A Black Crowe flies solo: A Q&A with Rich Robinson

• Courtesy MFH

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Atlanta native, Rich Robinson, barely had time to finish high school before his band, the Black Crowes, were opening for ZZ Top and Aerosmith and selling records by the millions. The band delivered soulful Southern rock 'n’ roll music off and on for over two decades before seemingly officially calling it quits earlier this year. During the Crowes extended hiatus, Robinson delivered his first solo effort, Paper, which had plenty of rock bombast a Crowes fan might anticipate, but hinted at some richer, subtler textures the band had not quite explored. Last year’s offering, The Ceaseless Sight, blooms like a fully matured version of the seeds planted on Paper. After touring with his band to support the record, this year finds Robinson performing solo on select short runs across the country and Europe. It's safe to say Robinson is not only enjoying working as a solo artist, he is flourishing. Robinson took a few minutes to talk about recording his new album, performing solo, and working at the Original House of Pancakes before making his to perform an evening solo acoustic music at Eddie's Attic on Sat., Aug. 15.

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What made you decide to tour solo as of late?

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To me, it’s just trying to challenge myself, I guess. I like doing different things and keeping it interesting. And I also really like presenting a song in it’s most basic form sometimes. Most of the songs that I write and have written throughout the years have been (on) acoustic. This year I’ve been able to spend more time with my family, but also thought, “Hey, let’s casually do some shows here and there in this format,” because it’s just kind of cool and I think people like to hear those songs the way they’re written. And I like to play them that way.

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You’re known to tour with a lot of guitars, but you’re only taking five with you on this run?

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Yeah, I travel with a lot of guitars because I have a lot of tunings. Normally, if it’s a full set, I’ll have up to 15 different tunings. It’s just how I write. When you have that many tunings there’s a lot of back and forth and it puts a lot of stress on the guitar, so it’s always good to have a back up. So I’m trying to keep it down to a minimum, but sometimes it can be difficult (laughs).

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I imagine there’s one in standard tuning, one in open E, one in open G, and what else?

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Yeah, there’s open C, there’s drop D, there’s this D 7th tuning that I’ve messed with on a couple of records. There’s DADGAD which is this really cool, sort of Celtic, you know, Stills would use it, Bert Jansch, some cool people like that. So I always love learning about these new tunings, and really getting in there and just discovering them. When you hear Paul Brady or Bert Jansch, or those people making these huge Celtic chords. Just such a broad chord, there’s nothing cooler than that. So I’m always trying to look into opening up and broadening what I do.

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On the new album, The Ceaseless Sight, did you have all the music and lyrics done when you went into the studio, or did you work things out once you got in the studio?

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Well, I rarely have the lyrics done. I like to have the music done before I write lyrics, because a lot of times it will evoke emotions or a feeling about a song that I can listen to and then I feel a stronger connection to it. A lot of times, I would have songs finished. Everyone works differently, but me personally, I like to go into the studio and see what happens. Just get in there, because the feeling that happens when you’re in a (new) place is far different from what you may think it is (originally). I can’t really tell what it’s going to be. And then also the music dictates what it’s going to be. So as these songs come out and form it’s going to dictate what the record is going to be a lot closer than me trying to think about it, if that makes since. So on that record in particular, I was really happy to use the studio, really, to garner that excitement. To go in and just say, “I have these parts, or I have two parts, and I need this,” and just working it out. And that is something that really motivates me and inspires me.

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Were you working on the Dirigible Utopia EP at the same time as The Ceaseless Sight, and those songs kind of broke away and became their own thing?

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Well some of those, I had written a while ago and just kind of felt that they were more suited for instrumentals. So I just thought, “Well, fuck it.” I like to take advantage of being in the studio when I’m in there. It’s really cool to be able to do multiple things. On Through a Crooked Sun I had a four song EP of these more bluesy songs that didn’t necessarily fit as well on record with what else was going on. And I thought, “Well let’s just make an EP with one mic,” just me and (drummer) Joe (Magistro) in this tiny room. He had and old RCA ribbon mic and we just sat it up in the middle of the room and that’s that. I mean, I overdubbed a few things, but the basic of everything was just that one mic.

