Thirty years after Edie Brickell and New Bohemians launched their career with Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, they're ready for take-off again with Rocket, their first album in more than a decade.
"We're all 50-something-year-olds, but we're playing like 19-year-olds ... we're chomping at the bit," says guitarist Kenny Withrow. "We're not jaded at all. Life can do funny things, and we don't take it lightly that we're able to play together again at this stage."
Tracking all the stages in the Dallas band's stop-and-start career would require a scorecard as long as your arm. In a nutshell, the band broke up in 1991 — three years after its Top 10 hit "What I Am" — and had a series of brief reunions while Brickell was raising her three children with husband Paul Simon and working on other projects, including Bright Star, her Tony Award-nominated musical with Steve Martin.
"Now that all my kids have moved out of the house and are in college, I can leave and travel," Brickell says by phone from the East Coast. "When Kenny invited me to come down, I said 'Sure! I'll be there' ... I got very excited."
That invitation in 2017 turned into three reunion concerts at the Kessler Theater to benefit La Rondalla, a free after-school music school in Oak Cliff where Withrow taught. The shows went so well that Brickell put the brakes on her in-the-works solo album and steered her attention to Rocket. The group recorded the album in Austin with Kyle Crusham, a producer who has worked with Charlie Sexton, Bob Schneider and others.
"I feel it's the best the band has ever sounded in the studio. We captured joy on tape," Brickell says. "Kenny and Kyle were like magic together. I've always wanted to see Kenny comfortable in the studio — he's an incredible musician and I don't think that records have tapped his potential. When I saw Kenny with Kyle, I thought 'There it is!'"
Withrow's jazzy guitar melds perfectly with New Bohemians drummer Brandon Aly, percussionist John Bush and bassist Brad Houser throughout the album. Highlights include the psychedelic "Green Magic" and "Singing in the Shower," a shimmering slice of '60s pop that hearkens back to the group's reggae and ska roots.
Rocket (out Oct. 12 on Verve Forecast) also shows a funky side the band rarely gets credit for, especially on "What Makes You Happy," a disco-new wave tune that recalls mid-period Talking Heads. The group filmed a whimsical video for "Happy" while roller-skating at an indoor rink in Austin.
"One of my dreams is to have a big skating barn ... my husband makes fun of me and says 'Really?'," Brickell says with a laugh. "But I just love to skate and listen to music. It's a meditative activity that makes me happy."
Several of the album's most striking tunes are ballads ("Drawn to You," "Far Away") which show off the more delicate side of Brickell's voice. The older she gets, the less she tries to rock out, she says.
"I don't want to yell and try to push (my voice) over the band," she says. "My voice is what it is. I've got to allow it to just be that."
Three decades after the group first packed Deep Ellum venues like 500 Café and Club Dada, the New Bohemians are still learning new tricks. Brickell, for example, says she's getting more patient and better at letting songs evolve, thanks in part to input from Withrow.
"Kenny is a great laughter and giggler ... It really loosens things up and allows things to flow," she says.
Withrow, who co-wrote six Rocket tunes with Brickell, says their unique partnership grows stronger with age.
"I've played and written songs with a lot of amazing people, but there's really no substitute for what happens when I write with Edie," he says. "Sometimes it's the dorkiest thing ever, sometimes it's the best thing ever, but it just can't be duplicated. It's an endless well."
Plan your life
Edie Brickell and New Bohemians perform Thursday, Oct. 11 at 9 p.m. at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $41.50. granadatheater.com.
