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You know, they’re already looking at doing shows in 2023, but they wouldn’t really get fired up until the summer of next year. There’s no question that the Skynyrd situation is part of our weekly meetings, Kevin and I. What's the plan for the rest of the year and beyond as far as Brother Cane? I’m really thrilled to be playing with Glenn again. It changed my life, obviously, that moment. Let’s give it a shot.” So Glenn was pivotal in that, man. You’ve just been focused on songwriting and being a guitar player.” He added, “But you have a great voice. You don’t sound like anybody else, because you haven’t been standing in front of the mirror pretending to be Robert Plant or Roger Daltrey or whoever. Glenn didn’t hesitate to pull me aside and go, “Dude, you have to do this. Just sing a couple of songs and let’s see what it sounds like.” He just said, “Listen man, we’re running out of time. You’ve got to help me find Steven Tyler.” You know, we’d already spent a bunch of money making demos and trying different singers and flying people in.
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I said, “Aaron, I don’t want to be the singer. He was there that night the A&R guy from Virgin heard me singing some cover songs at a bar in Birmingham and pulled me off to the side and said, “Hey man, you didn’t tell me you could sing.” I swear, Glenn was standing right there when I was talking to this guy, Aaron Jacoves, the A&R guy who is my friend to this day. We spent six months or so trying to find a different singer. And then we attracted the attention of Virgin Records, because they really liked the songs and they liked the band. Glenn was in Chyld, that’s what we were called when we were shopping that original tape around when I was just the guitar player. Different singers, different guitar players, different drummers. It was a little bit of a revolving door for about a year there. It was basically the two of you initially, right? Because, look, he was the guy that was with me as we put it together in the first place. Just that energy of reconnecting with Glenn is a huge part of this moment in the story of Brother Cane. What have you got?” When I told him I wanted to do some Brother Cane dates, I swear I thought the guy was going to just break down, man.
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That said, it was a huge thrill to have that phone call with the original bass player, Glenn Maxey, and just say, “Hey man, what do you have on your calendar?” He’s like, “Well, I’ve got a few things. Because everyone is spread out all over the country. You know, getting the original guys back together just isn’t sustainable. There’s no question that who was going to be in the band was an important conversation to have. To have a great partner in Kevin, it’s just changed the whole landscape for me. I just wasn’t motivated to do it unless it was going to be done properly. I didn’t want to just half-ass do it, just go book a bunch of shows in some bars. I guess the reason I haven’t put any thought into performing as Brother Cane again is because it had to be special. It’s so important to me, kind of spiritually. What about Brother Cane?” I said, “What about it?” I said, “I don’t know.” He called me out of the blue one day and said, “Hey man, I’ve got a crazy idea. I know that’s what got Kevin’s wheels spinning. “Oh yeah, I saw them in 1994 and they opened for Aerosmith in Rochester, New York, it was one of the best shows I ever saw.” You know, that kind of stuff. He and I both were getting so many people talking about Brother Cane and asking about or just sharing their stories. I had plenty on my desk to stay busy with.īut Kevin came to a couple of the Skynyrd shows and not just talking with the band, but even being out talking to some of the fans in the crowd. Certainly, the Skynyrd situation required a lot of my attention and it was exciting and fun and all of that. I’ve just been so focused on my last two solo records. I have to give all credit to my manager, Kevin Lee. One of the really exciting developments this year has been the return of Brother Cane. We spoke with the guitarist, who has also been playing with Lynyrd Skynyrd for the past year, about Brother Cane's return and what lies ahead. The current version of the group finds Johnson joined by original Brother Cane bassist Glenn Maxey, keyboardist Buck Johnson and drummer Jarred Pope. Turning the focus back to his own career in recent years, Johnson has released two strong albums that served as an appropriate primer for the reunion that nobody - including Johnson himself - saw coming.īrother Cane reunited in April for two shows in Illinois and Wisconsin, with additional dates planned for later this year and 2023.