MUSIC: Memphis rockers tweak their sound on new album

Lucero changes lanes

Lucero’s members are John C. Stubblefield (from left), Rick Steff, Little Rock native Ben Nichols, Roy Berry and Brian Venable. The band’s new album, “When You Found Me,” will be released Friday. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Bob Bayne)
Lucero’s members are John C. Stubblefield (from left), Rick Steff, Little Rock native Ben Nichols, Roy Berry and Brian Venable. The band’s new album, “When You Found Me,” will be released Friday. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Bob Bayne)

Well, this is different. There are synths on "When You Found Me," the new Lucero record.

It's not like the long-running Memphis band, fronted by Little Rock native Ben Nichols, has turned into M83 or anything; but there they are, soothing, '80s-tinged synthesizers from keyboardist Rick Steff on tracks like "Pull Me Close Don't Let Go," "Good as Gone" and the title cut.

It's good stuff, and it comes out Friday.

Opening with the atmospheric "Have You Lost Your Way" — which begins with Steff's swirling synths before Brian Venable's guitar slices in and the track soon swells like a raging river — "When You Found Me" is current-era Lucero at its most rewarding.

"I really like how it came out," the 46-year-old Nichols says. "It's something I've wanted to do before, but these are sounds we've never used on Lucero albums. I thought I might make a solo record to use some synths, but luckily we were able to incorporate it into 'When You Found Me.' They add a cinematic quality that I really dig."

As a songwriter, Nichols has embraced his talent for storytelling and developing characters, while the band — Steff, Venable, drummer Roy Berry and bassist John C. Stubblefield — have grown from its scrappy, countrified-Replacements-meets-the Pogues early years into a tight unit capable of nuance and toughness.

[RELATED: Watch the official lyric video of Lucero's "Outrun the Moon"]

"Outrun the Moon" tells the story of a young woman fleeing an abusive home. On "Coffin Nails," Nichols revisits his family's past and the scars of warfare, as he did memorably on "The War" from 2005's "Nobody's Darlings."

[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urd8U1rsR4M]

"All My Life," with its choppy fiddle and sly reference to the Natural State, the gorgeous title cut and the tender "Pull Me Close Don't Let Go" are odes to the transformative power of love that the band and Nichols, with his sandpaper vocals, manage to keep from dipping into sappiness.

"City on Fire," with its imagery of protests in the streets, is about as topical a song as it gets in the Lucero canon.

"We were recording in the summer, 2020, and tensions where high," Nichols says. "It was an intense moment all across the country and I think that subconsciously worked its way into the writing of those lyrics. I didn't want it to be a commentary, but I did want to capture that feeling of being surrounded by flames and fire."

Nichols, whose 2009 solo EP "Last Pale Light in the West," was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's gruesome novel "Blood Meridian," says that his writing on "When You Found Me" was in part influenced by the late Mississippi novelist Larry Brown.

"On 'Outrun the Moon,' I definitely had [Brown's novel] 'Fay' in mind. It's not based on 'Fay,' but the idea was an influence.

"I'd always imagined that song taking place near Brinkley or someplace off I-40 in eastern Arkansas."

The new album was recorded over two weeks in July at Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, with producer Matt Ross-Spang, who was also behind the board for 2018's moody "Among the Ghosts" and who has produced or engineered records by Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Al Green and others.

“When You Found Me,” Lucero
“When You Found Me,” Lucero

Being a pandemic record, it was made with physical distancing and band members wearing masks. The pandemic also had another effect. Since the band hadn't been on tour since March, Nichols, who now lives in northern Ohio with his wife, their 4-year-old daughter and two stepdaughters, had more time to work on songs and presented the band with demos that were more fleshed out than usual.

"We don't work from demos that are that detailed," the 47-year-old says. "I usually bring a skeleton of a song to the band and they flesh it out. In this scenario, I had so much free time and time to work on the songs, the demos were kind of overdeveloped. There were a lot of layers that we had to whittle away once we got in to the studio."

Venable, 49, says the process was different.

"Ben doesn't walk in with, like, 12 songs with words. On 'Among the Ghosts,' we went in and were writing on the floor from scratch, then he took those recordings home and added the words. This one, he had a working knowledge of what he wanted. We practiced for a week or so and built things from there."

