How Tempe’s The Black Moods teamed with a rock legend on a classic tune

In the hands of The Doors, "Roadhouse Blues," released by the classic rock group as the B-side to "You Make Me Real" in 1970, is a gritty, unpredictable number that American Songwriter calls "a rock 'n' roll dynamo."

Last fall, popular local power trio The Black Moods took the American classic and put their own spin on it — with a little help from a famous friend.

The original track and video of The Black Moods' cover of "Roadhouse Blues" featuring original Doors guitarist Robby Krieger dropped in October, and it was a dream come true for Black Moods frontman Josh Kennedy.

"Every time I’m around him, I’m just grateful to be next to him," Kennedy says of Krieger.

Krieger wrote or co-wrote a number of The Doors' biggest hits, most notably "Light My Fire," although the lyrics for "Roadhouse Blues" came from lead singer Jim Morrison. He contributes guitar work (and awe-inspiring rock pedigree) on The Moods' cover.
There's something notable missing off The Black Moods' cover; specifically, the song's iconic harmonica sound.

There's a reason for that, Kennedy explains. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was supposed to appear on the track, but due to some personal issues, he wasn't able to make it.

"Maybe we can still get him on it," Krieger remarks. "Who knows?"

But there's something the new version has that the original version doesn't: a searing female voice in the form of Diamante Bovelli, known professionally just as Diamante.

The Black Moods invited her to participate because, "she’s a great singer for one, but we played a few shows with her and we thought it would be cool to bring a female vocal style into it," Kennedy says. "We love her to death. We played with her at a couple festivals. She was just down to earth. We knew she wouldn’t fangirl out. We knew she’d keep her composure when Robby walked in the room."

He laughs, "I failed miserably, though."

The studio session for "Roadhouse Blues" wasn't the first time Krieger and The Black Moods had played together or even met. The Moods' manager, Brandon Freisen, who knows Krieger, suggested the collaboration in part because the band had opened for him on several occasions, including a 2017 gig at Marquee Theatre in Tempe during which Kennedy came to the stage during the Robby Krieger Band's set to sing "Roadhouse Blues."

The band (including bassist Jordan Hoffman and drummer Chico Diaz) came to Krieger's studio in Southern California in November 2022 to record the track, and at first, it wasn't quite clicking for one particular reason.

"We were so excited that we were in the room, I had kind of refrained from getting stoned that day," Kennedy recalls, "and and the first couple takes we did, we were a little stiff."

As he tells it, between takes Hoffman went out for coffee and ran into Krieger on the way back into the studio. Krieger asked him if the band "still smoked grass," Hoffman said yes, and Krieger responded, "Maybe you could like burn a joint or something before the next take.”

"Jordan goes, 'Robby said we need to smoke some grass,' so we went out, burned a joint, came back in, and that’s the take we used," Kennedy says.

"Roadhouse Blues" had been in The Black Moods' repertoire for quite a while, and the band's comfort with the classic song is evident on the track and in both versions of the video — an extended version with more than an extra minute of music was released a couple of weeks ago. Diaz, Hoffman and Kennedy always look happy to be performing, and their characteristic joy is a nice foil to Krieger's quiet focus.

"It was fun, a fun day," Krieger says.

Want to hear The Black Moods in person? The trio have got a number of Arizona shows on the calendar in the coming months.

On March 8 and 9, they'll play two shows at SanTan Gardens in Chandler, where they'll also be signing bottles of their two signature SanTan Brewery & Distillery liquors, Black Moods American Whiskey and Bad News Bourbon.

They'll also perform at Club Congress in Tucson on April 4 and at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott on April 24, where they're opening for ZZ Top.

Which is to say, all the musicians involved in the latest version of "Roadhouse Blues" are plenty busy, but they're open to the possibility of making another collaboration happen, maybe sometime in the future.

"It was an honor and a pleasure to get to play with Robby, that’s for damn sure," Kennedy says.

The Black Moods. 5 p.m. Friday, March 8, and Saturday, March 9, at SanTan Gardens, 495 E. Warner Road, #101, Chandler. Standing room only on Friday is $25; standing room only on Saturday is sold out. A number of packages, including standing room plus a bottle, VIP and Super VIP are available. Tickets for the Friday performance, as well as Saturday, are available through Eventbrite.