Black Star Riders have announced the replacement for Stone Sour / Corey Taylor guitarist Christian Martucci, who departed the band earlier this year.

Sam Wood, from Wayward Sons, joins the band and his first dates will be the UK shows this coming weekend in London (Earache Records' 35th Anniversary party) and Trecco Bay in South Wales for Planet Rockstock.

Ricky Warwick comments: “I first saw Sam back in 2019 when Wayward Sons were guests to Black Star Riders and I was absolutely blown away! I had Sam join me for some Fighting Hearts dates a few months back and knew he was the guy for us. If ever there was a new Guitar Hero waiting in the wings, then it’s Sam! Black Star Riders have had some of the world’s finest guitar players in their ranks and Sam is truly up there as one of them. We couldn’t be happier!”

The line-up for the two aforementioned shows together with the 10th Anniversary UK tour in February 2023 will see Black Star Riders welcome back guitarist Scott Gorham and original drummer Jimmy DeGrasso for the celebrations.

Ricky adds: “We are really looking forward to playing with Scott and Jimmy again and this is the only time you will get to see us all together again for this 10th anniversary of the band. After February, Zak St. John will be with us for all future dates. The set list will be tracks from the new album Wrong Side Of Paradise to start the show, then we welcome Scott on stage for the 'greatest hits' set to celebrate our 10 years.”

The 10th Anniversary UK tour takes place in the following cities:

February
11 - Belfast - Limelight
13 - Nottingham - Rock City
15 - Norwich - UEA
16 - Ipswich - Corn Exchange
17 - Manchester - O2 Ritz
18 - Wolverhampton - KK's Steel Mill
19 - Leeds - O2 Academy
21 - Cardiff - Tramshed
22 - Bristol - O2 Academy
23 - Glasgow - SWG3
24 - Newcastle - O2 City Hall
26 - London - O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

Special guests are Michael Monroe and Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons on all shows except Belfast where Trucker Diablo open.

Masters of anthemic rock ‘n’ roll, Black Star Riders, have announced that their new album, Wrong Side Of Paradise, will be released via Earache Records worldwide on January 20, 2023.

The pre-order is now live. You can get your copy on vinyl, CD and cassette, with loads of limited exclusives from the Earache webstore.

"We’re most proud of the Collector’s Edition, which houses a half black/half white vinyl with lavish photo booklet, a bonus 2 track 12” of extra songs not on the album, 2 CDs including a rare signed edition, a cassette, USB and download," says the band.

The album, featuring 11 tracks, was recorded in the fall of 2021 at Studio 606 in Northridge California and Toochtoon Sound in Redmond, Oregon with producer and longtime BSR associate, Jay Ruston.

With Ricky Warwick on lead vocals / guitar, Robert Crane on bass, Christian Martucci on guitar and drummer Zak St, John, the band have released the first single and video, “Better Than Saturday Night” (with backing vocals from Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott). The video features a lightning-hot performance from the four-time UK Top 25 band, and teases the watcher into suspecting a standard rock video cliché before flipping it on its head with the entrance of the rough'n'tough Roller Derby Dolls. Watch below.

About the album Ricky says, “I am very proud of this record, Black Star Riders fifth release and the first with our new and exciting relationship with Earache Records. As with all BSR albums, Wrong Side Of Paradise is an anthemic statement of intent,  driven by ferocious guitars and thundering drums. I can only write about my own personal experiences, my families, my friends and how I see a world that is unraveling and changing faster than we can comprehend. That being said, I’m a firm believer in the power of positivity, something that echoes throughout this album."

Tracklisting:

"Wrong Side Of Paradise"
"Hustle"
"Better Than Saturday Night"
"Riding Out The Storm"
"Pay Dirt"
"Catch Yourself On"
"Crazy Horses"
"Burning Rome"
"Don't Let The World"
"Green And Troubled Land"
"This Life Will Be The Death Of Me"

"Better Than Saturday Night" video:

(Photo credit: Robert John)