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Michael Cartellone
(August 2005 Issue)
Damn Yankees, Fogerty, And Lynyrd Skynyrd It's been a little
over a year since former Damn Yankees drummer Michael Cartellone joined
Lynyrd
Skynyrd. He came into the picture shortly after the band
released Edge Of Forever, which Kenny Aronoff had recorded.
Ironically,
just the previous year, Michael had taken over the John Fogerty gig
from Aronoff. "I had known the guys in Lynyrd
Skynyrd for years,"
Cartellone says, "so there's a lot of ties there. I visited them in the
studio and found myself playing
percussion on Edge."
Cartellone committed to do one tour with the band - which turned
into nine months and 150
shows. "Shortly into the situation, it just
started feeling good," he says. "I was very happy being there, and they
expressed
that they were happy that I was there. So it became an
invitation to stick around permanently. It was an easy decision for
me.
I don't think I've ever been in a band that was as much of a family
environment. Everyone gets along great, and
when that's what your work
environment is, how can it not be fun?"
As for playing the music, Michael says the
tours are a blast.
"Playing all these classic Skynyrd tunes is so much fun. I had grown up
playing a lot of these songs in
cover bands, and to actually be playing
'Free Bird' as Gary Rossington plays his trademark slide guitar solo is
a
very cool experience."
And just what does the band require of a drummer? "What they
want from me is energy and
creativity," Michael says. "When playing the
classic songs, they want someone to be true to the song, yet still
inject a
personality. That's easier said than done. I think 'Free Bird'
and 'Gimme Three Steps' are so ingrained
into the listening public that
you really can't take many liberties. If you try to doll it up, you
realize it doesn't sound
right. I think they were looking for someone
who understood that concept, as well as someone who could come in and
take
the band into the future."
Recently Skynyrd has been recording a Christmas album called
Skynyrd And Friends, to
be released later this year. "We've chosen a
few classics to cover for that album," Michael says, "and then the band
is
writing some new material for it as well. In fact, I've co-written
something with Johnny Van Zandt that I'm hoping will
make it on the
album. That's been another fun thing about the band for me'my inclusion
and involvement in the
songwriting process."
Robyn Flans
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