“I have a book problem” – Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God discusses his obsession and why the band will never break up

Randy Blythe, the singer of Lamb Of God, has no plans to retire. The 53-year-old author and singer recently discussed his forthcoming book with Full Metal Jackie, “Just Beyond The Light: Making Peace With The Wars Inside Our Head,” which is scheduled for release on February 18th. Blythe’s remarks arose after a conversation on his love of reading and writing as well as the distinctions he sees between writing books and making recordings.

They don’t really compare. Writing books is, at least in my case, much, much harder and so far, much less financially lucrative than being in a band. At least being in my band, I’m a glorified traveling black T shirt salesman with Lamb of God. We get paid to travel, not to make music, really. But that’s not really the case with writers most of the time. So with me, my first true love wasn’t music, it was reading. When I was a little kid our television exploded during a lightning storm, a power surge and a lightning storm. And my dad decided he want my brother, he wanted my brothers and I to experience childhood without TV for a little bit. And we groaned about that. But I’m very grateful in retrospect for his decision because without TV, as a young child, I fell deeply, deeply in love with books and always have been. I used to have a drinking problem. Now I have a book problem. I have way too many books. I’ve always loved them. I love what they do. I love how they are in a way, they’re time travel because I can read something by Shakespeare 500 years ago or Marcus Aurelius from 2000 years ago and I’m right there with that person. It’s really time travel achieved. So it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and it’s something that I can do till the day I die. Lamb Of God never has to break up. I don’t think we ever will. We’ve talked about it. We don’t ever have to break breakup officially. But I don’t know if at like 85 I’m going to be capable of running around onstage and whipping up mosh pits. I just don’t. It’s a very energetic performance you put on. I can’t see it. Nobody wants to see 85.

For this next trip, Blythe will be doing a promotional tour, which will include signings, fan Q&As, and storytelling.

02/19 Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
02/21 Harrisonburg, VA – The Golden Pony
02/23 Somerville, MA – Arts at the Armory
02/25 Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount
02/26 Toronto, ON – Red Room at The Concert Hall
02/28 Lansing, MI – Grewal Hall at 224
03/01 Joliet, IL – The Forge
03/03 Nashville, TN – The Basement East
03/04 Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
03/05 Austin, TX – Parish
03/07 Denver, CO – Meow Wolf
03/09 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
03/12 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
03/13 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
03/14 San Diego, CA – House of Blues