Black Stone Cherry: 'We didn't want to come empty-handed'

"I've got the 5G!" he exclaims. "I don't know if we've got this working, but whatever I've just done, I'm not going to touch anything else!"

The sticksman is here to chat, not about a new record – though more on that later – but about the band's winter tour across British arenas, a co-headline jaunt with modern-day Brit rock icons The Darkness.

Neither band is a stranger to the UK circuit, though it is the Kentucky four-piece more accustomed to larger halls in this day and age. The chance to team up with one of their formative influences is not lost on Young though, who is effusive about the chance to team up with some real-life heroes.

"I think they're one of the best," he says. "We've been huge fans of those guys for years. When we were in high school, they were blowing up on MTV. We quickly became fans of their music. I remember in 2004, we drove down to Nashville and they had The Wildhearts opening for them. We were trying to sneak around backstage, to try and talk to them!"

With just seventy-five minutes each with which to play around, all indicators are that Black Stone Cherry will continue to stick to the proverbial hits – Lonely Train, White Trash Millionaire, In My Blood and the like.

But what of this new album? Young reveals little about its name or release, bound to confidentiality, but he can reveal recent single Out of Pocket at least offers a hint of its direction.

"We didn't want to come empty-handed," he adds. "We didn't want to play the same old stuff. But we've worked really hard."

The record was recorded in part at the Plaza Theatre in Glasgow, Kentucky, where the band play their homecoming shows every other year. The sessions were split seasons apart. "Half of the songs were recorded in hot weather, and we cut the rest in minus three!" he laughs.

At the very least, new material or not, their run with The Darkness – who they first played with in 2012 at Thetford Forest – will serve up a double-helping of guitar music firmly rooted in the duel seventies influences of Southern rock and British glam.

Young certainly wants to reiterate he and his band-mates will enjoy the run of shows – and he adds anyone else who checks in will too. "They're really cool guys! All those dudes, they're funny as heck, and they're great showmen too. I don't think anyone coming to the show is not going to enjoy it."

Black Stone Cherry and The Darkness play at First Direct Arena, Leeds on Thursday February 2. www.livenationentertainment.com