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The Story Gets Better
Interview with Tom Keifer
Cinderella vocalist/guitarist/songwriter
By Thomas S. Orwat, Jr.
April 21, 2005
Once upon a time, there was an amazing rock band from Philadelphia, PA called Cinderella. The band consisted of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Tom Keifer, guitarist Jeff LeBar, bassist Eric Brittingham and drummer Fred Coury. They released their first record in 1986 called “Night Songs” and from there they become one of the hardest working and most popular bands of the 80’s. Their follow up releases “Long Cold Winter” and the blues-based rock “Heartbreak Station” were loaded with hits and made the band a household name across the nation. But after selling millions of CD’s and touring non stop, the band took a well needed break during the 90’s. This period was a rough time for all hard-rock acts trying to ride out the alternative music storm that was dominating the airwaves and sales charts. Cinderella used this time to refocus and when they returned to the stage they were better than ever before. If you don’t believe me ask anyone who witnessed the band in 2002 when they opened for Poison on the ‘Louder, Faster, Harder’ tour. Yes, THEY KICKED MAJOR ASS.
2005 promises to be a big year for the band. Earlier this year, Cinderella released a greatest hits CD and DVD both entitled “Rocked, Wired & Bluesed.” These collections are essential for any hard rock fan. They serve as a great reminder of Tom Keifer’s songwriting brilliance . But to fully appreciate Cinderella, you must see them perform live. And you will have that opportunity this summer when they go out on tour as the headline act on the ‘Rock Never Stops tour. This tour also features 80’s glam-metal standouts Ratt, Quiet Riot and FireHouse. This will be a show not to be missed.
Recently, I had the good fortune of talking to the genius behind Cinderella, Tom Keifer. He was in a great mood and full of optimism. For he should be, because this Cinderella story will have many more exciting chapters as time goes on.
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You guys just announced that you are going out on the ‘Rock Never Stops’ tour. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you offered that last year.
Yes, we were and the year before that as well. But in 2002, we decide to do the Poison tour instead. Last year we were offered it, but we got side tracked because we had a lot of other stuff going on. So we opted not to go out on tour last year. It just wasn’t good timing.
Well this year the timing is good. You just release your greatest hits CD “Rocked, Wired & Blues.” The tour also features three other bands Ratt, Quiet Riot and Firehouse. Now did you pick those bands or were they picked by the tour agent?
That was presented to us by Rock Never Stops. It’s a great bill.
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Yeah it is. I saw you guys when you opened for Poison in 2002. I also saw you guys a million times during the 80’s. You were the opening band for practically every arena rock show that came through town. Now your stage performance was pretty good in the 80’s, however when I saw you in 2002, you performance was mind blowing. I really felt that I was watching the greatest performance by a band ever. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but it was great. What happen, how did you become this super amazing live band?
(Laughs) Well thanks. We’ve been doing this for a long time. It’s been almost twenty years. In the 80’s we toured constantly. We would do 18 month long tours, six nights a week for the first three records. I think that when a band tours that much the show gets better and better. We had a long break in the 90’s and we got reformed in 98 and started touring again. It also helps when you get away from something, a craft that you did so much, that was so much a part of your life for so long. We stopped touring during the 90’s partly because of the public’s taste in the music changing from rock to alternative and partly because we were tired of it and needed a break from it. But, when we came back and started touring we had a new appreciation for it and I think that that adds to the show in some sort of mystical way or something. I don’t know, but it just feels better to me. Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, totally. There was some rock n’ roll magic in the air on that night back in 2002.
Yeah, again thanks. I guess it just feels new again. We are also being careful that we don’t tour too much and burn out. I feel that makes a tour a little more special. I know a lot of fans that would like us to play in their town every year, but the wait is good for the fans and us because it’s a little more special when we do decide to tour. 
What kind of stage show are you guys going to bring out with you this time around?
It’s going to be very Cinderella. Big sound, big lights, it’s going to be loud and bright. We are going to blow a lot of stuff up. It’s going to be a big rock n’ roll show.
Are we ever going to see a new Cinderella CD.? There have been rumors of one for years now.
