New METAL CHURCH Singer Says He Received Stamp Of Approval From DAVID WAYNE, MIKE HOWE

"The Classic Metal Show" recently conducted an interview with METAL CHURCH singer Ronny Munroe. An excerpt from the chat follows:

The Classic Metal Show: I'm curious if you read anything that is written about you that is on the web. Do you read any of that, or do you go out of your way to avoid that?

Ronny Munroe: At the beginning…yes, I made the mistake of "googling" myself, to be honest with you. For the most part, it was pretty favorable. Of course, with any replacement [singer] — which a lot of people call me and is the truth, there were a couple of great singers before me — there's always going to be the naysayers. No matter what, you can't please everybody. For the most part, it's been favorable, but that was at the very beginning. I no longer go on there because of that reason. It's not that I don't care what people say, because I do, but it's kind of like I don't need the extra stress.

The Classic Metal Show: It seems like you really get hammered for no other reason than you're not [late METAL CHURCH singer] David Wayne, which is completely unfair. It just seems to me that the guys that hide behind their keyboards… my bet is that if they see you at a show, they come up to you and go, "Oh, dude. You're fantastic," and then two minutes later I'm reading on Blabbermouth, "Oh, I was at that show and that guy sucked." Both Neeley and I saw the show, and were blown away at how true to form you do the songs to Wayne or Howe. You really capture it, and I don't understand why people would hammer you for it.

Ronny Munroe: First of all, thank you very much for that. I do my best. I'll tell you something right here and right now. There was an interview with David Wayne about two weeks prior to his passing. It was for the "Beyond the Black" documentary. I'm trying to get it edited now, just for people to see some of it. Dave actually says some very kind words about me taking over; saying things like, "There couldn't be a better replacement," and whatnot. He was very cool about it. Now Mike Howe, a couple years back, he came out to Reno and we traded verses on "Date With Poverty", and gave his approval as well. It's not like both singers disapproved of me. I actually have the approval of both Howe and the original singer. I don't understand it either, but like I said, it's always going to be this way until the day the band just decides not to be around anymore.

To hear the full interview, click here (Real Media).