“Our goal is to show everyone we’re back, and take as many opportunities as we can,” says The Devil City Angels vocalist Brandon Gibbs, speaking exclusively to BraveWords scribe Aaron Small. 

Gibbs, who splits his time between Nashville, Tennessee, and Iowa City, Iowa, took The Devil City Angels out for a run of five shows this past February. Those who caught the group live may have noticed a somewhat altered lineup as Gibbs and Poison drummer Rikki Rockett are the only remaining original members. Joining them on guitar was Joel Kosche of Collective Soul, and Chuck Garric from Alice Cooper’s band played bass. 

Of course, Joel Kosche stood in for Tracii Guns, who recently spent some time doing Raiding The Rock Vault in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is now reunited and touring extensively with vocalist Phil Lewis in L.A. Guns. “I’ve been working with Joel for the better part of three, four years now,” says Brandon. “When we wanted to get this thing going again, I reached out to Tracii and asked for, basically permission - what can we do with this name, and what can’t we do? He said, ‘Show me the dates and if I can do them…’, which he respectfully declined because he had other things going on. Then I started looking at options… Joel is not officially a member (of The Devil City Angels). But we really enjoy his company and we really enjoy his playing; I look forward to making him a staple on stage with us.”

Then there’s the bass player situation. Eric Brittingham (Cinderella) recorded the self-titled debut album, and split immediately afterward. In fact, the photographs found within the album depict Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake) on the four-string. Now Rudy has left the band. Eric returned to play one show, only to be replaced by Chuck Garric. “This sounds like a circus,” admits Brandon. “But it’s an interesting time for Devil City Angels; we had the choice to put it away for good, or bring it back out. When Rockett and I decided to bring it back out, we knew we were going to face these circumstances of who’s playing? As a writer, I want the material to stand on its own; hopefully that keeps people interested. But yeah, we have a revolving door. I think we’re going to hit the lottery at some point and have the right person. We’re blessed to have people that come in to help us out like Chuck; but we have not officially decided who that bass player is.”        

The Devil City Angels released their one and only album - thus far - in 2015 on Century Media Records. The question beckons, is the band still signed to the label? “As far as I know,” answers Brandon. “We had an unfortunate set of circumstances with Rockett’s health that held us back for the better part of a year.” Rikki was diagnosed with oral cancer - which he eventually beat - after undergoing multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, as well as a clinical trial for immunotherapy. “So what we’re doing right now, with him being healthy, we’re just trying to get things back on track,” continues Gibbs. “Unfortunately, and fortunately, it’s created a couple of revolving doors – cause we like the people we’re working with. Rikki is building a new studio and we’re talking about creating another Devil City Angels record at some point. As far as our deal… yes, I believe we are (still signed to Century Media). It’s just the inactivity during that time was not in our favour. We had a great relationship with them, unfortunately we couldn’t follow-up after that record was done the way we wanted to. Actually, last month was the first time we went out and played the actual record. After the Poison tour is done, we’re going to go out and really pay attention to that record and please the fans that purchased that record. Devil City is one of those things that just doesn’t go away; people liked it.”

Poison’s aforementioned tour, with Def Leppard and Tesla, runs April 8th until June 25th. The Devil City Angels has featured different guitarists and bass players since its inception, was there ever any thought given to having somebody sit in temporarily on the drums for Rikki, while he’s out on the road with Poison; or is that not an option? “I would like to keep The Devil City Angels kind of a Rikki and Brandon thing. It loses its lustre if we take away that bond. I would rather preserve it, keep it protected and wait until he can do it. I have a solo thing I do quite frequently that fills the void of playing.”

Has any progress been made on the sophomore album from The Devil City Angels? “I just left the studio, I’ve been doing tons of Brandon stuff; I sell a lot of music as part of my living. I have so many ideas to throw at the next record. Rockett and I have pieces of things we’ve started; we had a deadline with the last record, so there’s a container full of mixed ideas. Him and I are pretty big into… we’re not afraid to pick up an acoustic (guitar) and walk up to the mic and try something different. There’s a lot of ideas – if we do another record – that him and I want to explore that we didn’t do with the first one, there’s a bunch of them actually.”

On April 6th, Brandon Gibbs – as a solo artist – is opening for John Corabi at Rascals Live in Moline, IL. “I’ve worked with John for a decade. I love him and I think he’s a great musician. Anytime I get the chance to do anything with John I jump on it – just book it!” Presumably the set will be a mixed bag, what can fans expect to hear? “I’m going to do some Devil City Angels. A lot of songs from that record sound really gnarly – in a good way – when you strip it down and do it acoustic; that’s how I wrote some of the pieces of these songs. You’ll hear some Brandon Gibbs stuff, and I tip my hat once in a while to Poison. I had something to do with The Special Guests in 2015, I sang for those guys for a few shows that Bret (Michaels) was unable to do. I tell some stories too, about how I wrote these songs, where I was in my life when I wrote them.  I more or less take my time, it’s like coffee time with Brandon; only there’s no coffee, just alcohol.”

Have you ever considered putting out a Brandon Gibbs solo album? “Yes, I have. I released an EP in 2011 under no label basically; I put it out on iTunes and did my own thing. Then I went to Cheap Thrill (with Eric Brittingham); they didn’t release any records, but I released two singles: ‘Heavy Man’ and ‘The Hero’ during that time. That kind of got the attention of some other people in the industry. I had a solo record deal last year, but I didn’t move on it. I didn’t feel the timing was right for it. I had a little bit going on with Poison; Rockett had just got sick. It was a little early for me with all that stuff going on. I want to be respectful to what I already did with Devil City. Now, at this point in the game, that’s something I am talking with a few people about; I actually have several songs recorded for it. To answer the question – yes, I probably will be doing that very soon.”

What musical direction would Brandon's solo album take? “With my career lately, I’ve been more of a front man because that’s what the job is. A lot of people don’t know this, but I’m a huge lover of guitar. If I can get something out there that compliments my guitar playing; I’m a big advocate of three-part harmony. The funny thing is, Mark Kendall from Great White called me a couple days ago and said I kind of have a country flair in some of my writing. I never thought about that, maybe I kind of do, I don’t know? With my songwriting, I just take a simple approach. I will not write about stuff that I don’t know about. There is no fictional girl. There is no fictional – for instance, farm life. I’ve been in a van or a bus my whole entire life, and I only write about those experiences; with women, my career, heartbreak, death, whatnot. It’s kind of storytelling in each song. At the same time, it’s something everybody can relate to when they listen to it. Keep my rock roots, keep my blues roots, keep my country roots – throw it all in and see what happens.”

For further information, visit The Devil City Angels on Facebook, or go to bgibbsmusic.com.