Chris Robinson, best known for being the lead singer of the Black Crowes, has a new project titled the Chris Robinson Brotherhood.
Curious name, considering this is a band that doesn’t feature his brother, Crowes’ guitarist Rich.
“If it ever became popular, we could turn it into a cult,” joked Chris Robinson. “That’s way down the road. We wouldn’t be on the cult-awareness network. We would be the good cult. Organic food, rock music, slight mind control, no big deal.”
“There’s also a little tongue-in-cheek in there about my other job I have sometimes,” Robinson added about the name.
| Onstage |
| An Evening with the Chris Robinson Brotherhood |
| » Where: The Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria |
| » When: 6 p.m. doors, 7:30 p.m. show time, Thursday |
| » Info: $22.50; 703-549-7500; birchmere.com |
The Chris Robinson Brotherhood performs Thursday at the Birchmere in Alexandria.
While Robinson’s “other job” with the Crowes is on the back burner, he’s thoroughly enjoying his new five-piece group. The Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s new album “Big Moon Ritual” came out in June, and the companion album, “The Magic Door,” is set for release in September.
Last year, the band performed 46 shows in California, putting 13,500 miles on a van in a seven-week period. That experience helped refine the Brotherhood’s sound.
“This is the best time I think in the history of American rock music probably since the mid-’60s that you can be free to make whatever you want and do whatever you want,” said Robinson, 45. “How did we get to this place of independent existence outside of the regular mainstream music business? We didn’t sign a record deal. We didn’t do any photographs. We didn’t do any interviews. No promotions, no nothing except just us and the music and going out.”
“My take on it would be, there was wisdom in the hands of the people who built the temple, as well as the people that went inside of them,” Robinson added. “So we had to do some temple building.”
The band’s resulting sound has definite spacey, jam-band, Grateful Dead-like influences. Though each track on “Big Moon Ritual” is expansive, the songs are also tightly constructed, making for an engrossing sonic experience.
“I would say that our music is like a covered wagon, but we have a covered wagon with warp drive, though,” Robinson said. “Our cowboy boots have moon dust on them, let’s put it that way.”
