Doolittle's Bottle Rockets spark interest on the road
By DYLAN SIEGLER
Billboard
* 02/01/99
BPI Entertainment News Wire
story
(c) Copyright 1999 BPI Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
* NEW YORK (BPI) -- Country rock outfit the Bottle Rockets are living
Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again." After a disenchanting trip down
the
major-label highway, they're insisting that the world keep turnin'
their
way -- and their way, of course, is on the road again.
"We were sitting around for a long time, and we got cabin fever,"
says
drummer Mark Ortmann.
Front man Brian Henneman adds, "After some time off (we) . . . got
back on the road. It was fun, just like the old days, four guys in a
hotel room."
The group was dropped by TAG/Atlantic after releasing its 1996 album,
"24 Hours A Day," which has sold 16,000 units, according to SoundScan.
The act recently hooked up with Austin, Texas-based Doolittle Records,
which released the Rockets' "Leftovers" set in November.
"Leftovers," according to the band, was intended to bridge the gap of
more than two years between the last studio album and a new release
planned for this spring on Doolittle.
"We just wanted something out there in the meantime," says Ortmann.
Henneman says that "24 Hours" was meant to be geared toward radio. He
says some of the tracks recorded -- the "leftovers" -- didn't fit into
that plan.
"There was some great material from the last recording session that
the band wanted to put out," says Jay Woods, vice president of sales
and
marketing at Doolittle. "So we decided to use it as a setup piece,
competitively priced, and we've had great success getting it into the
market and selling it through."
"Leftovers," which carries a suggested list of $8.98, includes the
humorous rockabilly ditty "Coffee Monkey," the dirt-kicking roadhouse
number "Dinner Train To Dutchtown," and the classic "Get Down River,"
which is also featured on the Smithsonian Folkways collection "River Of
Song: A Musical Journey Down The Mississippi." The band appears in the
PBS series of the same name and played in the series' recent launch
concert.
"My Own Cadillac" is the Festus, Mo.-based band's homage to
automobiles. "Cars are an American subject," chuckles Ortmann. "Even
Chuck Berry did it."
The Bottle Rockets' success so far is due in no small part to the
loyal audiences they've earned on tour.
"When you have a band that tours extensively, you can rely on that
touring fan base," says Woods.
Fans in Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Austin, Texas, have been
especially receptive, he says.
"These guys are not a shoegazing band; they're not tragically cool,"
Woods says. "When they play live, they leave nothing in the bag. Their
fans recognize that."
Terry Currier, owner of the Music Millennium store in Portland, Ore.,
says that although "Leftovers" was marketed toward the group's core fan
base, "it's good enough that new fans could be picked up with it."
The band is now in Springfield, Mo., recording the yet-untitled work
with longtime producer Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, who also helmed the band's
acclaimed 1994 set, "The Brooklyn Side," on East Side Digital.
Describing the band's relationship with Ambel, Henneman says, "While
I
consider it a great take if we make it from the start of a song to the
finish, Roscoe's the detail man. I'm impressed by that."
"The new one is going to be a real rock album," adds guitarist Tom
Parr.
Songwriting duties are shared by Henneman and the band. "When we
write
songs, it's like everyone brings in their own tree, and we all decorate
it," explains Henneman.
The label intends to take it straight to rock radio.
The Bottle Rockets will continue to tour, depending on the new
album's
release schedule, and they'll likely be hitting Europe in June.
The life the Bottle Rockets love, they say, is makin' music with
their
friends. And they can't wait to get on the road again.
