Published Thursday February 27, 2003 Chris Robinson takes flight BY CHRISTINE LAUE WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Life after the Black Crowes is sweet for Chris Robinson. "As far as I'm concerned, it's done," says Chris Robinson about the future of the Black Crowes. "We don't really talk." The band's 36-year-old frontman is reveling in his marriage to actress Kate Hudson and in the artistic freedom of a new solo career. "When you're 24 years old, you see rock 'n' roll as a means to express the way you feel," Robinson said from Rochester, N.Y., a stop on a tour that lands at Omaha's Ranch Bowl Tuesday. "This is the same thing, but I'm at a different place in my life." And that's why it sounds different. Playing with Mud -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What: Chris Robinson with the New Earth Mud, his electric band (21-and-older show) When: 9:30 p.m. Tuesday Where: Ranch Bowl, 1606 S. 72nd St. How much: $20 advance; $22 day of show Information: 393-0900 "New Earth Mud," Robinson's debut solo, released in October, shows a more mellow, introspective side to Robinson. The charismatic frontman still plays the blues- and funk-infused rock that made the Black Crowes a popular and respected rock band in the 1990s, but now he has toned it down, showing a maturity that age and marriage have brought him. "Love in the truest sense of the word obviously changes you," Robinson said. Recorded in Paris while Hudson was filming a movie, the album reflects those changes. It kicks off with a midtempo song called "Safe in the Arms of Love" and nears its end with the gentle lullaby "Katie Dear," in which Robinson croons "Oh Katie dear/ Don't fear/ It'll be all right/ Your place is here." "The whole purpose of doing this album was to make an intimate statement," Robinson said. The purpose was not, he said, to make a commercial album with formulated pop songs that are guaranteed to make it onto radio. "I think we've gotten to a place where the record companies try to tell you what rock 'n' roll is," he said. Robinson said he sees himself working more like a traditional artist, reflecting on everything in life and chronicling those emotions in songs that form naturally, rather than from motivations of fame and fortune. It's the same development path that artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Beatles took - from rock to love songs, he said. "It's just a progression of the things I want to do musically," Robinson said. He doesn't worry that his kinder, gentler side will alienate fans of the more raucous Black Crowes. "I appreciate what the Black Crowes did," he said. "I'm proud, but I don't see being creative as a service. Either you like it or you don't. And I'm man enough to do that. And that's my right as an artist." When the Black Crowes broke onto the charts in 1990 with Top 40 singles "Jealous Again" and "Hard to Handle" from their debut album, "Shake Your Money Maker," fans and critics flocked to the band's music for its retro-but-fresh sound at a time of waning hair bands. That album went on to sell three million copies, but following albums, despite the band's continual popularity as a festival and touring band, didn't sell as well. The band followed its most recent studio release, 2001's "Lions," with the tongue-in-cheek-titled "Brotherly Love" tour, referring to Robinson's ongoing tensions with brother and guitarist, Rich, and to tourmates, the famously feuding Gallagher brothers of Oasis. Eventually those tensions would take their toll on the Black Crowes. The band released the two-disc "The Black Crowes Live" album in 2002, but band members parted to work on solo projects. Robinson has been ambiguous about the band's fate, referring to its status as "on hiatus." But before his solo stop in Omaha, he spoke frankly about what "hiatus" means to him. "As far as I'm concerned, it's done. We don't really talk," Robinson said, adding that having a family member in a band makes it harder to consider things final. "I think maybe it was a nice way of saying, 'Well, maybe, we'll see.' For me, it seems permanent. But you never know." Robinson said he does talk to his brother but not very much. "When we do, it's more about his kids and Mom and Dad." Robinson presents his feelings about his Black Crowes days as neutral. He doesn't play Black Crowes songs during his shows, he doesn't use the Black Crowes' name to promote his solo work, and he doesn't have bad feelings about that time of his life. "I look at the Black Crowes as an experience," he said. "That's how I spent 15 years of my life. I don't have any negative thoughts, I have no regrets. It's just, that's what it was." The new solo era presents the modern-day Bohemian with a new sense of freedom. "As a front person and as a singer, I don't have to guess what other people are doing, where their motivations are. It's all my thing. That part of it's different. There's a different level of independence," he said. "Obviously, a group dynamic revolves around group collaborations. The main thing about the Black Crowes ending, probably the only thing that everybody agreed with, except my brother - because we couldn't agree on anything - was (we) don't want to be in a place where (we're) going out and just doing it because it's a job." By going solo and finding a new collaborator, Robinson is soaring in a new direction, one with a different purpose. "Kate and I make all of our decisions in our life based around our schedules," he said. "I don't think either of our careers comes before our relationship." "New Earth Mud" reflects the beginning of that journey, Robinson emphasizes. "I think really my music is where I'm at and where I can go, as opposed to where I've been," he said.