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Did you not write lyrics until your first solo album, Paper?

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Yeah, I never wrote lyrics. I mean sometimes I would have a concept of a song that I would give to Chris, like “Hey, this is what I’m hearing on this.” Because the music would be done when I gave it to him a lot of the times, or mostly done. But I never wrote lyrics per se. So Paper was the first time, and it’s kind of a daunting task to get in there and just write lyrics because you don’t want to sound like an idiot (laughs). You know, you’re trying to convey something. You’re trying to get in there and really say something. And then, what do you want to say? So it was a great experiment. But then over the years, I feel like it really helped me out. All these experiences that I’ve had have placed an ability and also a desire to express on that level too. Music is so subconscious, and putting in the lyrical content is really cool from a song standpoint.

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How does your painting process differ from songwriting?

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I think it uses a different part of the brain. A: It’s visual, instead of sonics. The visual aspect of it is what really appeals to me, because it’s different than what I’m used to. I don’t like to paint in a very detailed way, but I like the detail that comes through, so I do a lot of layering and layering and layering and adding and taking away and seeing how that works. It’s always a work in progress. As I’m painting, things spark an idea, which sparks another idea, so over the years I got into all these different formats. I was into gold leafing, and using oils, and canvas, and all these things and always up for different applications how this is going to work, buying different tools, seeing what they do. It’s really just a discovery and that’s what’s really cool about it for me.

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Lots of musicians lock into sets for entire tours, but you vary your set every night. Does that help keep things fresh?

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Yeah, I think it does. It keeps it fresh for me and it keeps it fresh for people who come to multiple shows. But ultimately, a set list is a creative form unto itself and you can create a different feeling every night. Adding three songs, or taking these away, and moving things around really creates that feeling. So it’s a constant movement that I’m always interested in.

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“I Have A Feeling” is a gently transformative song, lyrically and musically speaking. Do you feel human consciousness is moving towards something new and different or is that wishful thinking?

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No, I think there’s a percentage of the population that’s moving there. I think that people are waking up. Things that 10 years ago we would take as “Oh that’s just the way it is, it’s cool,” I think there’s a percentage of people on earth now that are looking at things saying, “Wait a minute, that’s not OK with me, and this is more the world I want to live in, and these are the things to see.” And I think there is a larger part of the population that is closed off to that and I think that’s where the strife comes from. People are holding on to what they know and what is safe and creating resistance in their lives instead of just moving forward and kind of going with it. Ultimately, the funny thing is, it's just faith, having faith that things will work, and be cool with it, and moving forward. I keep using this word, but this word really helps me a lot, is ‘recontextualizing.’ How do you ‘recontextualize’? You live this life, but how can you directly look at it from someone else’s point of view? If you just take yourself out of it, and look at these things from a different perspective, or maybe from the perspective of someone else, then you’ll realize everything’s cool, there’s no blame to be placed. That was the way it was and this is the way it’s going. And so, I kind of believe that, and that’s why I wrote that song in particular.

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Being that the Crowes are from Atlanta, there is a lot of local folklore about the other guys, such as Chris washing dishes at Fellini’s in crushed velvet pants, and Steve Gorman working at Wax 'n’ Facts. Where did you work when the band was getting started?

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(Laughs) I was at home! I was going to high school. I had a few jobs. There’s an Original House of Pancakes in Cobb County that my friend got me a job at. I lasted a week. Butch Walker’s girlfriend or someone he knew worked there at the same time, and he tweeted about it recently, which was really funny. I was like, “Fuck, I forgot about that.” But mostly I was literally in school and on the weekdays or sometimes on the weekends I would drive in and do shows, and then drive back out. I was writing "Shake Your Money Maker." We started when I was 17. And pretty much, the first song was “She Talks To Angels” and that was one that wound up on the record.

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An acoustic evening with Rich Robinson. $22-$28. 8 p.m. Sat., Aug. 15. Eddie’s Attic. 515-B North McDonough St. (upstairs) 404-377-4976. www.eddiesattic.com.