In an exclusive interview for the forthcoming issue of the Tight But Loose magazine, Jason Bonham talked to Dave Lewis about the new Black Country Communion album, the JBLZE, memories of the 02 and his involvement with Paul Rodgers.

Talking about the new recording of the BCC album he said ‘’The plan was to have two albums out before we did a full tour. What I was pleased about is that we got to do the two gigs in the UK right before we were due to go back in the studio. We were recording within the next two weeks so doing the gigs gave us all a chance to perform together – even though we were not doing any new stuff. We had only come up with probably half of the album by then. We went in there with a really positive attitude. It was like ‘Lets get the drum sound sorted,’ which we did. It was really excellent.”

Running through some of the tracks on the album Jason revealed ‘’Save Me is a riff that I had that I first worked on with Jimmy and John Paul when we were rehearsing after the 02.  For the BCC album, Kevin came up with the intro and then Glenn came in with the lyrics – the drum riff is a really huge thing – it’s going to be great playing that one on tour. The opening track The Outsider has a Deep Purple ring about it – and I also added a bit of a Walter’s Walk touch in the bridge part. On the track An Ordinary Son I did something a little different and went for the Ramble On approach and put a blanket over the top toms.”

Looking back at the 02 reunion show Jason picked out Kashmir as his personal highlight. ’’ On the ending of Kashmir I let caution to the wind and it was like ‘Right, let’s go for this!’  It was like ‘Balam Balam Balam’ and Jonesy looks up and thinks ‘Oh he’s off again!.’’ You can see me really stand up and nearly lift off at the end as we go into the final run –  it was like ‘Let’s go out with a smile!’  Earlier in the set there was also a point when I knew it was working, and that was when we got to In My Time of Dying and we all relaxed. That was when I knew it was turning into something very special. Ramble On had steadied us a bit, and there were some good bits in Black Dog, but once we got to In My Time Of Dying we really laid back –it was amazing to be part of that’’

Talking about the current the Jason Bonham Led Zeppelin Experience Jason added  ‘’It’s been really great. I never saw it carrying on – I thought we would do one tour but the reaction has been fantastic. We have tweaked the show a bit, and we now start the second half with In The Light then into Achilles, and we’ve got The Rain Song too. It would be great to take it to Australia, I would also love to bring it to the UK.’’

Looking ahead to the BCC tour he said ‘‘We aim to be on top of our game and we are really looking forward to playing High Voltage – and it will be great to be in America too. It’s also been really good that we’ve had some chart success here.”

Black Country Communion’s new album “2” is released by Mascot Records on June 13^th.  Black Country Communion tours the UK in July.  Special Guest is Michael Schenker.  Dates include Llandudno Cymru Arena (July 23), High Voltage Festival July 24, Leeds O2 Academy (July 26), Newcastle 02 Academy (July 27), Glasgow O2 Academy (July 29), Manchester Academy (July 30). Further info: www.bccommunion.com.  Ticket Hotline: 0871 230 1101.  Book Online: www.seetickets.com and www.thegigcartel.com.

The full interview with Jason Bonham is featured in the new issue of the Tight But Loose magazine due out in a couple of weeks.

It’s another packed issue including:

Led Zeppelin Feather In The Wind Over Europe 1980 Book preview/Led Zeppelin Back To The Clubs 1971 Phil Tait – I was there at the Newcastle Mayfair Plus Mike Tremaglio’s March to July 1971 log/Stairway To Heaven At 40 Still causing a bustle in your hedgerow? John Paul Jones: A Night At The Opera/Bob Harris The TBL Interview/BCC Exclusive: Jason Bonham & Glenn Hughes talks TBL through Black Country Communion 2/Plus Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy tour latest, Jimmy Page book feedback, Zep Fest 2011, CD reviews and more

Issue 29 kicks off the three issue subscription that  be followed by issue 30 in late September and issue 31 in January 2012.

If you are a 2010 subscriber your subscription ended with issue 28.

I am sure you will not want to miss out on this year’s trio of magazines. There’s another action packed line up of news, views and features ready to provide you with an ongoing Zep fix through the year.

Now is the time to re subscribe!

If you have purchased a single issue previously this is the perfect opportunity to get on board and ensure you never miss an issue. If you have yet to purchase the TBL magazine – TBL 29 is a great starting place

All the details of how to subscribe can be found on the TBL Subscriptions link at the top of the TBL home page.

Don’t miss out – This issue is guaranteed essential Zep reading…

DL – May 6th 2011