Adam Kury: From Candlebox to Sons of Silver

Adam Kury: From Candlebox to Sons of Silver

Sons of Silver has arrived and are ready to rock your world in nothing short of an epic way!  They recently toured with the almighty Dogstar (Keanu Reeves’ band), and are about to hit the road once more with the one and only Myles Kennedy!  Their debut full length album Runaway Emotions is a rager, jam packed with hard rock anthems you’ll want to revisit time and again.  Sons of Silver features vocalist and guitarist Pete Argyropoulos (PeteRG), drummer Marc Slutsky (Splender, Peter Murphy), keyboardist and engineer Brina Kabler, guitarist Kevin Haaland (Skillet), and bassist Adam Kury (Candlebox).  Highwire Daze recently caught up with Adam Kury to find out more about his participation within the ranks of Sons of Silver, his tenure with the iconic Candlebox, his other projects such as Legs Diamond, Angels In Vein, and a whole lot more!

We are here with Adam Kury, and we’re going to ask him questions about Sons of Silver and some of his other bands. First of all, how did you wind up becoming involved with Sons of Silver?
Pretty much everything I’ve done in my life has been through word of mouth and personal connections and people you work with and such. I’ve never gone and actually sought gigs. To that point, I’ve worked with Peter off and on in a few bands over the years. I’ve met him many years ago. We had a band called Last December, and it was doing well. We were on the verge, we were dealing with a lot of major labels, and that was right when the industry started to really pivot and change in just how everything got done. We read the writing on the wall and knew that, at least business and industry wise weren’t going to get over that hump.

Then we had some members leave, and bottom line is we started to look at some other things. Then around that time was when I actually met Kevin Martin and got into the Candlebox stuff, and Peter went on and did his own thing. Then he reached out to me, and he was doing some acoustic demos, singer songwritery stuff because he had been doing production and writing and stuff, and just got bored working by himself and was like, “Let’s throw something together.” So, I came back and did that. Little by little, we got all the band members together through this process. At one point we realized we were more of a band than a singer-songwriter project. So that’s how Sons of Silver became to be. We changed the name and started writing as a group rather than a singer-songwriter with a backing band.

How does this new album Runaway Emotions compare to the previous EP’s that were put out?
I think they’re not a huge departure, honestly, from those. I think that it just the evolution of the band, like anything, you do it a few more times and you get a little more comfortable in how you work and how you get things done and that confidence. I think we’ve grown a little bit for sure. The biggest thing is, it’s a full album format where we were doing EP’s and we didn’t start out with a conscious choice to make a full album, but we started working on things during the pandemic, and then when touring opened, we knew we weren’t going to go back out and tour right away because every artist in the world was out there. So, it flooded the market again when it opened up. So, we’re like, well, let’s just keep writing and recording and see what we get out of it. Then we realized we’re going to put together an album here.

What does that title Runaway Emotions mean to you?
Peter could answer it a little bit more, but we’ve all just talked about things. That’s one thing with the band as we discuss current events and topics and just our lives in general. So, the songs are pulled from things that we’ve all talked about. I think just things in these last few years, again, not to harp on the pandemic, but it turned everyone’s world upside down. Certainly, musicians were really caught in it because effectively our livelihoods went away because we couldn’t tour and do things. So, I think sometimes you just get overwhelmed. Things get to you one way or the other. A lot of emotions in life.

What was the experience like touring with Dogstar and with Keanu Reeves?
It was great. Everyone in their camp is really cool. The band is great. Just really nice guys. At the end of the tour, we all agreed that if circumstances set it up again, we’d tour together again. It was a really smooth tour. I felt like just their style of music and our style of music, they weren’t identical, but I think it was something that both fan bases really enjoyed together. I don’t think there was anyone that came in that liked one band and was totally put off by the other. Like I said, they were just really good guys. Great tour.

You were about to hit the road, I think in days with Myles Kennedy that’s coming pretty fast. What are you looking forward to the most about touring with Myles Kennedy, and have you met him?
Briefly, yeah. With Candlebox, we had done some shows with Alter Bridge back in the day. I don’t know him real well. I know one of his techs well, because he was our guitar tech for some time as well. So it will be a bit of a reunion with that. I know the guys in Tim Montana’s band and their crew because last summer I was out with Candlebox and they were on the Bush and Jerry Cantrell tour with us for a little while.

