Just last week I spoke with Mike Ness, the legendary lead vocalist, guitarist and founder of California punk rockers Social Distortion. After a seven-year gap that kept fans guessing, Social Distortion released their seventh album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, in January 2011 on Epitaph Records.
The band's on the road now and making a long-awaited trip back to Canada for shows in Toronto on Oct. 20 and Montreal on Oct. 23.
In a spirited and revealing chat, Ness discussed his joy about having the Canadian government recently declare that he has been “exonerated and rehabilitated” after some decades-old criminal charges made it tricky for him to enter our country, the new creative approach he took in producing the last Social Distortion LP, what the future looks like for the band as they gear up to make new records and his thoughts on the U.S. presidential race.
To hear the full conversation, you have two options. You can download an MP3 if you right-click and “Save target as.” Or to stream it, press play.
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