As part of the ’30th Anniversary’ tour of his very successful first album Shake your money makerThe Black Crowes will come back to Argentina and play This Thursday, March 16 at Luna Parkwith the big news of having among its ranks the Argentinian guitarist Nico Bereciartúa, son of another local star, Vitico, former bassist of the Riffs.
After an initial phase in the underground city of Atlanta, The Black Crowes had immense worldwide fame with the release of their debut album. Around the first successful decade, brothers Chris and Rich Robinson argued to the point of not even seeing each other at family reunions.
As in the history of rock, there have been meetings and comebacks, to the point that they have left their differences behind and have started a new tour interrupted by the pandemic, but which is now back in the ring.
Guitarist Rich Robinson, who had a solo career during his hiatus and with his own bands like Hookah Brown, Circle Sound and The Magpie Salute, spoke on Zoom and chatted about past issues, the current big moment, and the ‘incorporation of Nico .
“We haven’t been there since 1996”
-What do you remember about your last visit to Argentina?
-I was in 2017 or 2018, but we haven’t been with the Crowes since 1996, I think. We played before Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. I remember it was in a huge stadium, which was a lot of fun and it was very hot, incredibly hot. The people were amazing, everyone was freaking out. And of course touring with Jimmy is always great.
-I have bad news: it’s over 35 degrees here.
-Uh, shit. But at least this time it will be in a closed stadium!
-Tell me about the latest shows and how the tour is going. They recently went to a festival with Green Day in Arizona.
-Yes. It was very nice and they are very cool. First we did some dates in January to keep fit, because in November we finished the tour in Japan. And before that we had done Europe for six weeks. We were quite busy!
“We’re having fun”
-How did the idea of going on tour to celebrate the anniversary of the band’s first album come about?
-When we were apart, every year a producer would come and tell Chris or me to tour, but we weren’t ready because we come from a bad unhealthy moment. A band is like a family, and it doesn’t work when the dynamic becomes toxic and traumatic.
Chris and I had to go out to calm things down, so we each went out into the world to do our own thing, separately, for years. And that’s what we did. It was beautiful and creatively very satisfying, but something was always missing. I’ve always written songs with Chris’ voice in mind.
I remember one day I was recording in Wales at Rockfield Studios with my band Magpie Salute, I told a friend I would like to hear how Chris would sing those songs, and he told me that Chris had recently told him the same thing.
-And from there did they see each other?
-Yes. It was that simple, because the door opened. Our kids didn’t even know each other because we were strangers! Step by step, we got back together as brothers, then the proposal to go on tour came and this time we said yes. It was organic and we didn’t want it to just tour, take the money and do nothing else. We wanted to do things right, without repeating old mistakes.
When you’re successful, especially when you’re starting out as a kid, there are negative people around you, like the former drummer we had, who didn’t like Chris and I getting along and working the bottom line trying to distance ourselves. He is a liar who wrote a book full of nonsense. Why would anyone look for two brothers to fight?
So when we decided to come back, we decided to take care of ourselves, without intermediaries. That’s why we brought in new and positive people with good vibes. And we’ve had a lot of fun ever since.
“Nico is already like a brother”
-They are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first album, but it’s been almost 40 years since the band was formed, how do you see the time going by?
-This is very crazy. We all started very young: I was 15 when we started playing in that band called Mr. Crowes Garden, and I’m 54 this year, so I’ve been playing for 39 years. In that first band, our cousin got a drum set and Chris and I got guitars for Christmas, so we put together a band. It was very punk-rock and we wanted to call ourselves The Goo-Goo Mucks, from the Cramps theme, which we loved very much, just like the Dead Kennedys.
We made noise for a couple of months and then started taking things more seriously. I remember the first time I heard REM on the radio it was a life changer and influence that permeated the entire scene in the city of Atlanta where we lived.
Punk-rock is great and there are bands that survived, but we went deeper into songwriting and entered the alternative rock scene, like Echo & The Bunnyman.
-How was Nico’s income, where did you know him from?
-He sent me a video through a social network in which he played one of my solo songs. She just said that she liked the theme and that she wanted to send it to me. I liked his version of him and he seemed like a genuine and nice guy so I wrote to thank him and tell him I appreciate what he did.
A couple weeks later he told me he’d be in Florida state when we played and he’d like to meet me. We hit it off and I asked him to play with me at my solo shows. We’ve been friends ever since and I suggested we give it a try when we put this version of The Black Crowes together. And it was perfect! He plays very well, has good taste and is very respectful of the songs. He already feels like our brother.
This is Nico Bereciartúa speaking
Son of the legendary Vitico bassist, Nico played in bands like Viticus and Riff. He also released his first solo album in 2015. Over the phone, he confirms Rich’s explanation of how the meeting that led to playing together and now integrating none other than the Black Crowes came about:
“One day I saw Rich was having a Q&A with his fans on Facebook before releasing a solo album. There were like 200 people, but I wasn’t discouraged and posted a question and a link to the video which I made with one of his songs.
Eight months later, when I thought I hadn’t even seen him, he tweeted me to tell me he liked it. That’s when the email contacts started and one day I went to the US and met him and we hit it off. I still can not believe it!”
-How was the experience of playing with Rich?
-Obviously playing with them in South America was amazing and challenging in that. It was my first experience in that league, playing in places I’ve always dreamed of playing. Being with the Black Crowes today means a lot; There are no words to explain what I feel. It is proof that illusion and dreams are the last thing to lose. I’m a huge fan of the band and have seen them several times in the US so playing with them is very exciting.
the South American tour
- March 11 – Caupolicán Theater, Santiago de Chile
- March 14 – Unimed Space, Sao Paulo
- March 16 – Luna Park, Buenos Aires
- March 19 – Vive Latino Festival, Mexico City, Mexico
Source: Clarin
