As Barry Kerch Celebrates Shinedown’s Growing Hot Sauce Line, He Says New Music Is on the Horizon

“I love him almost as much as I love my own family, because he is family.”

Shinedown drummer Barry Kerch joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday (Sept. 24) to celebrate the band’s latest hot sauce releases, but also spent some time talking about what it’s like working with frontman Brent Smith for all these years.

“The pressure we put on ourselves is astronomical and it only gets more focused every year,” Kerch admitted to host Chuck Armstrong.

“To go through what Brent did and be the horrible addict that he was and then come out on the other side — his new addiction is Shinedown. The gym and Shinedown … I wouldn’t trade [that] for the world. I don’t miss that guy, but now the guy that he is is so intense and so hyper-focused on Shinedown, you have to keep up with him.”

Kerch said it’s impossible to beat Smith at working harder on music, so he makes sure he does everything he can to keep his pace and match his work ethic.

“Some days you’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I can do this, man.’ He’s like, ‘What do you mean?’ I’m tired! He’s like, ‘Well, I’m not. Let’s go.’ Alright. Let’s go.”

Yes, There Is New Shinedown Music Coming Soon

That hyper-focus on Shinedown’s music is something that is recently familiar for Kerch as they’ve been working on the follow-up to 2022’s Planet Zero.

“[There is] definitely new Shinedown music coming,” Kerch told the Loudwire Nights audience. “Hopefully sooner than later this year and then a new record next year.”

The Shinedown drummer said fans should expect a new tour next year, but he didn’t have a whole lot of details to share because they’re still in the process of dreaming up what they want to bring to the stage.

“We’ve got to redesign everything, which is always daunting, you know,” he said.

“What are you going to do that’s cooler than last time or different from last time? So, we’re kind of starting that mental process because it takes months, it really takes months to put together a killer arena show.”

Will Shinedown Keep Making New Hot Sauces?

As if working on new music and planning a massive tour wasn’t enough to keep Kerch busy, this year has found him spearheading the release of three hot sauces from Shinedown. Kerch and the band partnered with Torchbearer Sauces and earlier this year, gave fans the first taste of their hot sauces with the Symptom chipotle garlic sauce.

Now, they’ve unveiled the Devour pineapple jerk sauce and the Attention Attention This Is Hot!!! mango habanero sauce.

“This has been a journey,” Kerch said. “It took five months in the making just to get the first one out and now to have all three out…it’s been fun and it’s been nice to really get to know the people over at Torchbearer.”

And while he gets ready for new music from Shinedown, Kerch wasn’t as quick to say fans should definitely expect more hot sauce from them right away.

“This was fun so maybe we do something in the future with a new record or something like that,” Kerch explained, “but we haven’t even broached flavor profiles or even talked about that.”

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Until that time comes, Kerch seems content with the three sauces Shinedown have already released.

“My favorite is the mango habanero because I like a little more heat and that one’s a little bit thinner, so it’s got a little more of the classic style of sauce.”

What Else Did Shinedown’s Barry Kerch Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Why he thinks the pineapple jerk sauce is an acquired taste for a lot of people
• How “A Symptom of Being Human” inspired them to keep pushing forward with new music, but also inspired them to not try to chase the same sound — and success — of that particular song
• Why he’ll always follow Brent Smith

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Barry Kerch joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, Sept. 24; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.