Keith St John on his Rain Is Burning UK tour

In the world of rock, few voices resonate as passionately as that of Keith St John. As a singer and songwriter, Keith has featured in Burning Rain, Montrose, Lynch Mob and Kingdom Come. Jason Barnard sits down with Keith as he embarks on his ‘Rain Is Burning’ UK tour.

Keith, it’s great to have you back on the UK live circuit. What inspired you to do your acoustic duo tour in October 2023?

Firstly, I really miss jamming the Burning Rain tunes live, and some of the most kick ass places/people Doug Aldrich and I threw down BR songs for, in an “Acoustic Duo” format was in the Hard Rocking UK!! I felt especially connected to the awesome peeps in the UK that came out to support us on the “Face the Music” promo tour we did and I really dug all the venues there too. What’s been firing me up even more is the fact that I committed to this residency show in Las Vegas called “Raiding the Rock Vault” which has been voted #1 in Vegas for 9 years in a row, and it’s a very cool experience, but I’m somewhat living vicariously through other (classic/iconic) artists songs! While fans from all over the world attend that show, many of them ask me when they can catch live Burning Rain, or Kingdom Come, etc…or when I’m gonna be in their town…etc. So since Rock Vault has a lighter show schedule this fall, I picked October just cause of scheduling. I thought “Rain is Burning” cause the way I want to do this so bad feels like I’m raining on the inside and burning on the outside!

The tour features Jack Frost on guitar. Can you tell us about the chemistry between you two and what fans can expect from this collaboration?

Jack first introduced himself to me at one of my “Ronnie Montrose Remembered” Celebration Concerts during NAMM in Anaheim California. He is an avid Ronnie Montrose fan and actually gave me a very old original MONTROSE band T-shirt from his collection the first time we met. He expressed his deep love for that music and he also reminded me of where I grew up (New York) because he’s from Jersey (Just next door), and apart from all that I had that “fated” sort of feeling comin from the universe that we were gonna be buds for long time, which of course now has proven true! The funny thing is I was originally loosely teaming up with an awesome hot shot guitarist from the UK to save on travel expenses, but when Jack heard I was putting this tour together, before I fully committed to the other dude, he expressed such a passion to do this with me I was blown away to the point that I had to make it happen!! He is also pals with Doug Aldrich which adds extra to the “comfort zone.”

You’ve had a remarkable career, co-founding Burning Rain and working with various iconic rock bands. How has your journey as a musician shaped your artistry?

The biggest ironic twist about me is that I have always felt most comfortable and most productive in my spirit while writing and or producing music…yet I’ve inadvertently delayed that process many times by accepting positions as lead singer / frontman / or sideman on a record deal for major iconic superstar artists, which I’ve had a groovy time at and of course flourished in other ways along the way. The coolest thing about all that process for me is there’s so much I’ve learned and experienced by what’s rubbed off on me from very successful music folks, whether it be from a business sense, a presentation style, a songwriting sense, or a plethora of other relevant aspects of either “intuiting” or “crafting” one’s art!

Speaking of Burning Rain, can you tell us about your recent tour with Doug Aldrich and the release of “Face the Music”? What was the highlight of that experience?

Regarding touring with Mr. Aldrich, honestly when we play, every moment is a high lite! The reason I say this is because when we jam, Doug is extremely “plugged in to the moment” at all times, and I love responding to the challenge of all the underlying communication and twists and turns that are getting stirred into the pot! As far as the “Face the Music” record goes, again my soul flourishes most in the creation moments of the songs, and each song on that record is like it’s own unique child that takes on an evolving life of it’s own, captured for the record whenever it’s time to hit “print!” Another creative moment which is a high lite for me was making the 2 videos we made for that record (and Face the Music) and being faced with whatever time crunch we had and mostly us building the “sets” and improving the scenes on the “spot.” That was definitely a blast! Once again, I’m very at home with situations that call on my spontaneity! As far as touring on the record, that acoustic duo tour I did with Doug was a new format for me which I really enjoyed, and the UK overall stood out as one of the biggest high lites. I am hoping that down the road when time makes it feasible again that Mr. Aldrich and I will be able to revisit a tour like this together! For now, I am blessed and excited that our mutual friend, the brilliant guitarist Jack Frost was able to make this work in between his busy schedule!

You spent 12 years in Montrose, during which Sammy Hagar praised your ability to sing their songs. How did that endorsement impact your career, and what were your fondest memories from your time with Montrose?

Ronnie Montrose was such a deep dude with a deep history as a creative force and as a human being that it always felt curiously fated and magical to hang with him and play concerts together and record songs together. He was ultra passionate in his vision and what he wanted to “present to the world” 24/7! I remember when we were onstage at a summer festival in Soldier’s Memorial Field in St Louis when we were doing our “intro-the-band-members” bit and Ronnie walked up to his mic and said “this is the only guy who can deliver these great songs with me…Sammy Hagar says it’s true too!!” …so I asked Ronnie after the show about it (since when it comes to the media my heads always buried in the sand somewhere) and he told me about what Sam had said and was quoted on. Pretty cool of Sam to also be supportive of what “Ronnie was up to now” I thought! We had tons of great show memories especially with all the deep music folks who all wanted to come back stage and say hey to Ronnie. We did one show with Hagar where we all got on stage for a couple songs. That was a total blast for sure! Playin with Scorpions, Whitesnake, and Dokken was cool since I love all those bands! Playin with Def Leppard was killer as they are another great group of guys who mostly I still know now. The 40th Anniversary of Woodstock that we played in Golden Gate Park was filled with Bay Area Rock Stars and all kinds of amazing back stage circus acts!!! That one had the hippies out in full force!

