Interview Richie @ Twincities.com

Citation:

Bon Jovi's Lost Highway leads to St. Paul Richie Sambora talks about the tour, the album and some tough personal times

By Ross Raihala By Ross Raihala
rraihala@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 03/17/2008 06:29:07 PM CDT

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In
the past year, guitarist Richie Sambora and his band Bon Jovi have hit
No. 1 in at least 10 countries with their 10th album, "Lost Highway,"
and embarked on a world tour with more than $7 million worth of video
gear in tow. But the 48-year-old New Jersey native also split with his
longtime wife Heather Locklear and underwent a successful stint in
rehab. As Bon Jovi pulls into St. Paul for a two-night stand at the
X, here's what Sambora had to say about his recent ups and downs during
a conference call with reporters.
On going through rehab:

"Obviously just because you're, you know, a rock 'n' roll
star doesn't make you exempt from any of life's tragedies. I had a
couple of them kind of mount up on me a bit. But, you know, the band is
obviously a great, great aid in pulling me up and helping me out of all
those situations ... about a week after I got detoxed and stopped all
that stuff, I went right back to work."
On making the country-tinged album "Lost Highway":

"In Nashville, there's a lot of great songwriters and, you
know, we kind of fancy ourselves good songwriters, also, because it
seems that we get to people with our lyrics and our music. So (it was)
a natural progression and a natural: 'Why not try that and see what
happens?' We're striving for evolution, and when you get an opportunity
of an avenue opening up like that, it's kind of hard to walk away from
it."
On making another country record:

"It's completely unclear <hr class="articleAdRule">Advertisement

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that
we will stay in that genre. I don't think we'll ever make another
country album again. Well, you never can say never, but it doesn't
sound like we're going to stay there. I think that it will always be a
piece of our sound. I mean, the Rolling Stones had a lot of country
elements to them in the beginning ... there's a definite link between
country and rhythm and blues."
On the tour's technology:

"We've got a bunch of high-definition screens that are just
(morphing) to different things. And it's going to be one of those
things, I think, that will be a spectacle people have never seen
before. We're very, very excited about it ... it looks like kind of a
'Holy cow!' moment. You know what I mean? People are going to walk away
saying, 'Wow, this is really cool.' "
On the band's opening act Daughtry:

"Chris is, you know, unbelievable. I mean, obviously, he was
a fan of Bon Jovi's when he was on 'American Idol.' He was doing a
bunch of our songs ... and he had a lot of respect for what we did. (We
became) fast friends with him and it was one of those that just was,
you know, kismet."
On Bon Jovi's fan base:

"There's probably three generations of Bon Jovi fans. We've
been around for almost three decades now, so there's the new kids that
think we're a new band. They have been following us for, you know,
maybe two or three records, and there's the people that have been with
us since the inception of this organization."
On the possibility of a Bon Jovi reality TV show:

"The closest thing we ever came to a reality show was back
in 1988 when we did what was called 'Access All Areas.' And we had
camera crews follow us around what ended up being one of the nuttiest
years of our life. It was such a pain in the ass. We're doing a
documentary right now (with Barbara Kopple). ... That's about as much
reality as we're going (to do)."
Pop Music Critic Ross Raihala can be reached at 651-228-5553.
Read more about the local music scene on his blog, "The Ross Who Knew
Too Much," at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Who: Bon Jovi, with Daughtry

When: 7:30 today and Wednesday

Where: Xcel Energy Center, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul

Tickets: $129.50-$19.50

Call: 651-989-5151

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I Send This Song To You Wherever You Are
As My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms

Thanx Mike ! Very Happy