The Black Crowes On The Fence About New Studio Album

Recently reunited brothers Chris and Rich Robinson both are on the fence about jumping back into the studio for a new Black Crowes album. As it stands now, the Crowes are still onboard for their summer tour to mark the 30th anniversary of their 1990 debut album, Shake Your Money Maker — but admit they're taking it one step at a time before laying down new music.

Rich Robinson told Classic Rock, “I have a bunch of stuff, but we want to make sure we do this properly. We want to make sure we can do this before we get into a studio and make a record. That would be cool, but right now this is what we’re focused on.”

Chris Robinson added, “I don’t know. Yeah. Maybe. I definitely think Rich and I will write songs together in our future. I don’t know how, when and where. But if Rich has songs, I’m down to hear them and do what I do. But I don’t think we can do that until we see how this (tour) goes.”

Chris Robinson says that after six years apart, the two brothers finally got together — as family, not bandmates last summer over breakfast at L.A.'s famed Chateau Marmont. As an ice breaker, the brothers brought their respective kids — marking their first time some of the cousins had ever met each other: “They’re like: ‘Holy s***, we’re having breakfast with Uncle Rich and my cousins. This has never happened in our lives.' S*** like that will open your heart.”

Chris went on to explain why the brothers decided to move ahead without any of the previous members of the Crowes in the band: “It was the first thing on the table. Rich and I agreed on it. We just want to start with a clean slate. I’m not putting the blame on anyone else, I’m responsible for my own negative interactions with the rest of the band. But we didn’t want to trigger anything. One little thing, and you’re back to fighting on the bus in 2006, you know what I mean?”

Contrary to popular belief, Rich Robinson and his older brother, Chris, were not born southern rock apostles: “Chris and I never sat down and said, 'We're gonna be in a band.' Like, we just started doin' it. We went through our little punk rock phase for about six months, and then it's easy to grow out of that — 'cause we grew up in a really rich musical household, 'cause of my dad. So once we started getting into R.E.M., which spoke to us, 'cause we weren't into southern rock. We never associated ourselves with that. R.E.M. spoke to us, more because it was so unique sounding. When I first heard 'Radio Free Europe' on the radio, I was like. . . I'd never heard anything like that.”