Craig Goldy of Resurrection Kings and Dio Disciples

Craig Goldy: (Laughter) That’s great and thanks for saying that. Well quite honestly, when we lost Ronnie, we lost a lot. It just took the wind out of my sails and I really had no desire to work with another singer or band project. The only thing I was doing was working with DIO disciples and even then we were getting flack because people thought we were cashing in on Ronnie’s passing. And I understand it because he was so revered and just so loved throughout the world. And if we did nothing, that man will always be remembered.

I don’t think people understood that DIO was run like a family. He was family to us and Ronnie and I were friends above all else. We had a special relationship and he went out of his way for me and did so many great things that had nothing to do with music. For just being a good friend and a good man and you just can’t sit by and do nothing. And that‘s exactly what happens during a DIO Disciples concerts that is really like a memorial service where the band and the audience connect and seeing the audience singing to the sky with tears dripping down their face singing to him in heaven because they miss so much. And that is what that thing is for because we love him and miss him so much. So I think now people understand a little bit more what that band was all about. We are actually putting together new material this year.

Craig Goldy: Yep. It took me a long time for me to do anything outside of that. So I wrote two songs for my personal tribute to Ronnie. [Mark Huff – Quiet Riot] who sang on those two songs was just outstanding and that breathed life into me to write original material again.

Chas West who had been in this band called Hollywood All-Stars, Jason Bonham’s band, a short stint with Foreigner, Lynch Mob, and Jake E. Lee’s red Dragon Cartel. So when I was asked to do these concerts to fill in for Carlos Cavazo for the Hollywood All Stars, I was listening to the DVD to learn their set and I was hearing this guy Chas singing all the songs and hitting all the notes the original guys can’t do anymore (laughter). This guy is really good.

So we did five to seven concerts together and he was just nailing it every night. We became friends and wrote a couple of songs together and thought maybe we can do something at some point. And that is where that song, “Livin Out Loud,” came from. I saw him and Sean McNabb perform one night and they asked me to sit in one night and I did. And something sparked there, too, and man, “we should put a band together someday,” you know. And lo and behold, here we are (laughter).

Craig Goldy: It all started when I got an email from Frontiers Records, [asking] if I be interested being the guitar player for a recording project with other people who made a name for themselves in the eighties. One of the guys they were thinking of who sang and played bass, and when he fell through, the first two guys I thought of were Chas and Sean because they were asking if you have any songs you would like to submit to the project? Please feel free.

So I had submitted “Livin’ Out Loud” already and they loved the song. And love it so much they were going to call the band and the album, “Livin’ Out Loud,” So it made perfect sense. Then when the drummer fell through, Vinnie Appice and I [had] stayed friends since the DIO days. He and I were doing a recording session together at the time of that. So I asked Vinnie if [he had] heard some of the songs and would be interested in doing it. And he said yeah … and it just snowballed from there. When I heard the bass and drums to these songs, and I am now add put my guitar parts to them, I said, “Wow, I really have to step up my game here.”

Luckily for me, Frontiers Records and producer, Alessandro Del Vecchio, were like go for it and really stretch my wings on some of the songs written by other people and Alessandro. I asked Alessandro if I could change them a little a bit. And they called it “Goldy-ize” and so we Goldy-ized the songs and stretched my wings and do stuff I haven’t done for a while. It was really inspirational and kind of do stuff that people never heard me do before.

Craig Goldy: “Livin’ Out Loud” was written prior to this and the other songs were written for this project. Like “Fallin’ For You,” [which] Alessandro and I wrote together. “Silent Wonder” we wrote together and added new parts for “Wash Away” and “Had Enough.” And the rest of the songs Alessandro wrote by himself or co-wrote with other guys. All the songs were being submitted to Frontiers and the guys at Frontiers would decide which songs will make on the record or not. Is it why these songs are so strong, because of a collective effort?

Craig Goldy: Oh definitely! We all got so impressed how the album turned out were currently in negations with managers and agents to try to put a tour together in support of this record. And we all would like to do another record together.

Craig Goldy: Mostly likely we do some stuff from our catalog yeah. There are some, for instance, the ballad we would do live. Is a like a phantom, where Alessandro wrote that song and is like a fifth member of the band. Like the first DIO record where there was a keyboard player but not a keyboard player. So when we come out want to play the songs that don’t really rely on keyboards. And will do songs from our catalog and when we do it most likely be will be a surprise. Not the typical oh here they go again with that song. It will be something we decide to do unexpected.

Craig Goldy: Thank You

Craig Goldy: Yes, I believe it is too difficult for musicians to get plugged in. The internet has changed things drastically. Record companies are not obsolete; … Frontiers Records and a lot of record companies [are] still alive and well. Going it alone on the internet is not the cure all either. But the process to put music together that will punch people in their soul to the part they just got to have it. That process is the same and always will be until the day we become cyborg’s. What I am trying to do through all [of the] experiences I have had throughout the years is try to pass that on to other people.

Craig Goldy: Not to point any fingers specifically at anybody. That’s in my book [Destiny Bridge 2015]; why things are the way they are and how things got how they became and what we can do about it. The book is not just stories about me but the music industry. What things go on behind closed doors, how to create strategies for success, and how to write material that will make you actually stand out from the rest of the people because of all the stuff that goes on behind closed doors. If you don’t know what is happening behind closed doors, chances are you will be on the outside looking in. Why people who bypass the record company to market themselves on the Internet fail to when they do that realize that they become the record company. And if they don’t know what the record companies know how to properly market yourself then you will just get huge on rock on your Facebook page and that’s about it.

Craig Goldy: Actually Sean was in a band with a guy with that name. And nobody in this band wanted it be called, “Livin’ Out Loud.”.So the people at Frontiers, God bless them, said now is the time to give us suggestions. And Sean had suggested “Resurrection Kings” and we thought cool, perfect. I like band names that actually mean something. There is a special meaning behind it and is cool sounding name.

Craig Goldy: What had happened recently this past October was me, Alan Krigger, and David Glen Eisley put together an original member Giuffiria reunion at Europe at Nottingham called Rockingham. A local promoter out here asked me to put a past, present and future concert. So I got guys from the local bands I played in here when I grew up at San Diego, guys from DIO Disciples, Black Night Rising, David Eisley and Alan Krigger to do a Giuiffira set.

And so one of the guys flew from London to see that specifically to watch us for the Giuffiria set and booked us for the Rockingham concert. And now Frontiers would like me and Dave to put together a Giuiffira-esque type album. So that will be exciting. And I am glad to be back alive (laughter).

A lot of projects are coming up with new songs with DIO Disciples, my own band Black Nights Rising and Resurrection Kings.There is a lot going on and grateful that world still cares about what the heck Craig is doing. It is beautiful that people are behind it. ‘Hey, we’re there you man whatever you going to do’. And it all started with those two songs for my personal tribute to Ronnie.

Craig Goldy: Thanks for likening the new album and the support.