Hard work pays off for Buckcherry

The comeback story of hard-rock act Buckcherry may now be complete.

By John Benson

Though its platinum 2006 album “15,” which included hit singles “Crazy B****” and “Everything,” restored the band’s credibility, it’s the group’s latest effort, 2008’s “Black Butterfly,” that proved the outfit’s capacity for longevity. During a recent telephone conference call with the media, Buckcherry guitarist Keith Nelson said he believes he knows why “Black Butterfly” went gold and yielded radio hits with “Rescue Me” and “Talk To Me.”

“I think there was 10 years of really hard work leading up to it, and that really set the stage for the success of that coupled with the fact that we’ve toured relentlessly,” Nelson said. “So, you know, one thing about this band is we’re going to be in your town sooner or later, and we’re 182 shows deep touring on that record alone. I think that [with] our work ethic and sincerity, and the fact that there isn’t really anyone else in the marketplace doing what we’re doing quite the way we do it, we have something really unique.

Something else unique that was presented to Buckcherry earlier this year was the opportunity to open for Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company on the KISS Alive 35 Tour, which comes to Cleveland for a show Monday at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Buckcherry singer Josh Todd talked in detail about how the legendary, over-the-top rock act, known for hit singles “Rock and Roll All Nite,” “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” and “Detroit Rock City,” influenced Buckcherry.

“I like their simplicity and how they wrote their songs, simple hooks and not too much cluttered-up stuff in their music as far as instruments or added harmony or anything like that,” Todd said. “It was just straight up rock ’n’ roll. And that’s what we’ve pretty much been our whole career as well. We kind of stick to the plan of less is more. It’s not easy to do, and they did it really well.”

Naturally, the decision of whether or not to open for KISS was a no-brainer. Then again, Buckcherry has been in that situation before, exactly a decade ago.

“Not only has the band matured, we’ve got three different members since that time,” Nelson said. “When we toured with them in 1999, we were a new band who had just finished our first record and hadn’t even released it yet. Now, we’re four records deep into our career and can play a bunch of material fans will be familiar with. And I think that we’re about 700 to 800 shows better than the last time we played with them. With our current lineup, there’s a level of musicianship that’s definitely a few steps up, and I think there’s a level of maturity and camaraderie that just wasn’t really apparent early on.”

Added Todd, “I don’t think we feel pressure — I think it’s more excitement. We’re just excited to be able to join forces with them again with all this experience that we’ve gained over the years. We just think it’s going to be a monstrous rock show because we already know what they bring to the table. We learned a lot from that over the years. Fans are definitely going to get their money’s worth. It’s going to be awesome.”

Any chance that Todd and Nelson will jam on stage with KISS?

“If asked to, I will do everything, including don the platform shoes,” Nelson said. “I’m not afraid.”