BoDeans Biography

Kurt Neumann, the veteran Milwaukee-based band's founder, major writer, and vocalist says, "I've always thought of the BoDeans as a really American band." How could we be anything other than blue-collar youngsters fresh from the heartland? When I was younger, I despised the term "roots rock," but I realized that if "roots" meant blues, rock, country, and soul all mashed together into one sound, then yes, that is the sound of American-made music. On American Made, the BoDeans' ninth album, Neumann completely embraces this concept. Its dozen songs are laced with strands of indigenous roots elements—Heartland hoedown folk (American), Celtic-rooted mountain music (Walk Through This World, Flyaway), zydeco (Everything You Wanted), Southern roadhouse soul (Don't Bring Me Down), Chicago blues (Shake the Fever), and 100-proof roots rock (Shake the Fever) (All the World). The band—Neumann on vocals and guitars, original member Michael Ramos (Patty Griffin, John Mellencamp) on keyboards and accordion, longtime BoDeans bassist Ryan Bowman, and new member Warren Hood, a fiddle/violin virtuoso from Austin—play these tracks with heartfelt emotion as well as jaw-dropping skillfulness. The album title, it turns out, has both a thematic and a stylistic resonance. The BoDeans have crafted a soul-stirring song cycle with American Made that accurately represents the American experience at this important juncture in history. Neumann's blue-collar origins and desire to show what a beautiful country America remains, despite its difficulties and challenges, inspired the album, which features a stunning performance of Bruce Springsteen's I'm on Fire. We've begun to rethink our identity as Americans as we've entered the new millennium — who we are, or who we aspire to be, according to Neumann. Growing up with an alcoholic father, as well as the many other chemically addicted persons in Neumann's life, inspired Chemical. Even as a child, he recalls, he could see the writing on the wall with his father. I used to think he was hunting for something at the bottom of that brandy bottle. I contacted AA at one point, hoping to locate a location where I could take him for treatment, but the person on the other end of the line told me I was a fool for even trying. He said I couldn't help him and that he'd have to make the contact alone. He died a few years later, perhaps from the effects of the alcohol. Springsteen's words have always spoken to Neumann when it comes to I'm on Fire, he adds. I know precisely what he's talking about since I've always had gut emotions like that. I only felt I could approach a few of his songs, but this was one of them. I've been singing it for a long time. We blew it down for fun while we were in the studio, and it turned out pretty lovely. On another level, he says, the album was influenced by the pop music I used to listen to on the radio as a youngster, feeling the hypnotic energy that radiated from that little speaker. In my songs, I've attempted to tap into that energy as much as possible. With the exception of Jay Leno, which was mixed by Jim Scott (Wilco, Tom Petty), who had worked with the band in the mid-'90s, Neumann enlisted John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Ben Folds) to produce and mix the album once he finished the new material. Neumann sold his vehicle, one of his most prized belongings, to fund the expense of recording at L.A.'s state-of-the-art Village Recorder, where the band had previously recorded with T Bone Burnett. Victor Indrizzo (Beck, Sheryl Crow) was called in to play drums by Alagia. In just three days, they recorded the entire album. The BoDeans are still going strong thanks to Neumann's renewed passion and determination, a quarter-century after their Burnett-produced debut Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams earned them a Rolling Stone readers' poll as Best New American Band, and nearly 20 years after their Closer to Free became a massive hit and the theme song for the sitcom Party of Five. The BoDeans continue to tour the United States every year, introducing their longstanding devoted fans' children to genuine, trend-free, American-made music. However, things may have gone very differently. Neumann admits that Llanas' unexpected departure prompted an intense and lengthy period of soul searching, prompting him to reconsider the basic beliefs he'd held throughout the band's existence. I questioned myself, "What is BoDeans?" out of irritation. Is it because of myself, or because of someone else, or because of the music? I remembered all the letters people had sent me over the years, telling me how our music had played a special role in their lives—a wedding, a death, a celebration, growing up, and becoming old. And I realized that the audience's connection to our music is crucial to the BoDeans' identity. So the idea for this album is to keep doing what I've been doing for many, many years, and to keep doing it as long as people have a connection to it. That's why I'm so enthusiastic about this album. The fact that the fans have given me the opportunity to perform has humbled me.

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