What are some of your memories of playing Ultimate Jam Night and Ultimate NAMM Night? What stands out to you the most?
The NAMM one is a little bit different because it’s just this single show where they call them the bigger players. I think that year was the year that they got the David Lee Roth Band back together on stage. So you get to get it hyped up a little more. But I think those things are a blast. I think as players go, we all look for excuses and reasons to get together and jam and play songs and it’s a lot of fun to mix and match and work with people maybe you never had a chance to work with. The NAMM thing is just great because it’s such a big event.

The Ultimate Jam Nights themselves are really nice, I feel, because they tend to do a lot of great causes. I know The Whisky is taking donations for the LA Fire Relief. There’s always some sort of a thing they’re promoting. I know a year or two ago, we did the thing when Australia had all those wildfires. I participated in the raising money for the Australia wildfires and funds to help the people. So they’re always trying to do something good in addition to it. I think that’s something nice as a musician we can play music anytime, anywhere, but when you can get in and get behind and help a good cause, that makes it extra sweet.

You’ve been involved in some other bands, we’ll get to Candlebox in a minute, but Angels in Vein with Chris Van Dahl. Tell me about that project and how you became involved with that.
I’ve known Chris for a really long time, so one of the first touring bands I got into when I moved out to LA was this band called Legs Diamond. Back in the ’70s, they just had this classic rock sound. I got in with them and started touring and we were doing a show in San Antonio, Texas. Cherry Street was on the bill. We just got to talking to each other and just hit it off. Had a lot of good common interest and mutual friends and he’s just a really good dude. So we’ve been friends since then. That’s a project that’s… it’s never fully gotten into a touring situation. They were working on the record and said, “Hey, would you like to be involved?” I was like, “Yeah, of course. You guys are great.” Both him and Taz. It might do something one day as far as a live thing, but right now, everyone’s got a lot of other things going on. We all have other businesses and other bands and you want to make sure that when you roll it out that everyone’s on board and that you’re doing it for the right reason. So that one, it’s still there, it’s still simmering the heat’s on that one, but it’s on the back burner for all of us, I think.

How did you become involved with Legs Diamond?
Well, it was a music store that I worked at when I first moved out here, I was building and fixing guitars at a place called Nadine’s in Hollywood. Mike Prince, the keyboard player, worked in the keyboard department there, surprise. So they got to a spot where they were needing a bass player, and they were like, “Hey, would you like to come down and be a part of it?” Actually, I think even to that point, when I first came down, I don’t know if they were necessarily looking for me to be in the band. I think they were auditioning guitar players and asked if I would come play bass while they could find a guitar player. Then they were like, “Hey, would you like to do the gig?” If my memory serves right. But that was quite a long time ago. They don’t do a whole lot, but every once in a while, they’re still massively huge in San Antonio.  Thankfully, the people there and a few other markets in the world still know and love the band enough that we can come play every once in a while, and do it. It’s not anything that we’re ever going to go full tilt with, but it’s fun to get out there and play a few songs and just have a good time.

Do you think Legs Diamond would ever want to record new material?
That’s something that’s been talked about forever. I know the guys have been saying they would like to do one really good last album just to wrap things up for the band and they are still playing an occasional show here and there. But it is just one of those things where we haven’t had the momentum, the available time and a really big enthusiasm from all the members at the same time. So, I know Roger’s really behind it, really wants to get on it, and some of the other guys have other things going on in their lives, so they’re happy to do it, but they’re not pushing real hard.

Candlebox questions. There’s a few of these. Your first album, when you look back on the first album you did with Candlebox, which I believe was Into the Sun. What do you think of that one now in retrospect?
I love that record. That record was the first one because the band went away in ’99, the band broke up. This was the return after so many years. So this record, I think we wanted to really try and capture as much as that original classic sound, so to speak. I think the band really did that. I’ve had many people tell me that the first record and Into the Sun were their favorites because it caught that same spark, but everyone’s got different favorites.

It was a good time. It opened up a lot of doors as far as working with people that I really enjoy. Obviously, everyone in the band and then I first got to work with Dave Krusen on that. He came in and did some drums, and then Dave and I have gone on to have three or four other bands, and he was even in Sons of Silver, he was a founding member of that as well.

