Dispatches
Interviews, firsthand band history, announcements and stories from the trail. No rumor mill. No invented history. The people who lived it tell it here.
21 Years In: The Dead Still Ride
The roots of 2 IN THE CHEST reach back to 2005. Velvet De Blonko joined in 2007, and by 2010 the band had fully committed to the Old West concept that became its unmistakable identity: skull-masked riders, songs tied to stories from the 1800s, heavy Southern-metal groove and a stage show built to look like it came out of another century.
Twenty-one years after those earliest roots, the band is now centered on a family lineup: Reverend Black Jack McBride on vocals and rhythm guitar, his wife Velvet De Blonko on drums, and their daughter Mary Ella O'Sullivan on bass. With four albums behind them, a fifth record in progress and a fourth rider still being sought, McBride looks back at what made the band different in the first place—and why he still believes the biggest chapter may be ahead.
DISPATCHES: For somebody discovering 2 IN THE CHEST for the first time in 2026, how would you describe what this band is and what makes it different from every other heavy band out there?
REVEREND BLACK JACK McBRIDE: The roots of this band go back to 2005, and the fully realized Old West version of 2 IN THE CHEST really took shape in 2010. Today my wife and daughter are in the band, so that makes us different right there. We are a full-on family band. My daughter plays bass, my wife plays drums, and I sing and play rhythm guitar. Right now we're looking for another rhythm/lead guitar player to complete the lineup.
It takes a special kind of person to be in this band because 2 IN THE CHEST is pretty heavy-duty. We are a visual and audio spectacle. For special shows we've built entire stage environments. We've brought out facades, full-size cannons, smoke, lighting and sets that made the stage look like the Alamo or an Old West town. We don't do that at every show, but for certain shows we go all the way.
There are a lot of great bands out there—amazing musicians and amazing music—but I never wanted us to look or sound like everybody else. 2 IN THE CHEST is a full concept band. I always describe it the same way: head to toe, lyrics to logo. The clothes, skull masks, character names, artwork, stage presentation and songs all belong to the same world.
The songs are either tied to the Old West or based on actual stories from the 1800s. In a way, we tell history from the stage. Take the Pony Express. A lot of people assume it lasted for years. It was only in business for about eighteen months before the telegraph made it obsolete. Those kinds of stories fascinate me. We take history and turn it into heavy music.
DISPATCHES: The band has survived lineup changes, a changing music scene and a completely different music industry. What has kept you from walking away?
That's an easy question. I've always wanted 2 IN THE CHEST to become that national act, that band that gets out there and tours the world. Most bands dream about that, and I still believe we have what it takes.
Being a family band makes that even stronger, because my wife and daughter are not just hired musicians who might disappear tomorrow. We are a family.
But what really keeps me doing it is seeing the smiles on people's faces when we're onstage. It feels like one big happy family. Everybody is having a good time. They're paying attention to what we're doing and becoming part of it. There is nothing like looking out and seeing people enjoying themselves because of something you created. It is one of the most exhilarating feelings in the world.
DISPATCHES: What is different about sharing the stage with Velvet De Blonko and Mary Ella O'Sullivan?
It's completely different. That doesn't mean the other members weren't family to us. Especially Jameson Jack Coburn. Jameson is still part of this band. He recently went through major surgery, and at seventy-five years old, we don't know how many shows he may still have in him. But he has been part of this family for ten years.
That's something people should understand about 2 IN THE CHEST. I don't erase people just because circumstances change. People leave because of health, family, moving or life. They are still part of the history.
But playing with my actual wife and daughter is something else entirely. Mary Ella has been around this band practically her whole life. She was onstage when she was four years old playing tambourine, Vibra-Slap, sticks, washboard—whatever we could put in her hands— and dancing around entertaining the crowd. She has even played drums on a couple of songs.
Then she moved to bass as a young teenager. One of the moments I will never forget happened around the Heroes' Blood album-release period. At the time we had Kimby “the Mason” McDaniels, Jameson Jack Coburn, myself, Velvet and Mary Ella. The stage was completely filled. We had Alamo-style facades, full-size cannons, lights and smoke. We had worked on that show for about a year and a half, including where everybody would stand and how we would move.
