“I like to have a blast plugging into my Engl amp – even if it's just to wake up the neighbors”: Ritchie Blackmore swapped rock for Renaissance music – but says he’s still not above cranking a tube amp once in awhile

Ritchie Blackmore long ago traded rock for Renaissance and medieval music, and the guitar for the mandola. However, despite the shift in music genres, there's still one guitar-related thing he likes doing, albeit occasionally. 

“Occasionally I like to have a blast plugging into my Engl amp and blast out. Not very often – even if it's just to wake up the neighbors,” he says in an interview with the New Jersey Stage. 

Blackmore's Night - Minstrel Hall (Schloss Burg Solingen, Jul 25, 2002) - YouTube

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Blackmore also lifted the veil on his disenchantment with rock, a feeling that led him to forge a new path. 

“The stress was from the traveling to do with rock and roll, the continual trying to come up with different augmentations of heavy riffs, which can be boring,” he admits. 

“I was getting stale playing the same type of music: heavy rock for the sake of playing heavy rock. I have always been interested in melodic rock – melodies in general. 

“Toward the end of Purple, it was just being loud for the sake of being loud, so when I heard Renaissance music, there were so many incredible melodies that struck a chord with me. That was such a relief in many ways, so I jumped off the monster train just to play some melodies more organically.”

Blackmore's Night - Darkness / Dance Of The Darkness (A Knight in York, 2012) - YouTube

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In 1975, after leaving Deep Purple the first time 'round, Blackmore founded Rainbow, which fused baroque music with hard rock. He took his passion for Renaissance and medieval music a step further in 1997, when he formed Blackmore's Night together with his wife Candice Blackmore, where he's since favored a multi-instrumental approach. 

“I have attempted to play the mandola, the hurdy-gurdy, and the nyckelharpa on occasion. I find it very difficult playing the wind instruments which are my favorite Renaissance instruments.”

In a 1991 interview with Guitar World, Blackmore had already revealed his ambitions for a folk-leaning music project. 

“I would love to go back to the 1520s, the time of my favorite music,” he stated. “A few of my friends in Germany have a very authentic four-piece, and they play medieval music. I've always wanted to play with them, but it hasn't panned out yet.”

Ritchie Blackmore is about to embark on a tour with Blackmore's Night. The short run kicks off on June 22 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and fans are invited to dress in Renaissance-style garbs.