Richie Sambora's hard-won road to Aftermath of the Lowdown

This feature on Richie Sambora was published by the Los Angeles Times recently. Richie talked about the lowest point of his life and opening up on his new solo record:

"When I fell off that cliff, I realized who I was, unrelated to the band," Sambora said while on a sofa in the Palihouse lounge in West Hollywood. "I'd started to clean up five years ago, but I slipped, and made those amends. I'm lucky I wasn't a guy who lost his family or relationships."

The article also discusses the unlikely marriage between the guitarist of a super commercial band like Bon Jovi and an indie label like Dangerbird Records:

"Phil told me about his friend Richie who had a fantastic record, and that he hoped we'd have some common ground," Castelaz said. "But growing up, I was a janitor and swept garbage at an arena where Bon Jovi played. They were a rock 'n' roll hit machine, and my generation railed against those guys."

But slowly, the recordings started to win him over. And though much of Dangerbird's cool-kid audience will run screaming for the fire exits at the thought of buying an album from a Bon Jovi side project, it's easy to hear what turned Castelaz into a believer. "Burn that Candle Down" kicks off with a psychedelic fuzz barrage that the Black Keys would be happy to call their own. If the piano-plaintive yearn of "Every Road Leads Home to You" got misfiled under Coldplay or Arcade Fire, radio programmers would salivate to play it.

"This is nothing like Bon Jovi," Castelaz said. "They make quality rock music, but this is vulnerable and real about his travails. When he first played 'Every Road Leads Home to You,' it blew my … mind."

Read the full article at the LA Times.

Richie Sambora Sunset Sessions

Richie Sambora recently performed an acoustic set at Sunset Sessions Rock!, playing songs from his upcoming solo album Aftermath of the Lowdown as well as some Bon Jovi favourites. Here's some video...

Performing Every Road Leads Home To You and Livin' on a Prayer:


Talking about working with Luke Ebbin and Jeff Castelaz at Dangerbird Records and being free to explore things outside of the "Bon Jovi juggernaut."
Performing Taking a Chance on the Wind and Wanted Dead or Alive:


Sunset Sessions are industry-only events so I'd just like to thank them for sharing these videos... Us fans appreciate it. ;) It's probably got to be said that Richie doesn't really sound too good here but he could be having an off day.

What do you think of the performance and the new songs?