Let’s skip over to the last Candlebox album, The Long Goodbye. When you look back on that album, what do you think of it now in retrospect?
I think it’s a great record. It was one that I was not quite as involved in, only because Kevin had a very specific idea of where he wanted to go with it. He wanted to basically come in and do… Kevin listens to everything and he knows… you name an artist, and I’m sure he could tell you songs off the record. He just really connected it in and he was just excited with a lot of new sounds and a lot of new things and feeling like… with any artist, you don’t want to feel like you’re treading over your same ground. So I think he wanted to push into new areas and do some fresh stuff. So like I said, I was a little more back on that one because he had a specific thing in mind, but it was still a lot of fun to make that record.

We got together and all wrote as a band and everyone involved with the band are great musicians and just good people. They’re all my friends. So it was a lot of fun doing it. It was done in a different environment. We did it with our friend Dom Miggs in Nashville. Yeah, every record is a very different experience and that one was no different than the others and that the environment, the time, the people involved, and you always hope that the music is a different chapter than the ones you’ve done before. I think that one definitely did that as well.

What’s currently going on with Candlebox? Is it over?
No. I don’t think it will ever be over. When Kevin talks about retirement and those things, it’s not that he doesn’t want to play music, it’s that he’s not wanting to do the, okay, we’ve got to write a record, we’ve got to come up with this record, we’ve got to promote this record. Now we have to do this big tour to support the record. He’s at the place in his world where he still loves to perform and do things, but he’s picking and choosing things that really appeal to him, that really excite him. When things come up, he is like, yeah, that sounds fantastic. I always wanted to work with this band or that band. Like this summer we went out with Bush and Jerry Cantrell, and Kevin has known Jerry and Alice In Chains for years, and he’s always wanted to tour at that band, and we never have.

We’ve played a couple of festivals here, so it was nice to get out there with Jerry and do that stuff. It was nice to get out there with Bush and those guys and get to know Gavin and the rest of the guys. Another great band. He’s not seeking out tours, but if something like that comes up and it seems really good and the numbers are there and we can support it, yeah, he’s into doing it. He’s really trying to focus a lot on charity events and things like that, and one-off experiences and collaborating with people that he’s either worked with before or never worked with that he’d really like to do stuff with.

Are you involved with any other current bands or projects that we haven’t talked about?
Yeah, there’s some other things that I do here and there. I think obviously right now the Sons of Silver is a big focus and then obviously the Candlebox is still doing things, so everything else fits in around those things. I do have another project called Big Game Hunters with Dave Krusen and his buddy Gino. He lives up in Seattle and we’re looking to finish up a record right now, but as of yet, we’ve never gotten together in a room and played as that band. It’s been just trading things back and forth and writing songs and having a good time. So like I said, the real big things right now are obviously Sons of Silver, and then obviously Candlebox has been for a long time as well.

Do you have any messages for Candlebox fans who need to discover Sons of Silver?
I think little by little they’re doing so and I’m not sure… I don’t want to necessarily go and say, “Hey, I’m going to reach out to everything Candlebox and pull it into this.” That’s a good thing. I think a lot of people will find it. But I think with any band, ultimately people have to find you on their own and they go through things and I’m certainly talking to my friends about it and people that I know from the road and letting them know about it. But I also don’t want to be this tireless self-promoter that’s dragging people out to a show, because I think it’s going to stand on its own. I think when people find you naturally on their own, it’s way better.

I was just looking at the links for the video for Running Out Of Words and I’m really blown away with people finding this on their own. I looked literally yesterday, and we had close to 1,000 likes on it and all these comments-  and I’m looking at it right now today, and it’s at 1.5. We’re getting close to doubling it every couple of days with people that are liking it. No dislikes. All the comments are great. So, I love that those are mostly all people that I don’t know and that we’re going to get to know, hopefully out there on the road. We’ve toured with Candlebox before, so a lot of the fans already know us. The ones that dig it are going to come along for the ride, and the ones that we are not necessarily appealing to, they’ll find their own thing and that’s fine. That’s what music is. You got to find your own vibe. But I think we have more than enough to bring in our own fans and build our own little world.

Sons of Silver will be at The El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on February 16th!

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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