Nichols says: "If I had my preference, I really enjoy hashing it out with the guys and letting them guide the direction of the song."

Ross-Spang says Nichols wanted to stretch a bit with the instrumentation.

"We knew we were going to be doing something slightly different. Those guys are constantly pushing themselves. This is a natural extension of their sound, but even before Ben's vocals come in you know it's still Lucero. The synths and other sounds really complement the material, we're not just trying to add something on there to be different."

The 34-year-old producer is a Memphis native and has known the Lucero members for years.

"Anyone who grows up in Memphis and who plays music in Memphis has a respect and love for Lucero," he says. "A band that has been together that long that has made so many great records and are still like a family is amazing."

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Lucero formed in 1998 when Venable, a fan of hardcore punk, wanted to start a country band and asked Nichols to join.

"He had, like, 1½ songs written and I didn't know how to play guitar," Venable says with a chuckle.

The lineup soon solidified with the addition of Berry and Stubblefield. Steff, who was part of Hank Williams Jr.'s band and has played on countless sessions with artists ranging from Cat Power to Huey Lewis, signed on full time about 10 years ago.

On albums like "Lucero," "Tennessee," "That Much Further West," "Nobody's Darlings" and "Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers," the band established itself as hard-touring, alt-country underdogs, and Nichols' sang about heartbreak, boozy nights, heart-of-gold losers, barflies and life on the road.

The group brought in a horn section and pumped out rousing Memphis rock 'n' soul on "1372 Overton Park," "Women & Work" and the 2013 EP "Texas & Tennessee." By 2015, they had stripped their sound back on "All a Man Should Do," with Nichols turning toward influences like Warren Zevon and influential Memphis '70s cult favorites Big Star (the former is name-checked in a song, "In Love With a Girl" by the latter is covered on the album) and the band conjuring more atmospheric, cinematic arrangements.

Not all of these moves were welcome by some fans at the time.

"When we added Rick, people hated it," says Venable, who lives in Memphis. "They said we sounded like The Doors. Nobody remembers that, but now Rick is the most important member of the band. And when we did horns, they said we ruined Lucero and sounded like a ska band. Then they said, 'bring back the horns.'"

When a group has been together for more than two decades with the same core members, change is probably inevitable. People grow, as musicians and as humans; if they're paying attention, it gets reflected in the work.

"Ben is married and has a kid. I'm divorced and I have a kid," Venable says. "We have houses. I've been sober nine years this past December. We're not gonna make the same record over and over again."

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Free time last year on account of the covid-19 virus found Nichols dabbling in other artistic pursuits.

He animated the videos for "Outrun the Moon" (look closely and you'll see our heroine's getaway car has Arkansas plates) and the flat-out rocker "Back in Ohio," which is about William Morgan, an Ohio native who became the leader of a band of rebels in the Cuban Revolution. Nichols also drew the cover for "Time to Go Home," a stand-alone single from 2020, depicting the old Buccaneer Lounge in Memphis.

"I've always liked graphic novels," he says. "In the back of my mind, one day I'll write and illustrate a graphic novel. So I got this iPad with the Apple Pencil. It changed the game for me. I love it."

His younger brother, by the way, is Jeff Nichols, the director of "Mud," "Shotgun Stories," "Take Shelter," "Loving" and other films. Lucero's music is often featured in Jeff's movies.

Venable has also been creating visual art, making pieces from oil sticks, charcoal and acrylic paint that often depict stick figures and have titles like "quick close the door, these people are crazy"and "Why I prefer to spend the holidays alone ... ." His work can be seen at thosevenableboys.com.

"I started painting about three or four years ago," Venable says. "I did it mainly as a kind of cathartic experience. It's been my main outlet. I've also been trying to learn to record at the house."

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Normally, a record is released, a tour would be set and Lucero's year would be all planned out.

For now, though, there is an appearance scheduled on March 26 at the Caverns in Pelham, Tenn., which will be outdoors and with fans in socially distanced pods, and another for Sept. 29 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

"It's weird," Nichols says. "I miss it. I love my family time, but I feel like something is missing from my life. I miss the bars and the musicians and getting to see other bands play. It has left an empty spot in my heart. Hopefully, we can get back to it before too long."

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