I have a little bit of pull sometimes but for the most part, it’s starting over-playing small rooms, doing interviews. I was in this big band that’s gone through the ages, but I was really always the quiet one. It’s like reintroducing myself to the world. In doing this I’ve learned a lot about myself and where I am in the whole scheme of things. Doing a solo thing is really taking a chance. That’s a huge thing for all of us and you don’t want to jeopardize that. In the B-52s we have to pinch ourselves because we’re still getting phone calls to come out and play. There’s something, too, about being in a band. And as you get older you wonder, does anyone really want to hear this from me right now? Is anyone interested? When you have that experience once it’s almost like lightning striking, you know? It just seems unlikely that it could ever work that well with other people. I mean, I think I am brave, but it’s about working with the right people.

Anyone who has ever seen or heard the B-52s would likely be shocked by that. It’s so interesting to hear you say you didn’t feel confident enough to do a solo project. We’ve just kind of taken it to a different place. That was the beginning of this new sound. As an experiment we went into the studio to see what might happen.

Though he was too young to remember a lot of the actual songs I chose, he could nail everything I threw at him.

He’s one of the best musicians I’ve met in Athens, so I asked him to go in with me and start learning these cover songs. Then a friend asked me to do a couple shows in Athens and I needed someone to play with me. You could just tell he was a natural musician, really amazing. We hired him a couple more times and then we started going to see his other bands. They were beyond any kid’s band kind of thing. He was in a Beatles cover band back in Georgia and played parties. I actually met Ryan Monahan first and we hired him to play my son’s birthday party. Everyone is younger than I am, so it brings more of a freshness to the approach than what I would have probably done on my own. I have played with other people at various points over the years, but this new band came about at just the right time. But to be honest, I didn’t really have a lot of confidence. You know, the B-52’s have been so busy for years now and I have a family. You are about to release your first solo record.

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