It has to be intimidating to read comparisons between your music and that of folk legend Bob Dylan. In a way, though, it has to be worse to be reading that some critics think you’ve lost your musical edge. That’s the seesaw Nebraska-born Conor Oberst has ridden since he was just out of his teens, recording an indie rock, folk, alt-country sound. Whatever your thoughts on Oberst’s music with Bright Eyes, he has also followed Dylan by shying away from media attention, even as he tours behind Bright Eyes’ latest release, “The People’s Key.” That’s left fans scrambling to find news and confirm rumors such as that “People’s Key” may be the last we hear from Bright Eyes.
“I don’t think it’s anything official,” Oberst told HitFix in one of his rare interviews, noting that he, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott currently live in different cities but hope to make another album together. “I hope there is.”
| Onstage |
| Bright Eyes |
| Venue: 9:30 Club, 815 V ST. NW |
| When 7 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: Concert is sold out at press time. Tickets are available for $30 for 7 p.m. Monday at Rams Head Live, 20 Market Place, Baltimore. For details, go to 9:30.com; 800-955-5566 |
Of course “less is more” has always been the watchword for Oberst, who began recording as Bright Eyes when he was just 15. Consider the latest album, which he told Rolling Stone was purposely crafted as more open than other albums, including the 2007 release “Cassadaga.”
“On [that album] all the sonic real estate was occupied,” he told Rolling Stone. “That one felt like it was left in the oven too long. As we were making this record, we tried to remind ourselves: ‘Let’s leave space.’ ”
One way the group did that was to return to Oberst’s hometown of Omaha, Neb., and record in Mogis’ studio. There were still plenty of outside influences brought in, though, including guest appearances by members of Cursive and the Faint, and El Paso musician Denny Brewer, who Rolling Stone said is “a sixty something biker and New Age shaman Oberst met while recording in Texas.”
“A lot of people would write him off as a conspiracy-theory crazy person,” said Oberst. “But then he’d turn a corner and hit on a point that was completely truthful.”
Bright Eyes also took musical inspiration from reggae and incorporated many Rastafarian ideas into contemporary culture.
“In Rastafarianism, they’re talking about fighting back against an imperial power with the best tools at their disposal, which are music and soul and weed and community,” he said. “The symbolism in that music seemed very potent to me, and very appropriate.”
