrasso’s involvement in the Ratt reunion will not have a negative impact on their band.

DeGrasso, 53, has been photographed with Stephen Pearcy, Warren Demartini, Juan Croucier and Carlos Cavazo as that version of Ratt prepares to tour. But DeGrasso also has a demanding schedule with Black Star Riders, who have just released their third album, Heavy Fire.

“Jimmy’s such a world class, amazing drummer that he’s going to sound great in any situation,” Black Star Riders guitarist Damon Johnson told the White Line Fever Podcast. “It’s a great opportunity for Jimmy and any time I talk to him about it, he just kind of laughs about the whole thing because it’s crazy that he would be at this point in his life and his phone would be ringing all the time from all types of people that want to have him come and play. So I’m happy for him and it’s got to be a lot of fun.”

Listen to the podcast below:

Black Star Riders released Heavy Fire on February 3rd via Nuclear Blast. This new masterpiece directly entered the charts worldwide and got the best chart results ever in the history of the Black Star Riders.

Tracklisting:

“Heavy Fire”
“When The Night Comes In”
“Dancing With The Wrong Girl”
“Who Rides The Tiger”
“Cold War Love”
“Testify Or Say Goodbye”
“Thinking About You Could Get Me Killed”
“True Blue Kid”
“Ticket To Rise”
“Letting Go Of Me”

The Limited Edition Digibook CD includes the above tracklisting plus the bonus track “Fade”.