Sevendust: Rockers keep home fires burning and the road hot

When you've been touring and performing as a band for going on a decade and a half, it can be difficult to remember everywhere you've been. Even so, Lajon Witherspoon remembers playing George's Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville with his Grammy Award-nominated group Sevendust. Excitement steeps the lead singer's voice at the mention of the venue.

"I love that area!" he says ahead of the quintet's return tonight.

Personally, Witherspoon also loves Northwest Arkansas for the famed Pig Trail (scenic byway) where's he's ridden his Harley -- a topic that surfaces because just days before the Atlanta hard rockers roll back through Fayetteville, Witherspoon is on a bus to Sturgis, S.D., home of the nation's quintessential motorcycle rally.

"To still be relevant in this industry, what a pleasure and a blessing," he reflects. "We were kids when we started. Now we have wives, kids, houses, responsibilities -- things have changed. We don't tour as hard as we used to; to be able to write, we have to be able to get away from the road.

"My creativity comes from my wife yelling at me to take the garbage out," he jokes. "But that's something that's helped us stay together, too, is putting family first, but also [keeping] our family out here first, too."

It sounds like the formula continues to work because at the end of their co-headlining "Victorious War" tour with Memphis rockers Skillet, Sevendust heads back to the studio in October to record songs they're currently writing. No new music has hit the stage yet, though. Their latest release and 12th studio album "All I See Is War" (May, 2018) is still doing really well, Witherspoon shares.

"We go for it every night. The energy that we get from the family that's out there to see us gives us [life]," he says. The audience can expect a night of good rock -- equal parts intense and unforgettable. Just don't try to limit the five-piece to a single restrictive genre.

"We're a very soulful rock band. Metal sometimes, if you wish, but we can get down when we need to," Witherspoon concludes assuredly.

-- Jocelyn Murphy

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NAN What's Up on 08/09/2019