Description
Label Review.
2017 album.
Our Overview.
Founded in 2011 by Chris Robinson, the Black Crowes frontman, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood came together around guitarist Neal Casal, drummer George Sluppick, bassist Mark Dutton, and Black Crowes keyboard player Adam MacDougall. The group's studio debut, ‘Big Moon Ritual., arrived in June the following year, with its sequel, The Magic Door, appearing just three months later.
Their fifth studio album ’Barefoot In The Head’ was recorded in Stinson Beach in January 2017 during a stormy few weeks on the the Northen California Pacific Coast. The 10-track effort, self-produced by the band, marks a third collection of new material in only two years time, It's an incredible progression for this band and sounds so very much like them but also unlike anything they've ever done before. Throughout the album, Robinson and the band deftly intertwine country, blues and psychedelia, even channeling freewheeling 60s’ folk
“They say the only people who know true freedom are musicians and gangsters,” Chris Robinson says with a laugh. “And Bob Dylan said to live outside the law you must be honest. We’re living in these anxiety-filled times, in an era of ‘no truth,’ but what our music represents is this truly honest way of communicating with people, and that’s a really freeing thing.”
If their stellar new album, 'Barefoot In The Head', is any indication, freedom suits the Chris Robinson Brotherhood well. The band is in the midst of one of their most prolific periods to date, with a slew of studio and live records coming out amidst a rigorous tour schedule that only seems to fuel their fire even further. Barefoot In The Head finds the band pushing boundaries and breaking new ground with more joy and wonder than ever before. The album showcases the continued growth of Robinson’s songwriting partnership with his bandmates (guitarist Neal Casal, drummer Tony Leone, keyboardist Adam MacDougall, and bassist Jeff Hill), while revelling in the kind of playful adventurousness that can only come from five artists tuned in to the same sonic wavelength.
“The music that we make, the concerts that we play, it’s this world we’ve created for ourselves and our people,” explains Robinson. “We want everybody to understand that no matter where you are in your life that you can always be barefoot in your head. There’s always this other place you can go. Is that place it real? That’s your decision to make, what you’re going to let be real to you.”
That may ultimately be the true definition of freedom: not what’s bestowed upon you by others, but rather what you bestow upon yourself. For the CRB, that means the ability to follow their muse unfettered by expectation or preconceptions, the ability to measure their success purely in terms of artistic fulfilment and the bonds of brotherhood.
“After six years of solid touring with this band, we can still roll into Fayetteville, AR on a Tuesday night and have the most fun of any musical thing I’ve ever been a part of,” says Robinson. “We don’t have the weight of responsibility or nostalgia, which means we’re in the very psychedelic situation of getting to be totally honest and create everything in the moment. That’s freedom.”