KINGDOM COME still hasn’t worked out a settlement with original singer Lenny Wolf about releasing new music.
Wolf was not involved with KINGDOM COME‘s recent reunion tour, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the release of the band’s self-titled debut album.
KINGDOM COME‘s current lineup consists of drummer James Kottak alongside guitarists Danny Stag and Rick Steier, bassist Johnny B. Frank and vocalist Keith St. John (formerly of MONTROSE and LYNCH MOB).
Asked in a new interview with MetalAsylum.net if KINGDOM COME is working on new music, Keith said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I can say this: we’ve been writing new material. Danny Stag lives in Pittsburgh; Johnny B. Frank lives in Jacksonville, Florida; so those guys write things on their own and kind of do it and send stuff over. And then the rest of us are here kind of in the L.A. area. So Rick Steier and I gather, and occasionally with James, and write riffs. And we’ve got a ton of ideas. We’re just not sure what the future is with the name of the band, as much as if we’re gonna have to alter the band name a little bit to move ahead with new music, or if it’s gonna get worked out so that we can just be KINGDOM COME official and release as KINGDOM COME. So that’s an issue that hasn’t been worked out yet, to my knowledge. Either way, the band wants to put out stuff. We’re writing stuff. Everybody in the band is chomping at the bit to release some stuff. For me, that would be the icing on the cake for me, ’cause it solidifies us as a band by writing new stuff. So, hopefully — hopefully, yeah.”
St. John previously told RockMusicStar.com that the prospect of KINGDOM COME releasing new music was “still up in the air. There is uncertainty with what the legalities are with this lineup right now and everything being where it is, without signing any new contracts or agreements with us releasing something under the name KINGDOM COME,” he said. “Of course, we can call the band something else and release anything we want as a band, but I believe we’re still in negotiations with Lenny Wolf to sign off on releasing another KINGDOM COME record. And I’m not sure exactly where that’s at right now, because we haven’t really been talking about it since the COVID thing started.”
He added: “So, the short answer is we have songs, and we wanna put ’em out, and when it’s legally the right time to do it, we will.”
Steier said in a summer 2020 interview that KINGDOM COME would debut some new material at the band’s “Monsters Of Rock Cruise” live streaming event which was held last September. He went on to describe the group’s new songs as “in the same vein as the KINGDOM COME-slash-ZEPPELIN vibe.”
In a May 2019 interview with “Talking Metal”, Kottak was asked about KINGDOM COME‘s future plans as it relates to recording. He responded: “Rick has enough music — I’m not kidding — riffs and stuff for, like, 10 albums; he’s a songwriting machine.”
During the same chat, Steier talked about KINGDOM COME‘s decision to play without Lenny, saying: “Lenny retired. It’s something that he wanted to do. He wasn’t into going and performing anymore. So God bless him, and we wish him all the best. But we still have some rocking blood in us. So we wanna get out there.”
Back in 2018, Kottak admitted that he and his bandmates were initially concerned about whether people would accept KINGDOM COME without Wolf. “When we first put the word out to promoters and buyers, at first they were going, ‘Oh yeah! KINGDOM COME!'” the drummer recalled to Eonmusic. “Then we had to go back a few weeks later and say, ‘Sorry. Unfortunately, there will be no Lenny Wolf.’ So, out of the 20 or so offers we had from different buyers, only three actually pulled out. I was surprised; I thought we’d get a little more backlash. But so many bands, especially bands with longevity, they change members; look at THIN LIZZY, how they changed, or name any band that’s been around for 25, 30 years, and there’s very few that have all the original members.”
After its early run of success in the ’80s, KINGDOM COME released several albums, with Wolf remaining the only constant member of the band. The group’s most recent effort was 2013’s “Outlier”.
