Ain’t That a Bitch

Man, Zoo Freaks, dig this one spinning right now on THE ZOO — "Ain’t That a Bitch" off Tom Keifer’s debut solo album The Way Life Goes. That track hits with this funky, bluesy groove that swings like something the Stones or Aerosmith might cook up on a hot night in the studio, all dirty guitar and that signature raspy howl of Keifer’s that just cuts through everything. You hear those lyrics about being pushed and shoved, roped and tied, everything but loved, yet the wild horse won’t break no matter how hard those spurs dig in. It’s pure defiance, baby, the kind of rock and roll spirit that makes you want to throw your head back and just ride it out. Keifer co-wrote this one with his wife Savannah and a cat named Conley White, and it sits right there as track twelve on an album that took a full decade to finally see the light of day, recorded bit by bit from around 2003 all the way to the 2013 release on Merovee Records. That long road itself feels like the song’s message, life throwing every kind of curve but you keep standing tall.

In interviews around the time the album dropped, Keifer talked about how titles like "Ain’t That a Bitch" and "Cold Day in Hell" capture that emotional buildup we all know too well. He told one interviewer it was why he named the whole record The Way Life Goes, drawing straight from life experiences and observations the way his heroes Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart always did, rooted deep in the blues. He said those feelings just accumulate over the years, from high school heartaches on up, not pinned to any one person but the cumulative sting of bad relationships and the fight to stay unbroken. Another time he called out "Ain’t That a Bitch" as one of his favorites on the album specifically because of the Clavinet he used on it — first time he’d ever put that instrument on a track, giving it this unique, funky edge that sets it apart from the more straight-ahead rockers. The whole album got a drier, live-feeling production that harked back to Cinderella’s Heartbreak Station era rather than the glossier Night Songs days, keeping the music raw and in your face the way it ought to be. Keifer has always started songs with the lyric first, waiting for that real inspiration to hit instead of forcing anything, and this one clearly came from that place of resilience.

Speaking of how this wild horse got his start, Tom Keifer came up in Springfield, Pennsylvania, born back in January of 1961 into a musical family where he picked up the guitar young, around eight years old. His mom got him lessons at the house, and the teacher would have him strumming basic chords while singing along, almost like singer-songwriter training from the jump. He was hooked on The Monkees as a kid, especially Mike Nesmith’s tunes, then dove headfirst into the blues and the big seventies rock like Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Bad Company, and the Faces. High school was rough with the usual teenage struggles and addictions, and he thought about dropping out to chase music full time, but his mom Adrienne dangled a Gibson Les Paul guitar as a bribe if he graduated. He stuck it out, got that axe, and started running with cover bands on the Philly and South Jersey club circuit, banging out everything from the Stones to Deep Purple and Skynyrd. Eventually he realized covers were a dead end if he wanted to make real records like his heroes, so he pulled back to focus on writing originals and formed Cinderella with his buddy Eric Brittingham. They played all-original sets at spots like the Empire Rock Club in Northeast Philly and the Galaxy over in Jersey, grinding it out until Gene Simmons of Kiss took notice and tried to get them signed, though that didn’t pan out. Then Jon Bon Jovi caught them at the Empire in 1985 and convinced his Mercury A&R guy Derek Schulman to sign the band. Night Songs dropped in 1986 and exploded, putting Keifer’s blues-drenched hard rock voice and guitar front and center for millions of fans worldwide.

Of course life threw the big one later, with the vocal cord paresis that hit during the Heartbreak Station tour in the early nineties, partially paralyzing the left cord and leading doctors to say he’d never sing again. Multiple surgeries, years of retraining with speech pathologists and coaches like Ron Anderson, and a whole lot of determination got him back on stage for Still Climbing and eventually this solo chapter. The Way Life Goes became his statement of perseverance after all that, and now he keeps rolling with the #keiferband, wife Savannah right there in the mix, blending those classic Cinderella hits with the newer solo material. You can check out everything at his official site tomkeifer.com, follow the man on Facebook, Instagram, and X, or join up with the fans in the active Tom Keifer & Cinderella Facebook group where Zoo Freaks and rockers swap stories and concert memories. That wild horse spirit Keifer sings about has kept him going through every twist, and spinning "Ain’t That a Bitch" for you all just feels like the perfect soundtrack for whatever life’s throwing next. Keep on riding, Freaks.