Old Raleigh hand Robert Kearns has played in a lot of bands bearing Lynyrd Skynyrd's stamp, most notably Cry of Love and Bottle Rockets. So it's not surprising that Kearns' current gig is playing bass in the latest incarnation of Lynyrd Skynyrd, fronted by Johnny Van Zant - younger brother of the late great Ronnie Van Zant.
"I'll be onstage sometimes and have to catch myself," Kearns says. "We just worked up a new set, opening just like [1976's live album] 'One More From the Road' - 'Workin' for MCA' into 'I Ain't the One' - and I'll get caught up in thinking, 'Wow, this is so cool.' And I have to remind myself to pay attention because I'm playing, too."
Skynyrd plays tonight in Raleigh, on a bill with 38 Special and Poison frontman/reality-television star Bret Michaels.
"It's really been a dream come true because Skynyrd was the first band I was ever really into when I was a kid," Kearns says. "My first band from back in junior high, about 75 percent of our set was Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. We played Southern rock - Allman Brothers and Marshall Tucker, but most of all Skynyrd. If I remember correctly, we did 13 Skynyrd songs."
That's actually not so different from the 2010 model of Lynyrd Skynyrd, since there has been almost a complete turnover in the lineup over the years. Guitarist Gary Rossington is the last founding member left from Skynyrd's 1970s glory days - when the group was riding high before a 1977 plane crash took three members, including frontman Van Zant.
Kearns joined the group last year, initially as a temporary stand-in while bassist Ean Evans battled cancer. The job became full time when Evans died in May 2009. Keyboardist-founding member Billy Powell also died last year, yet Skynyrd stayed as busy asever with a new album ("God & Guns") and a world tour.
"What was amazing in Europe was the whole front row was teenagers going crazy," Kearns says. "They were into all the old songs, but they also knew the new record and sang along. Over here, it's not so much a younger crowd as the old die-hard fans. A lot of parents bringing their kids. Some of those songs are so timeless, like 'Sweet Home Alabama.' Younger generations hear that in commercials, movies and what-not, so they come out to see what it's all about."
