Former Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson grooves on
new gigs

By Tom Kielty, Boston Globe Correspondent  |  June 25,
2004

MANCHESTER, Tenn. -- Not so long ago Chris Robinson
was living the rock 'n' roll dream, or so it might
have seemed.
	

The Black Crowes, the band he and his guitarist
brother, Rich, assembled as youngsters in Atlanta, was
a commercial and critical success. Their 1990 debut,
"Shake Your Money Maker," flew in the face of emerging
grunge and rapidly devolving hair metal to sell more
than 3 million copies.

"The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion," which
followed in 1992, entered the charts at number one. By
all accounts, the Crowes were poised to enjoy a career
modeled after their musical heroes the Rolling Stones
and the Grateful Dead.

It wasn't to be. Under the weight of lineup changes,
constant touring, and a tense brotherly bond, the band
started to buckle. In the midst of this, something
unexpected happened. Chris Robinson fell in love.

"I can't speak for other people but I've wanted to be
in love and you never know until that happens,"
Robinson says of meeting actress Kate Hudson, whom he
would marry on New Year's Eve of 2000. The couple have
a son, Ryder, who was born Jan. 7.

Enjoying dinner backstage at the Bonnaroo Music
Festival before his biggest show since the Crowes'
heyday, Robinson is in fine spirits, glowing with his
good fortune. Besides his new family, he has a
dynamite second solo record, "This Magnificent
Distance" that hits stores Tuesday. He performs at the
Paradise tomorrow.

"Lyrically I don't think I've ever been so satisfied
after a whole album," he says of a record that manages
to combine the quieter folky side he embraced on his
2002 solo debut, "New Earth Mud," with a stomping rock
groove.

"That's my obsession, my lyrics," he admits. "It's
funny, the two things I thought I was very good at or
that set me apart from other people, especially in the
'90s, was my singing and my lyrics, and I very rarely
have ever read about either."

He punctuates the comment with a self-deprecating
laugh, but there was a time when a well-documented
decadence threatened to overshadow his artistry.

"When [Hudson and Robinson] met we first lived in my
[New York] loft and it was this big loft with 15-foot
ceilings," he explains. "I had ceiling-to-floor, thick
black velvet curtains. When Kate moved in they opened
up and stayed that way."

Meanwhile, his often confrontational relationship with
Rich is so healthy that the two surprised fans at the
Jammys award show in March by joining Gov't Mule for a
rendition of "Sometimes Salvation," a Crowes favorite.

For guitarist Warren Haynes, who plays with the Allman
Brothers Band, the Dead, and his own Gov't Mule, Chris
Robinson's musical prowess is heartening. The singer
now plays guitar throughout a two-set performance that
often runs close to three hours. Lest anyone conjure
visions of Mick Jagger's turns on guitar, Haynes is
quick to set the record straight.

"A lot better than people might expect," Haynes says
when asked point-blank of Robinson's abilities with
the guitar. "Chris has got a natural groove. He's a
good drummer and so when he started getting serious
about guitar playing it surprised a lot of people."

The sense of an artist moving in new directions was
not lost on Vector Recordings copresident Ken Levitan,
who inked Robinson to a multiple release deal after
seeing his live show.

"When we heard he was available we immediately set up
a meeting and went out on the road to see him,"
Levitan recalls. "He has a tremendous foundation with
the Crowes and hopefully we can build from there."

For Robinson, that history is addressed to a certain
extent on the standout track "Train Robbers." With its
references to being "the stuff of headlines" and
"visions of empty ballrooms," it's hard not to read
the song as an epitaph to the Black Crowes.

"There's a whole side of that song that is about that
obviously, but it's not just about my experience, it's
about anybody's experience," he says before pointing
out the song's redemptive quality. "The other part,
which is fairly typical of my writing, is that at the
end of the chorus it says, `Until your next getaway.'
Everything comes and goes, man."

With both his family and career blossoming, the singer
has no plans for a getaway of his own.

"Without being too weird and metaphysical, it's truly
about trying to be present," he says of his band, the
New Earth Mud, which he compares to Conor Oberst's
Bright Eyes as a vehicle to play what he wants with
whom he wants. "We can only be present as a group of
musicians if we don't go too far forward, back, or
sideways. If it hadn't fallen into place so naturally
and easily, then I would have been like, `What the
[expletive] am I doing?' "

Chris Robinson and the New Earth Mud perform tomorrow
at the Paradise. Tickets, $20, are available through
Next. Call 617-423-6398.