The past three years have been quite a ride for Black Star Riders.

In 2012, after touring the world successfully as the last incarnation of the legendary Thin Lizzy, the group of veteran rockers – Scott Gorham (guitar), Ricky Warwick (vocals), Damon Johnson (guitar) Jimmy DeGrasso (drums) and Robbie Crane (bass) – made a bold, and some might say risky, decision. They secured a record deal (almost unheard of these days), decided to dump the Lizzy moniker (are they nuts?) and created some amazing new music (yes, new music). The question was, would anyone care?

Thirty-six months and two killer albums later, the answer is unequivocally, yes.

Black Star Riders make their second Milwaukee appearance on Friday night at the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino’s Northern Lights Theater, in a co-headlining show with '80s rock heroes Europe. BSR guitarist Damon Johnson and his bandmates have just returned stateside from a triumphant European tour.

"It was a big success," Johnson said. "The timing was great and sets us up for the big European summer festival season – which we’ll be back for."

Their second record, "The Killer Instinct," was released on Feb. 24 to universally positive reviews. Classic Rock Magazine hailed Black Star Riders as "the most re-energized and vital classic rock act on the circuit" and gave "The Killer Instinct" a 9 out of 10 review, claiming "all 10 tracks would sound glorious blasting from a jukebox in the best spit ‘n’ sawdust bar in town."

The Milwaukee show is one of only a few co-headline gigs with Europe in the U.S. before taking a month and heading back across the Atlantic. 

"We did not want to miss playing in the U.S. on the heels of the release of the album," said Johnson. "The fan reaction has been fantastic, the press has been really good and we’re certainly proud of the record, so we were committed to doing at least some dates in America to support it."

Breaking loose

Black Star Riders' first record, "All Hell Breaks Loose," was a big gamble for the band and for their record company, Nuclear Blast. Nuclear Blast had signed on, initially, for a new Thin Lizzy record. It would have sold on the strength of the name alone. But the band didn’t feel quite right recording new material as Thin Lizzy.

"With the first record, initially Scott was seriously considering making a new Thin Lizzy album," Johnson said. "You can imagine the pressure, the second guessing – how do you make a Thin Lizzy album for 2013? So a lot of the material we wrote had been influenced by stuff that Scott had brought — a lot of lyrics that were influenced by Phil Lynott – as it should be for a Lizzy record. But we ultimately decided against it."

So the band re-named themselves as Black Star Riders, and while there were strong echoes of the classic Lizzy sound, due to Gorham’s guitar and vocalist Ricky Warwick’s Irish heritage, "All Hell Breaks Loose" had a distinctly fresh, new feel.

"The debut album was so well received and people were very pleased that we had made the right decision to come up with a different name for this new music – we had a lot more freedom and a lot more confidence with the new record," said Johnson. "The biggest difference was that this time we knew from the very beginning of the writing, that this was going to be a BSR album. You would be amazed at how quickly these new songs were written."

BSR toured extensively behind their first record, mixing the new songs with Lizzy classics – a formula that worked so well that Johnson said that most of the "that ain’t Lizzy" naysayers have disappeared.

"The detractors have gone away – or they’ve become a supporter," he said. "Know this, we’re always going to play some Thin Lizzy in our set because the fans want us to. We’re proud of that history. Scott owns a piece of rock history for his time with Lizzy – but this combination works very well."

Conquering America

While they’re playing to massive festival crowds abroad, the band’s next challenge is to find a way to break through to a distracted, fickle American rock audience.

"It’s a challenge today, finding and building an audience," Johnson said. "We’re taking the old school approach – constantly touring, doing whatever it takes to get this music to people. Word of mouth is so solid on 'Killer Instinct' that we’re seeing a lot of new faces at our shows.

"In America, it’s a bit disappointing – to know how great the band is live, know how great the record is – it’s just tough to reach people today. I don’t know how any rock ‘n roll band can reach mass amounts of people in 2015 ... people just have de-prioritized music – again, that’s disappointing."

No matter the difficulties of navigating an in-flux new music landscape, however, Johnson and the rest of Black Star Riders continue on. 

"But it won’t deter us, it won’t frustrate us, it won’t make us give up – this career chose me. I didn’t pick it. I find myself in a band with guys that are all the same way and share that same dedication. Do you think Scott Gorham has to do this? No. Scott’s legacy is intact. He’s just proud of the band, proud of the songs, loves to play live and he’s really pleased with how it’s all evolved.

"We believe that something will happen. That BSR can somehow find a way to reach that larger audience in the US and I can promise you, since four of us live here – we would all love that. Regardless, we’re proud of this thing – we’re going to keep making records and keep touring."

Mix that "Killer Instinct" with solid new tunes and an amazing live show, and I’d bet that lots of music fans will soon be Black Star Riders believers, as well.