Corrosion of Conformity Unveil ‘Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions’ with Cover of Free’s “Fire and Water”
It may not be more information about their highly anticipated double-album, but Corrosion of Conformity dropped a little treat for their fans in the form of a cover of Free’s 1970 track “Fire and Water”. Their rendition of the song was released earlier today as the first entry of their newly announced Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions.
According to the band, the Riffissippi Studio Jam Sessions are a collection of covers interpreted by Corrosion of Conformity based on the band’s favorite artists. These pieces were recorded as they had some downtime while working on their new album.
Speaking about the cover, frontman Pepper Keenan said it all came about serendipitously.
“When we were tracking this record, we had a very cool space set up where we would essentially hang in the large room with everything mic’d and everything we needed, including a turntable and a bunch of our favorite records, which we would play and chill out between takes. We were hanging together, and I pulled out a Free album and ‘Fire And Water’ popped up. [Drummer] Stanton [Moore] jumped up immediately and said, ‘Who the fuck is that!?’ He had never heard it before. We were baffled, but it was awesome to us that he had never heard it. He said, ‘let’s cut that!’ I said, ‘man, that’s friggin’ Free and kind of like holy ground that you don’t fuck with.’ But we started thinking about it and damn, Stanton charted it out like the drum wizard he is. I said, ‘I can’t sing like that, man. He’s the king.’ Someone in the room said, ‘just sing it like you,’ so we went for it and had a blast doing it.
“It was a nice fun break from the recording. It’s nothing too serious, just a bunch of fellas leaning into it, loving the rock. It’s an exercise in restraint. Hope y’all dig it.”
As a long-time Corrosion of Conformity fan, I’m excited to see what covers they decide to do for this. There are some tracks I know I’d love to hear them cover, personally, but this really sounds like it’s going to reflect the band’s personal tastes. That should really let us see where their heads are at not only as musicians, but as music fans like the rest of us.
In addition to the new album and now this cover series, Corrosion of Conformity are out touring with Judas Priest and Alice Cooper, with some headlining gigs sprinkled in here and there in their itinerary. You can find the full list of dates below. You can find the list of dates below.
Corrosion Of Conformity live dates
9/25 Harrisonburg, VA Golden Pony
9/30 Ft. Wayne, IN Stan’s Room at Piere’s
10/6 Des Moines, IA Wooly’s
10/9 Kansas City, MO Warehouse On Broadway
10/17 Las Vegas, NV The Usual Place
10/21 El Paso, TX Rockhouse
w/ Judas Priest & Alice Cooper
9/24 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater
9/26 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
9/27 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC
9/29 Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage
10/1 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake
10/2 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre
10/4 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
10/5 Tinley Park, IL Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
10/10 Colorado Springs, CO Broadmoor World Arena
10/12 Salt Lake City, UT Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/14 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
10/15 Wheatland, CA Toyota Amphitheatre
10/18 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
10/19 Los Angeles, CA Kia Forum
10/22 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
10/23 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Amphitheater
10/25 Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater
10/26 Houston, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
