Ross The Boss caught up with Backstage360 while playing a 26 City US Tour. As I spoke with Ross Friedman, the band was getting ready to hit the stage in Kansas City. If you don’t know who Ross Friedman is, you should he is one of the founding fathers of the punk rock movement playing lead guitar for The Dictators who started the punk revolution at CBGB’s sharing the stage with bands like The Ramones, Blondie, and Talking Heads. You can catch clips of them in 1977 playing in the sweat and smell of CBGB’s. Then in 1982 he reinvented himself co-founding legendary Metal group Manowar. Ross Friedman has played on countless records too many to mention here and has recorded over 40 albums. So, I think it more than time to get to know the iconic and fabulous guitarist Ross Friedman and his Metal band Ross The Boss and tell me about his new record “Born of Fire” and some other stories from the road.
How did you get your nickname, “Ross the Boss.” Funny, no one has asked me that question! I got it playing baseball as a kid. That Ross is Boss man, watch out for him when he comes to the plate. So, it just stuck with me all these years.
I was wondering who are your biggest influences growing up? I think for me growing up I listened to a lot of people. Obviously, The Beatles were a huge influence on me when I was very young but, was really fascinated with Eric Clapton of Cream and all those British Blues based bands. Then I got into bands like Sabbath and just loved it!
That’s great man; I love all those bands myself. So, you are on a 26 day tour and I saw you played in LA. How was it getting back to the LA Strip? It was really surprising! We played the Whiskey A Go Go on a Monday night so, I wasn’t thinking it would be that great of a show. But, the place was packed! It was such a good show, it felt like a religious experience!
Tell me a little bit about the record Born of Fire? I’m really excited about this record the guys in the band just knocked it out of the park! We have been on the road for a while Steve Bolognese on drums, Mike Lepond on bass, and Marc Lopes lead singer; we were ready to record a great record. With mixing engineer Seeb Levermann’s input and our amazing engineer CJ Scioscia so, we knew we had a great team to make Born of Fire kickass!
So, I noticed you’re nearing the end of a 26 day tour. What do you have in store as far as live performances this year? We are just getting warmed up! We are heading to Europe for a month to play with Swedish Band “Burning Witches” it’s going to be awesome! And will be adding dates for the summer.
Who are you currently listening, too in your car for instance? Right now, I’m listening to Albert King, Muddy Waters, Black Sabbath, and Judas Priest. I just love the older blues and Metal, it feels right to me.
What is the weirdest thing that has happened to you on the road? That’s a great question! There was this guys who followed me everywhere I went for like three days. I felt bad but, I was kinda getting sick of him and it was just weird. So, I told him hey man I signed all your stuff, you’ve got to go!
You’ve got a new record coming out March 6th, called Born of Fire. Any songs that you want to talk about? “Denied by The Cross” we did a lyric video for it, check it out on Youtube, it’s getting great response. The song came out really good and is taken on steam already.
Is there any shout outs you would like make? Yeah, I’d like to thank AFM Records Germany for pushing this record and just being fantastic to work with. Don’t forget to get our record “Born of Fire” that is coming out March 6th, 2020. And you can check out “Denied by The Cross” on Youtube to see what you’re in for!
Thanks Ross for chatting with me about your new record. I know you have a gig to go get ready for so, have a rocking show! Thanks man, we are getting ready to hit the stage in Kansas City, it should be colossal. The band is super tight and I’d put us up against anybody live!
Listening to the record I would have to agree. The level of musicianship is jaw dropping good! Their latest single “Denied by The Cross” is so freakin heavy, it just crushes. I almost got a ticket listening to it in my car. I caught myself going 90mph, my testosterone level was at 300 percent! It definitely makes you want to put the pedal to the metal. So, get in the mud, get in the pit because, “Denied by the Cross.” is a bonafide hit! Metal Fans checkout Ross The Boss! Born of Fire and raise those horns!
Written by: Jon Campos / BackStage360
Website: https://www.ross-the-boss.com/
Single: Denied by The Cross https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIiXhtl8cLg
Release Date: Born of Fire March 6th, 2020
Band: Ross The Boss
Record Label: AFM Records Germany