While it's been living somewhat in the past with a newly enhanced version of its latest album, "Black Butterfly," and an upcoming live release, Buckcherry also expects to have some fresh music in hand soon.

"You will most likely hear something new from us next year," guitarist Keith Nelson told Billboard.com during a recent conference call with reporters. "I don't know if we have a timetable as much as we have a bunch of ideas that we're kicking around. We're very excited about writing new material."

In fact, singer Josh Todd added, the group is already "working on a project we're kind of keeping secretive right now. It's definitely going to be a departure from what we do. It's definitely coming out great. Hopefully by next year someone'll get to hear it." Neither Todd nor Nelson would elaborate except to say it's a musical endeavor and involves the band only, with no guests. "You're gonna have to be patient on this," Nelson said.

Buckcherry is giving fans plenty of music in the meantime, however. "Black Butterfly (Enhanced)" came out on Sept. 8, replacing the track "Too Drunk..." with Buckcherry's over of Deep Purple's "Highway Star" that the group recorded for TNT's NASCAR broadcasts. "We figured eveyrbody had 'Too Drunk...,' " Todd explained. "('Highway Star') fit in perfectly there."

"Live & Loud," which is due out Sept. 29, was culled from six shows recorded earlier this year and marks Buckcherry's first official concert album. "This is the first time we've had an opportunity to do it the way we wanted to do it," Nelson said. Todd added that, "There's imperfections, there's extended songs...We wanted to capture what this band was about live. It's a cool experience." Nelson added that, "This was the first."
 
Buckcherry jumps back into the live experience on Sept. 25, when the group joins Kiss for its Sonic Boom fall tour of North America. The first incarnation of Buckcherry previously toured with Kiss in 1999, and Todd and Nelson said they're looking forward to rekindling the relationship.

"We want to be involved in events, and this is a huge event," Todd said. "They've been 35 years out there in rock 'n' roll; that's impressive for anybody to do, especially in this time. They broke a lot of rules and we love that. Plus, [i]we're[/i[ huge Kiss fans, too."