HOW TO GO
What: Tom Keifer
Where: 20th Century Theater, 3021 Madison Road, Cincinnati
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27
Cost: $18 (advance), $20 (door)
More info: (513) 731-8000 or www.20thcenturytheatre.com
Tom Keifer first came to prominence in the 1980s as the lead singer of heavy metal band Cinderella. Although, like many bands from that era, Cinderella still tours, Keifer will be releasing his first solo record, “The Way Life Goes,” this April.
Keifer’s tour with his new band, promoting his solo project, comes to Cincinnati next week.
His album features much of the same type of blues-based hard rock that drove Cinderella, yet it showcases a wider vocal range from Keifer. From the initial idea to the actual release, the album was, for various reasons, 15 years in the making.
“The mixing was the most stressful,” he said. “I had a hard time getting the sound I was hearing in my head. We went through 17 talented engineers. My biggest struggle was making it honest and pure. I don’t think there should be anything between the listener and the music. I liked the sonic progression of Cinderella, and I wanted to achieve something similar to (Cinderella’s 1990 album) ‘Heartbreak Station,’ where it’s something more timeless, with no flavor-of-the-day effects. The goal is to always write a better song than you did the last time, and produce it better, to grow at what you do.”
The idea for a solo album came at a time of great personal and professional stress for Keifer. For one thing, the 1990s grunge movement obliterated the 1980s glam metal movement, producing a sensation that Keifer likened to “being the trash taken down to the curb.”
“I think it happens every decade, though that one happened particularly fast and hard,” Keifer said. “I think that because of the emphasis placed on image, with MTV and everything, it was set up for a harder fall. It didn’t feel good, but you move on. It’s more about how you pick up the pieces than what happened to you.”
In addition to radically changing musical trends, Keifer was also diagnosed with a partially paralyzed left vocal cord in 1991.
“It happened overnight,” he said. “I was flying all over the country, seeing specialists, and none of them could figure out what was wrong. They said my vocal cords looked fine. Then I found a doctor who ran a different kind of neurological test. He said he had good news and bad news. The good news was that I wasn’t crazy. The bad news was that what I had was usually career-ending.”
However, Keifer is still singing 20 years later. He manages the condition through daily training and exercises, but said his voice still has its ups and downs, though the training did help his singing on “The Way Life Goes.”
“I wrote in a slightly different register for this album, because the melodies were different,” he said. “It took me through some areas I didn’t use very much. The training has helped develop the middle part of my voice. But it’s challenging. The Cinderella material is more ingrained in my muscle memory.”
For the tour supporting the new album, Keifer said he would be playing a mix of new songs and Cinderella songs, though declined to say which ones, because he and his new band are still rehearsing and getting to know one another.
“I’ll try to strike a balance,” he said. “We’ll be figuring out which of the new songs feel good live, but we don’t want to do an entire show full of material that nobody knows. There will be a fair amount of blazing rocking, but also an acoustic section, with a sit-down and storytelling vibe. It feels new and great, but also nervous and scary.”
Keifer said there are no imminent plans for Cinderella to tour at the moment, but that could change in the future.
“It’s not from a lack of wanting to, there just hasn’t been the right opportunity,” he said. “Cinderella is such a comfort zone, and we have a ball every time we tour. We just decided to take a break, which opened the window to release this record.” He paused, and added with a chuckle. “I’m not a great multitasker.”
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