Mary Ella was standing to my right playing bass. She was getting into it, the crowd was getting into her, and she was having the time of her life. I had just finished the first verse and was getting ready for the next one when I looked over at her.
And it hit me: that's my daughter standing there playing bass with me, and my wife is behind us playing drums.
I became so overwhelmed by that moment that I completely forgot the next verse. And I didn't care. That moment was worth more to me than remembering the lyrics.
DISPATCHES: You now have four albums behind you. How has the music changed from Iron Smoke & Spit through Whispers of the Fallen?
First and foremost, I have always written the foundation of the music. I write the rhythm parts and the structure, and then when we have a lead guitarist, I give that player the sections where the lead belongs so they can bring their own personality into it.
The fourth record was the first time I really opened the door for another member to contribute more directly to arrangements and pieces of songs, and that was Kimby “the Mason” McDaniels. I absolutely love that guy. He is still a brother to me.
The reason I historically kept the writing centralized wasn't ego. It was continuity. People leave bands, and sometimes when they leave, songs leave with them. I never wanted 2 IN THE CHEST music to disappear because somebody moved on. If a song is written as 2 IN THE CHEST, I want it to remain part of 2 IN THE CHEST.
With every record, the goal has been simple: top the previous one. Iron Smoke & Spit established the signature sound and was heavily connected to Native American history. Most of that material was conceived around a three-piece structure. Lefty McCray and Dr. Dagmar Jordanson were involved in that era, and Christian Lee from Sectas also contributed guest lead guitar.
Lead Jacket in a Pine Box was built more deliberately around a four-piece band. Heroes' Blood expanded things again. By the time we made Whispers of the Fallen, there were three guitar parts through much of the record. That added so much depth and body. You can listen to some of those songs ten times and notice something different.
Now I'm working on record number five. Ironically, we're a three-piece again, so in one sense I'm going back toward the roots—but this material is becoming deeper, darker, heavier and more soulful. I never wanted to make records where every song sounded identical. The common thread is the Southern-metal foundation and the 2 IN THE CHEST signature sound.
DISPATCHES: The songs are tied to stories from the 1800s. Where did that idea come from, and why has that period remained so important to the identity of the band?
It really goes back to being a kid. I saw KISS and immediately understood that I didn't just want to stand onstage and play songs. I wanted to perform. I wanted something visual happening along with the music. I never wanted to be in a regular band.
The very earliest version of what eventually became this project was much heavier and more monster-oriented—closer to that full theatrical character idea you see with a band like Lordi. I had already developed the Reverend Black Jack McBride character—Reverend Blackmore Jackson McBride—but the overall concept was still evolving.
Some of those early musicians moved on and became part of Malo De Dentro, including Chuck Simoes and Brett “Sixkiller” McKinney. I have no problem with that. I still love those guys dearly.
From there, the Western concept became clearer until everything finally connected. History gave us an unlimited supply of stories. We aren't a band that just writes another song about partying, women or Satan. We are a Spirit-filled Christian family that tells stories from the stage.
Some songs are directly based on historical events. Some are inspired by them. Sometimes I enhance the story and push it into legend or almost superhero territory. But there is usually a real story underneath it.
I will find something historical, research it, read the story and then write the song from there. One of the songs I'm working on for the next record deals with the Apache leader Victorio and his last stand. The chorus is built around that image: last man standing.
Sometimes history is already so powerful that you don't have to invent much. You just have to turn it into a song.
DISPATCHES: Your Christian faith is very visible in the band. Has that changed over time?
My faith hasn't suddenly appeared. People in the Arizona music scene have known for years that I am a Christian. I have never hidden it.
The Reverend name has always carried that connection for me, although I take that title seriously and sometimes wrestle with using it because of what it means to me spiritually.
Christian ideas have existed inside 2 IN THE CHEST lyrics throughout all four records. Sometimes there are direct Biblical ideas. Sometimes there are references people may not immediately recognize. One example is the idea behind “Lead Jacket in a Pine Box”: what does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?
Those ideas fit naturally into the world we write about—judgment, consequences, life and death, good and evil, redemption. Christ is King in my life. That isn't changing.
At the same time, we have never tried to fit ourselves neatly into what people expect a “Christian band” to look like. Some Christians may look at the skull masks and theatrical imagery and not understand it. That's okay. Again, everything is part of the concept: head to toe, lyrics to logo. The faith has always been there.
