By Mitch Lafon

FIREHOUSE guitarist and overall nice guy, BILL LEVERTY, is back with Deep South. An album that strays from the usual melodic rock fare that his band is known for and touches more on the southern traditional roots of rock. The guitar maestro was kind enough to sit down with Bravewords.com to discuss his new project (available at www.leverty.com)

Mitch Lafon: How did the album come about and why a tribute to the music of the American South?

Bill Leverty: “At the end of the process, I noticed that the ten tracks were all old songs written in the South, but none of them jumped out at me as the title for the album. On the wall, I noticed some artwork my grandfather had made and he entitled it Deep South and I thought that goes really well since all the songs were written in the Deep South. I grew up in the South and that music has its own sound. There’s something about the notes used in those scales. It just hits that nerve that goes from my ear to my heart.”

Mitch Lafon: This is an unexpected album for a 'rock n roller' to make. Why not an album of ROLLING STONES covers?

Bill Leverty: “I wanted to do something different that would take me out of my comfort zone. I’ve done Stones songs for a long time and AEROSMITH and LED ZEPPELIN, and I wanted to do stuff that I’ve never done before. These were the songs that I found that influenced Elvis’ influences and they were written in major keys as war songs or for parades.”

ML: Will you be parading?

BL: “No (laughs), but it was the minor key songs that hit a nerve and I really like that. I felt I can play that on guitar a little bit better.”

ML: Speaking of guitar playing, did you learn anything from this experience?

BL: “I learned so much like I need to practice more especially with acoustic instruments. I got the vocal melody and lyrics of the songs, but I would try to write a riff of my own to go with that melody. I wanted to come up with something different to what other people had done before. I tried to be as creative as I could with the bed tracks around the melody. I wanted to dress up these old songs in a new way. So, I learned a lot doing that. I even learned to play the Dobro with fingerpicks and all. It was fun to grow into a place where it all began.”

ML: Will you take this album out on the road?

BL: “I don’t think so. Firehouse keeps me too busy and Firehouse is the priority.”

ML: What is next for Firehouse?

BL: “We’re doing some summer dates and hopefully going into the studio this winter to write another record, but I don’t want to put out another Firehouse album until I’m completely satisfied and think it’s a great record. Less than that would be detrimental to our career.”

ML: Do you want the next Firehouse record to go back to that 'big ‘80s hair metal sound' or do you want to take what you’ve learnt on this album and try something really different?

BL: “I think with Firehouse we should do what we do best which is big arena rock. I love that stuff and I love playing that stuff. It’s what we are known for and what we all love to play together, but here we are twenty years later so I’m sure there’ll be some new influences on there. However, the main focus of that record should be big rock.”

ML: What’s next for Bill as a solo artist?

BL: I haven’t given it much thought, but I’m thinking I should crank the amps up. The next one should be hard rock with vocals.”