CINDERELLA Frontman TOM KEIFER Says Debut Solo Album Was 'Caught In The Middle' Of A 'Corporate Shake-Up'

CINDERELLA frontman Tom Keifer was interviewed for episode 354 of the "Iron City Rocks" podcast (web site). You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

Speaking about how the forthcoming deluxe edition of his 2013 "The Way Life Goes" debut solo album came to be, Tom said: "The deluxe edition was an idea that we talked about back in 2014, after the record had been released. It came out, it was really well-received by the fans and the press and at that time, we thought it would be cool to do an expanded edition that included some stuff that we were going to record that were songs that came about or collaborations or versions of songs that came about during the course of touring for the record at the time. One of them being 'With A Little Help From My Friends', which was the first collaborative, creative effort by my touring band. From day one, we've been doing that song. We've done a hard rock or hyped-up version of the Joe Cocker version. We've been doing that on the encore the whole time we've been touring. We've gotten countless requests for a studio version of that. And then the other one being the duet of 'Nobody's Fool' with Lzzy Hale [HALESTORM] which is another thing that came out about as a result of touring. We did some shows with HALESTORM on 'The Way Life Goes' tour. That's been all over YouTube and we've performed a bunch of times at various shows. Again, another track people have asking for a studio version of.

"The idea of putting out the deluxe edition actually got put on the backburner for a long time because we had a change in labels in distribution along the way, unfortunately," he continued. "There was, for lack of a better word, a bit of a corporate shake-up after the record was released. The record got caught in the middle of that, unfortunately. That happens sometimes. It actually went away for a couple of years. It hasn't been available online or in stores, so we've continued to tour and we've had to do a little bit of lawyering to get the master back. Once we did, last year, we got into the studio and we recorded these bonus tracks and recorded the documentary of us in the studio working with Vance Powell recording these new tracks, which is also part of the set that's in there. It's got all this new artwork and all. The decision was originally, 'Hey, we're going to do a deluxe edition.' Then the record had that setback that I talked about. Now, it really makes sense just getting it back out there online and on the shelves for everybody, it makes sense more than ever now, to include this new material with it. I think those songs really make sense with this record as opposed to maybe, we've kind of talked about, 'Everybody wants studio recordings of these songs.' They don't really make sense on the new record because they felt like they're part of this tour and part of this record. They really came out amazing. The energy on both tracks are very cool. They were recorded after the fact. They're just not leftovers from the original sessions, which I think makes them a little more unique."

Keifer also talked about whether he has plans to go into the studio to record an all-new solo album. He said: "Yes, absolutely. We want to do a follow-up record to 'The Way Life Goes', a proper studio record. I've been writing along the way as we've been touring. This has kind of been a work in progress. As the title says, 'It's the way life goes.' We've had some curveballs along the way with the release of this record. I don't think people know about this record getting removed for a couple of years, but a lot of fans know that. When we got it back, we felt we should do this expanded version we were talking about. All the while we've been out touring and building this new band out there and the tour trail, there's been song ideas and seeds of ideas for songs that have been building up and piling up and that's usually how it starts for me. I think that's what any great record is made from, is great songs that are inspired by real things. We've been out touring, playing music, meeting people, living life and gathering seeds for new songs. That's how it's always worked for me going back to the CINDERELLA days. There's a lot of stuff starting to build up that when we are finished touring for the deluxe edition, we're going to start really finishing up those songs and writing them and getting into the studio, we're hoping by the end of next year and that will be with the touring band we're going to take into the studio. Because that went really well on the bonus tracks; that's the first time we all recorded together because the original release was recorded over a number of years here in Nashville with session players. When the touring band started playing live, there was such a great chemistry with us right off the bat. Going in and recording these bonus tracks, it translated into the studio very well. It doesn't work that way. It was nice that happened. It's really solidified as a band now, both live and in the studio. We'll be making that new record with this band, who are just amazing. That is in the works already in terms of the song ideas starting to pile up. That's the first step."

"The Way Life Goes - Deluxe Edition" will be made available on October 20 via Cleopatra Records.

Keifer was released from hospital on Sunday — one day after he was forced to cancel a Pennsylvania concert because he was taken ill with heat exhaustion and severe dehydration. The CINDERELLA frontman's publicist later said that he "was transported to a local hospital where he underwent tests and was kept overnight." He plans to return to his performance schedule later in the week.

Interview (audio):