Lynyrd Skynyrd are coming into the Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater on August 22nd with ZZ Top and The Outlaws. It’s the Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour. We recently caught up with Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke via Zoom to talk about the show and a lot more. Rickey was talking to us from his home in Florida and more specifically in the “Mother In Law Suite” turned studio/mix room. He mentioned having worked on his solo single “Never Run Out Of Road,” that we spoke to him about back in March about, in this room.
That’s when Rickey also spoke about working on some ideas for Lynyrd Skynyrd. When I asked what the future looked like for new Skynyrd music Rickey replied, “I guess I can go ahead and let it out of the bag.” That’s when he explained that the band is working on an album as a tribute to original Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington who passed away in March 2023. The songs are ones Gary wrote or co wrote and worked on before his passing. Rickey estimated that there are about two dozen songs in different states of readiness towards release. He told me that the late Hughie Thomasson, founding member of The Outlaws and one time member of Skynyrd is part of some of these recordings as well. Rickey hopes the band will get more work done on the album after this tour.
Rickey even shared with me that he made a promise when Gary got him back into Lynyrd Skynyrd. That promise was that he would be there until the last note in “Freebird” is played. The conversation here, understandably, turned to brotherhood. We spoke about it in the context to this tour which includes both ZZ Top and The Outlaws. That led me to ask about jamming taking place either on or off the stage. Rickey said that on the last leg of the tour Billy F Gibbons of ZZ Top would join Skynyrd on stage each night to play on “Call Me The Breeze.”
We also took time to discuss how the band goes about choosing the set list. There are a substantial number of classic tunes from the band as well as a number of albums released since the band has reformed. Rickey expressed the knowledge of fans being there to hear classic songs. But there is a desire to keep it fresh and he mentioned newer songs like “Skynyrd Nation” and “Red, White and Blue” being part of the shows along with the classic “The Ballad Of Curtis Loew.” Then he rattled off a number of deep cuts from the band’s early days that he enjoys pulling out for shows. He did say laughingly that they always know what they’re closing with though. He spoke about one time the band went out and played their usual set backwards and “It didn’t go over too well.”
Rickey told me that Jones Beach is one of Skynyrd’s favorite places to play. He said the band has a very long history at the venue. He did say “I don’t like seeing the fans having to stand in ankle deep water.” That certainly shows his familiarity with the venue. He added, “I just love playing there. It’s history.”
We did discuss guitars for a little bit. Rickey talked about his Gibson Explorer and how important it is to him. He also mentioned one of the original reverse body Firebird which was actually a prototype. And a reverse body ‘65 Firebird that he always plays on “Freebird.” He said he is happy to have his vintage guitars out on the road with him.
©2024 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