You’ve toured with an impressive list of rock bands. Are there any specific moments or shows that stand out as particularly memorable for you?

All the Neal Schon shows I did with Neal were outstanding and are forever ingrained in my mind!! They also featured Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake), Prairie Prince (The Tubes), with Neal’s son Miles sometimes too who’s a major badass!! The very first Kingdom Come show I did in Seattle was very exciting with so many years of expectation built up inside the other band members, the media, and the the fans that were there!

Kingdom Come is one of your current projects. What can fans expect from the band in the coming months?

We were slowed down gig-wise for a minute after James Kottak needed to go on a semi permanent health-related hiatus. We just signed up in September 2023 with a new agency and we expect to have a fairly busy 2024!

You’re known for your powerful voice. How do you prepare and maintain your vocals, especially for live performances?

Every singer is different with vocal maintenance, warm ups, etc…For me, it’s more about the breathing mechanism and making certain that that’s all connected right and “in sync” before every performance!

What is it about acoustic performances that you find appealing, and how do they differ from your electric rock shows?

I feel like at acoustic format performances, people get to literally “be in the same room” with me performing and really feel more of the intricacies of my vibe as well as experiencing a great deal more detailed insight into my capabilities and personality!! The flip side of that is that I get to pick their brains and hear who they really are as well!!! So I think it’s an overall funner, more honest, and a mostly heartfelt adventure that brings the artist and the audience way closer than in any arena show!

Are there any specific songs or aspects of your discography that you’re particularly excited to perform during this acoustic tour?

Jeez, I’d love to “Take the 5th” on that (old U.S. expression) because I do love surprises, especially for the sake of artistic license, but there are certain tunes I do love to play and sing. One of those is certainly “Heaven Gets Me By” off of Burning Rain’s Epic Obsession album. It’s surely one of those songs about curiously deeper sides life and the beyond which relates a personal experience of mine. Even if you don’t know the song, it’s leads you down a crystal clear path that easily connects you to all the dots contained in it’s message. Of course I love my rockers and there are plenty of those! Montrose people always want to hear certain songs, just as much as Kingdom Come and Lynch Mob fans, and I think that being said I will leave some room for people to figure out what those will be!

With a career as extensive as yours, how do you continue to find inspiration for your music and performances?

I have been inspired in the moment with songwriting since I was a child, and that never goes away!! I have several irons in the fire with co-songwriting ventures and I have a solo album I am working on….and I probably always will!!! —- It hasn’t “faded” for this long in life…so I don’t think it ever will!! With all the new invites to do live shows there’s always new challenges when it comes to performance, and that keeps me fresh. Raiding the Rock Vault (the show I currently perform in on somewhat of a regular basis in Las Vegas) keeps me busy with Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Roger Daltry, and more so that adds a “fun” element to my performance world for now!

Rock music has evolved over the years. What do you think sets classic rock apart from the contemporary rock scene, and how do you see your role within that spectrum?

I feel a dual role I guess. While I feel that in rock, our Mozart’s and Beethoven’s happened back in the 60’s and 70’s mostly and somewhat in the 80’s and even though that may be becoming more and more evident to all the budding musicians, there’d still room to record or own rock music (which I’m doing) and have a (small) piece of real estate in the grand picture…at the same time by doing the Rock Vault show, I am basking in the moment of striving to giveaudiences a live experience of the song “Stairway to Heaven” that they will never soon forget!!

Beyond music, are there any other creative interests that you’re passionate about?

I love many art forms for sure!!! I used to own a prominent dance and music school in the Los Angeles area. Expression through dance always must involve music, so that was probably what made that an easy connection. I love painting, drawing, sculpting, learning to play new instuments….but I also really dig working with modern digital graphic arts!

Finally, as we look ahead to the ‘Rain Is Burning’ tour, what message would you like to convey to your fans and the Strange Brew readers who will be attending your shows?

The concept for the ‘Rain is Burning’ Tour was largely inspired in me by my experiences both on and off stage with my writing partner Doug Aldrich back in 2019 playing in Europe (incuding the UK) in this format in support of our most recent Burning Rain album, Face the Music. Doug and I have worked together nearly 25 years and we have a great connection live with each other and the audience. I’m doing this run with my kindred spirit brother, Jack Frost, who I know will also inspire an energy to flow out of me that is powerful, magical, and highly “connective” while also having the inate ability to take the audience with us! We are going to take our onlookers on a very bold journey with the most pungent of both rock ballads and up tempo tunes and shift from color to color in a way that will make the experience mind-blowingly deep as well as kick ass fun!!! Bring your hearts and souls with you cause we’re gonna bring ours! See You There!