Former METAL CHURCH frontman Ronny Muroe recently spoke with Bravewords.com correspondent Deb Rao about joining LILLIAN AXE as the band's new vocalist, his solo debut The Fire Within, and pays special tribute to Ronnie James Dio. Check out the interview below.

Bravewords.com: What do you hope to bring to the plate as new singer for Lillian Axe? Were you a huge fan of the band?

Ronny: "I was a fan because I love all different types of music. Steve Blaze (guitars) is a very good writer. That is one thing that always attracts me is good songs, good songwriting. Really what I really hope to bring to the table for Lillian Axe is a bit of a different style. Although the other two singers are great as well. I just want to bring me and have a chance to write with somebody that is a really good writer like Steve is. Hopefully, we will do a lot of touring; I hope to do the back catalog justice like I do with Metal Church. I did my hardest to sound like myself but also stay true to the original songs. Of course that is what I am going to do with Lillian Axe. I just want to get back out there and do what I do. I am going to go out there and support Deep Red Shadows as long as we can. Once that all dies down, we can concentrate on writing the next record with my voice on it. I am very excited about the opportunity. They guys are all very cool. I have respect for them. It is a new chapter."

Bravewords.com: Are you looking forward to performing live again?

Ronny: "I am very excited about that. I feel more comfortable onstage than I do walking around in real life. I love performing and meeting new and old fans. I know they have their fans and they have come to expect a certain thing. I am good about going into whatever situation. I am kind of like a chameleon. I adapt to the situation. Besides being at the level with Metal Church, I have done it all. I have done tribute bands, Top 40 bands and what not. It is kind of easy for me to go in and try to capture the original song. I am not going to go in there trying to change anything. To me it is all about music. I like to spread my wings and do different styles. I am going to do my best like I always do. "

Bravewords.com: I know you are huge '80s fan because on your solo album you performed a song by DIO -'The Man On The Silver Mountain.' What are your thoughts on the passing of the legendary Ronnie James Dio?

Ronny: "I had the chance to meet Ronnie for one time and basically that one time left a lifelong impression on me because he was such a kind man. One of these greatest voices of all time. It was a very sad day. I still think about it and say prayers for him. He was the reason I became a singer. I heard 'Man On The Silver Mountain', on the radio when I was a teenager. After I heard that voice that was what really inspired me to be a singer and frontman. I owe him that. He will never be forgotten. He is one of the greats. The outpouring of letters after his passing of musicians and friends that have met him and even just fans was amazing to me. He will never be forgotten."

Bravewords.com: How is your new solo album doing The Fire Within?

Ronny: "It is still selling. I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. I did a solo album basically because I knew Metal Church was breaking up and wanted to stay out there. I wanted to get the voices out of my head. It solidified me out there and said basically I am not going away (laughs)."

Bravewords.com: You have another chance to make an impact with Lillian Axe. Do you feel it is the re-birth of the band?

Ronny: "I like to think that. Like you said, I want to give them another shot in the arm. Right now they got a lot of cool things going on. I am just happy to be a part of it. They got a great team of people working for them as well. It is like family. I am always happy to be part of something like that."

Bravewords.com: You're big debut with Lillian Axe is August 9th at B.B. Kings in New York. Is there anything else that you want to say about the upcoming tour?

Ronny: "I know we are going to go out in early September. As soon as things are solidified and set in stone there will be announcements on the Lillian Axe MySpace. We will let everyone know when we are going to be out there. So be sure to come and say Hi and support the new record."

As previously reported, Lillian Axe guitarist Steve Blaze recenty offered a track-by-track of the band's new album, Deep Red Shadows:

'Under The Same Moon': "It tells a story of an actual individual being transformed into a vampire. The whole physical and emotional changes that he goes through as he watches his last sunset and realizes that all of his loved ones will now be gone from him. His entire life will change. The pains of falling in love with people that going through life that will already die as you go on. The curse of immortality. It is a very dynamic, passionate roller coaster ride of a song. Actually, my personal favorite on the record."

'47 Ways To Die': "Is about mankind’s penchant for trying to kill itself all of the time. We have become a society that we do so many things to get ahead. We are so greedy and selfish that we don't care and the reality is that we sell ourselves and we hurt ourselves in getting to that one goal. So many people around the planet have turned so selfish. There are a lot of wonderful people on this planet but at the same token, I see us at a downward spiral because quite frankly, individuals in all societies have started to become really self indulgent and self absorbed. As we get like that everybody is trying to be the best looking, the richest, the best in their field. You see people going to no ends to get to those situations for themselves. In the meantime, they leave a wake of hurt people behind them. Basically, they kill themselves physically and spiritually at the same token. 47 ways is just an arbitrary number showing there is so many different ways that we can kill ourselves and there is only really one-way to live. If man can screw himself up, he will find a way to do it."

'The Quenching Of Human Life': "This song is about how frail this life is and how easily we can lose it. Time waits for no man. Time is going to go on. You make the best of it with what you will. It is all up to us to do what we can do to make our lives better. You can't blame other people. You have to move forward because life is so fragile and so easily extinguished and taken from us."

'A Minute Of Years': "It is about the curse of immortality. You can't appreciate life if you don't have death involved. You can't appreciate goodness with bad. There is no reference point. What if we were given the gift of immortality and we could live forever? What kind of pains would that put you through?"

'Nobody Knows' (acoustic): "This was on the first album. A lot of people thought that was going to be a big single for us. I wrote this song a long time ago. We did it acoustically because I really wanted Derrick to get the shot of singing it. Because he did such a great job on it. It is always such a big crowd pleaser. Because our first album it is not the easier thing in the world to find. It felt like it was a song that needed to be re-done. The method in which we record acoustic songs and utilize the keyboards. If you take the acoustic songs on this record and crank them up especially with headphones they sound so good. Derrick did such a great vocal job. It sounds like you are sitting in the room with three or four guitar players. They just sound so nice. We wanted to take a few of our catalog songs that were fan favorites and re-do them a little modernize and give them a different kind of feel to them. I thought it was time it got rejuvenated."

'The Day I Met You' (acoustic): "If this song was on Top 40 radio, I think it would be one of our biggest songs in our career. This song has gotten so many hits on you tube. Even metal heads listen to that song and get choked up. I wrote this song. It is on Psychoschizophrenia. Once again, I thought that it needed to be rejuvenated. Recorded it a little differently. The original version is just one guitar and vocal. Added some strength with cellos. I had Derrick sing it his style. It is one of those songs if I hadn't written I would have been jealous of who wrote the song. It came to me very quickly and it was very pure. I think it is probably the most liked of all Lillian ballads."

'Sad Day On Planet Earth' (acoustic): "This was the title track on the last record. I wanted to see how it would be done with all acoustic parts. It is about how beautiful this planet is but how we keep screwing it up. Like the oil spill we are dealing with here in Louisiana. Every time I write a song it seems like people prove me right in my ideas."

'Nocturnal Symphony' (acoustic): "This was on the last record too. In a heavier version. It has been one of the fan favorites live. Being that this album had kind of a vampiric overtone to it. This song is a vampire love song. It is about an individual offering immortality to his love interest. We wanted to do this al acoustically as well. When you do a song acoustically it allows you to approach the vocals a little differently. It allows you to utilize keyboards in a different way when you can get them in a mix and they are not drowned out by drums and bass. We took a different approach to this song,"

'Deep Red Shadows' (instrumental): "That was the last thing I wrote for the record. I have a lot of acoustic ideas. I wrote it and recorded it. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. But I just started playing and that is what came out. I was happy with it so I did the overdubs and layered it and tried to make it a beautiful ending to the album."