Chris Bennett -  guitar, vocals
John E. Wooten - vocals, guitar
Peter Lemieux - drums
Michael Wooten -  bass

Raleigh, North Carolina  USA
Label: Cruz del Sur Music
Genre: Classic / Power Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Widow's Chris Bennett

September 8, 2009

Interviewer: Peter

DISCOGRAPHY:

No Stone Unturned EP (2002)
Midnight Strikes (2003)
On Fire (2005)
Nightlife (2007)

The Raleigh, North Carolina quartet Widow likes to party, and are unafraid to let everyone in on the fun. Currently signed to Cruz Del Sur Records, the band has released three albums, the latest being Nightlife in 2007. Recently, Metal Psalter caught up with Chris Bennett prior to the band’s headlining show at this year’s Kansas City Power Metal Fest, where good times and the possibility of good food awaited them.

Peter: For those who don’t know about Widow, would you like to say a few things about the band?

Chris Bennett: Yes. I’m Chris, I’m the lead guitarist and I sing. We’re from North Carolina and we’re here in Kansas City supporting our album Nightlife on Cruz Del Sur Music, and we are hungry - hungry for metal and pizza. [Laughs]

Peter: There will be pizza later. [Laughs]  I hope, anyway. Now, what are some of the influences?

Chris: Really, lots of stuff. I mean, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, King Diamond, stuff like that. I also like all kinds of stuff like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy, and Whitesnake, just a lot of bands. Melodic bands such as Crimson Glory are a huge influence of ours, but really, Maiden, King Diamond, stuff like that on the melodic side of things, but still with catchy good songs, and that’s probably our biggest influence.

Peter: You mentioned that you were in support of Nightlife, which was actually released a couple of years ago. So are you guys in the process of writing a new album?

Chris: Yes, we are. We’ve got a new album that we’re working on now. We’re just demoing the songs, but we’ve got 14 songs. Nightlife has kind of lasted pretty well, you know. We’ve had support in the media and stuff, and it’s kept it going for years. We’re really happy about that and hope to keep that going for awhile until we can do our new album, and we’re excited about our new album because I think it’s our best one.

Peter: Right now, you are getting ready to play the Kansas City Power Metal Fest. This is actually your second Kansas City Power Metal Fest…

Chris: Yes.

Peter: ...and only Widow, Seventh Calling, and Manilla Road can claim to have been on both Power Metal Fests. What made you decide to come back for the second Kansas City Power Metal Fest?

Chris: Man, we just had such a good time last year and everybody was so cool. People were into melodic, traditional metal like we play. They like rock n’ roll, so, you know, we had to come on back. Last year, it was put on good and everybody that was a part of it like Jodi and Joe [Michael and Bustamante, respectively, who are the promoters who put on the Kansas City Power Metal Fest], I mean, it was a good time, so we wanted to do it again.

Peter: For those who haven’t seen Widow, what can they expect from a Widow live show?

Chris: We’re going to have a good time. I mean, every show we play is like the best time we’ve ever had. We’ll play anywhere, anytime, and we just love doing it, man. I think they would expect a good time, a lot of partying, and we’re going to make you have fun because we’re having fun, a lot of fun. If we find people that aren’t having fun, we’re going to force them to have fun. [Laughs]

Peter:  Before this, you played Rocklahoma, which also had the likes of Jackyl…

Chris: Yeah, Jackyl… [Laughs]

Peter:  What exactly is Rocklahoma for those who don’t know and how did that experience go?

Chris: It was really cool. It was a big festival and they had a variety of bands such as Overkill, Anvil, Metal Church, Lizzy Borden, and Saxon. And then you had bands like Ratt, Twisted Sister, and Skid Row. All of this stuff was really cool; it was a lot of rock and traditional type of metal and thrash, too. It was awesome, and there was a big crowd and we had a lot of fun. It was hot. I mean, it was 110 to 115 degrees every day, and people were passing out, but it was cool. It was awesome to play with bands that I watched and listened to since I was a very young kid, bands like Twisted Sister. That was incredible to play on a show that they were playing and I’ll tell you, Saxon was awesome and Ratt, too. Even Nelson played the show. It was definitely a wide variety of bands and I think the fest was cool, and I like that they had ‘80s type of stuff and then they had bands influenced by the ‘80s like us to be a part of it, too. There were bands on the side stage like the band Icon, who was really incredible, and Warrior and Herman Ze German, which was just like Herman Rarebell doing all Scorpions songs. If you’re into ‘80s hard rock and metal, it’s a good time. Just bring a fan. [Laughs]

Peter:  Besides the heat, are there any other interesting stories from the past shows you have done?

Chris: Every show we play is full of interesting stuff, but we just like to hang out and listen to metal. I mean, we’re super big fans of the whole thing, so we like watching everybody and just being there hanging for the whole show drinking. We’re not one of those bands that’ll hang in the back expecting shit and waiting for whatever. We’re out there, we’re fans, and we love it.  We live for this shit. We want to drink all the drinks and see all the bands and talk, just do everything. We just don’t want to miss anything. So that’s pretty much our whole deal every time we play or go, we don’t miss anything, if we can help it. [Laughs]

Peter:  Now, are there any other shows lined up for Widow after this?

Chris: We’ve got a few things booked for next year. We’re playing Rocklahoma again next year.  We don’t have a whole lot confirmed, but we’re working on that right now. We’ve got some big shows lined up. We’re playing Rocklahoma and we’re playing in Germany at a festival called Sword Brothers Festival, which is in September of next year, so we’re really excited about that.  Everything else is still kind of coming together. We’re not really sure. We know we’re going to do more stuff, but we’re just trying to figure that out; we’re really excited about playing in Germany. That’s going to be really cool, since we’ve never played there, so we’re really thrilled about that.

Peter:  Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Chris:  Yeah, we just want to say thank you, Peter, for this, and we’re ready to do it, and everybody check out the new Widow that’s coming out soon, hopefully next year.  It’s going to be called Life’s Blood.  See everybody at the bar.

TO THE TOP

Photos courtesy of Jodi Michael

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