DISPATCHES: You're looking for a fourth rider. What kind of guitarist—and what kind of person—could actually fit this band?
First and foremost now, Christ has to be Lord of that person's life. They need to be Christian. They need to love God. And family has to matter.
This isn't the kind of band where somebody walks into rehearsal, plays for two hours, packs up and disappears until the next rehearsal. We spend time together. Jameson Jack Coburn and his wife, Noel O'Shaughnessy, are perfect examples. We eat together, visit, spend holidays together. That is what I want.
It's almost like the brotherhood people associate with a motorcycle club. You actually know each other. You're not just names on a flyer.
Musically, I need somebody who is a strong, solid rhythm guitarist with lead ability. I'm not looking for Yngwie Malmsteen. I'm not looking for Eddie Van Halen. I'm not looking for somebody whose only goal is to prove how many notes they can play.
I want somebody who understands how to write a lead that digs into your soul. Speed can be great. Technique matters. But the lead has to make the song better. I want somebody who can hit one note and make somebody feel something.
They need dependable equipment, they need to know how to play, and they need to have their life reasonably together. Hard drugs are out. What somebody does responsibly on their own time is their business, but nobody comes to rehearsal or a show impaired. We do not drink and party in front of the audience. We maintain a family-oriented image and take that seriously.
That combination makes finding the fourth rider harder. But that person is out there, male or female. They'll show up when God is ready for them to show up. Amen.
DISPATCHES: With the October 24, 2026 Halloween Birthday Spooktacular approaching, what does the next chapter of 2 IN THE CHEST look like from where you're standing now?
It looks promising. I am neck-deep in writing the fifth record right now, and I'm really excited about where it's going.
Visually, we may go back toward some of the nastier roots—coming straight out of the grave, dirt, webs, decay, that kind of thing. Musically, I'm taking pieces of what worked across all four records and bringing those ideas forward. But it's going to be heavier, darker and more soulful.
And Mary Ella is going to sing a lot more. She has contributed vocals before. She was one of the younger female voices on Heroes' Blood—I believe it was “Evil Horde”—and she sings the title track on Whispers of the Fallen.
On this fifth record, I want people to hear a lot more of her. She turns eighteen in October. Her entire adult life is sitting in front of her, and she isn't talking about quitting this band. She loves this family and she loves 2 IN THE CHEST.
So the future is bigger shows, better shows, heavier music and hopefully someday that major contract that allows us to take this thing around the world. That is still the dream.
For right now, though, the next stop is October 24 at Starlite Lounge. It's going to be a big night. I hope everybody comes out.
From the Archive
Past interviews and published appearances remain part of the record. Video embeds have been removed from this page; the surviving text sources are linked directly instead.
ROCKET Interviews Reverend Black Jack McBride
A published interview from the earlier 2 IN THE CHEST era, preserved in The Metal Den's metal-interview archive.
Read the Archive EntryJoe's Grotto: An Oral History
Rich Ornelas of 2 IN THE CHEST appears among the musicians and scene figures remembering the Phoenix metal venue and the era surrounding it.
Read the Oral HistoryMetal Meatbag Central
Earlier writings, scene coverage, band updates and material connected to Reverend Black Jack McBride's Dust Bowl Metal Show years.
Visit the ArchiveFour Albums on Bandcamp
The music behind the stories: Iron Smoke & Spit, Lead Jacket in a Pine Box, Heroes' Blood and Whispers of the Fallen.
Hear the RecordsLatest Dispatches
Record Number Five Is Underway
Reverend Black Jack McBride is actively writing the fifth 2 IN THE CHEST record. The current direction is heavier, darker and more soulful, with the three-piece family core at the center and a larger vocal role planned for Mary Ella O'Sullivan.
Halloween Birthday Spooktacular
2 IN THE CHEST closes its 2026 live calendar at Starlite Lounge in Glendale, Arizona, for the Halloween Birthday Spooktacular celebrating Velvet De Blonko and Mary Ella O'Sullivan.
Rhythm / Lead Guitarist Search Continues
The band is looking for a Christian rhythm guitarist with lead ability, dependable gear, commitment, strong family values and the right personality to become part of the 2 IN THE CHEST family.