(Pauses) Well, that’s a long ways off. The abbreviated version of what’s been going on is that we signed a deal with Sony Records and we were with them for three years and we were scheduled to start the record in 2001. We ended up having a falling out with Sony and it all ended up on a big lawsuit and legal hassle that we are still in. So we are sort of tied up in legal limbo at the moment. But, I’ve been working on a solo record. Hopefully it will be out at the end of this year.
Have you been signed to any label?
No. I’m going to be shopping it as a finished record.
I see. What is the material like?
It’s similar to that of Cinderella, mainly because I’m the songwriter, singer and do a lot of the guitar work. I’ve been describing it as somewhere between “Long Cold Winter” and “Heartbreak Station.” It’s going to be a blues influenced hard rock record.
Is there anyone else playing on the CD or are you doing pretty much everything yourself?
Well, I did most of the guitars myself and I sang. The drums and bass were two local guys from Nashville and also Greg Marrow did some drums. I had a couple of guitar player’s play on a few songs in addition to what I did. I had some people do keyboards and back-ground vocals, so there are a lot of different people on the record. One guy you might recognize is Bobby Keys, he played with the Rolling Stones. But, it’s a cool record and I’m almost done. The tracks are all recorded and produced. We are in the middle of the mix practice right now.
Can’t wait to hear it. How long have you lived in Nashville?
Since 1997.
You’re not going to go country on us are you?
No (laughs) it’s not why I moved here. First of all it’s a misnomer that Nashville is all about country music. It’s really a place where a lot of songwriters live. Yeah, they do make a lot of country records here, but they also do a lot of other things here as well.
Would you consider writing a country song for another artist if asked?
Well yeah, I already have. I do love country music, I’m not knocking it. I listen to it all the time and even some of the Cinderella song’s have a bit of country influence in them. A few years ago, I wrote a song for Andy Griggs, with Andy and my wife Savanna, who is also a songwriter, called “100 Miles of Bad Road.”
Yee-haw!!! I’ll have to check that out. I want to talk a bit about the last Cinderella CD ‘Still Climbing.’ That was a solid CD, but really didn’t get the recognition that it deser ved. In retrospect, how do you feel about that record?
I like it, there’s a few on there that I feel are as good as anything we’ve ever done. And there’s also a few that I don’t like as much. But as a whole to me, I didn’t think it was our best record. I was going through a lot of problems with my voice at the time. When I listen to it now, I hear things in the vocals that I don’t like. But overall, I think that it’s a good record. I came out at a really bad time. (Laughs)
Yeah, 1994 when everyone was listening to and buying Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pearl Jam.
Yeah it wasn’t the best time for what we do.
Well thank god that that’s changed back for the better. You guys just released a new greatest hits CD “Rocked, Wired and Blues” and DVD. It’s an awesome collection of your work.
Yeah we’ve been trying to get the DVD out for a long time. We are pretty happy with it. It’s not only the hits, but also some more obscure tracks. We re-mastered all of it. The DVD is really cool because it has commentary that Eric and I did. We were just telling stories about the videos and whatever else popped into our heads while watching it, fifteen years later. So that’s pretty cool. It also has the 5.1 mixes too, so you can get the surround sound thing going on.
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Many CD’s are now coming out now as a dual disc CD/ DVD.
Yeah, well ours isn’t a duel disc. It’s a separate CD and DVD. They talked about doing the dual disc but ended up not doing it for whatever reason. I like them. I just got an AC/DC one.
It’s a good idea, it gives the customer less reason to go out and just burn a friends CD.
Yeah, you’re right.
Last question. What is the one musical accomplishment of yours that you are the most proud of?
Hmmm...To me the musical highlight for me as far as recording is ‘Heartbreak Station.’ Just in general that period of time was a high point in the career of the band. I’m glad that we made that record. But there are so many different facades of the question that you just asked. I’m also very happy with the band that we’ve become live. I like the show that we put across. I really like where we are at. It’s something that has accumulated throughout the years from the experience that we have on stage.
Alright, Tom thanks for your time. I’m looking forward to seeing you guys on Aug 11 in Buffalo.
Yeah, thank you, see you in Buffalo.
We will have much more on Cinderella during the upcoming months. Watch for more interviews, features and show reviews right here on ‘The Site That Rocks and Shocks.’ For more info www.cinderella.net
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