Land Shark Promotions: Richie Sambora

From Land Shark Promotion Studio:

I hope you’re wearing shoes as you hit PLAY on this new Richie Sambora album. If you aren’t, please be careful. The glass that’s shattered all over the floor—your perception of Richie—may shred the skin on the bottom of your feet.

Hit PLAY.

Now, let’s set up a metaphor that will thread through this bio. I like to look at characters in baseball terms—terms we can all understand because they best illustrate the American hero, this sometimes flawed, embattled physical being who gets out there on the grass every day no matter what. This is a fair way to talk about Richie Sambora, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey.

You should be hearing the first chorus of “Burn That Candle Down” right about now.

Last September, a guy stood up. Tapped his right shoe with the bat, then his left. He hovered over the plate, looking better at 52 years of age than you might have imagined. He stared the pitcher in the eye and swung at the first pitch, swinging the bat around, connecting squarely with the ball. A giant CRAAAACK heard for half a mile in each direction.

Aftermath of the Lowdown is the sound of the ball flying over the back wall. The sound of a man plying his trade, doing what he does best, perhaps more ably than anyone ever thought he could. As “Candle” lets loose from your speakers, you have to admit: This isn’t the Richie Sambora record you were expecting, if you were expecting a record from this man at all.

The American hero is a curious one. We Americans like to see our heroes fall down, get cut up and dirty, then rise up to amaze us once again. Richie is such a character. He likes to point out that that he’s grown up in public. “My baby pictures have been shown in every newspaper around the world.” To see a man who has fallen down as much as Richie laugh about it is, well, inspiring. In his thick Jersey brogue, he often squares himself in a chair, saying things like: “Whaddya gonnadoaboudit, y’know?” This much is true.

Yet for all the humble redirection Richie offers up, he has actually done something about it. And that something is the record you’re holding in your hands.

"This is the truth, the lowdown," he says. "And after you speak that truth, there's always an aftermath. A lot has happened in my life, good and bad, over the last ten years, personal stuff that's cathartic for me to get out. Really, these are all things that could happen to anybody. But I happen to also be in a band with the biggest concert tour in the world, and the glare of being in the public eye."

This is where we start talking about the songs.

Read the rest of the release here.

You can download an MP3 version of Sugar Daddy from the Land Shark site as well.

~ Hath