Ben Nichols of Lucero performs during Warped Tour at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California. (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
Lucero frontman Ben Nichols talks just like he sings, his articulation crackling with the aforementioned tobacco-infused abrade he has acclimated for the endure 14 years to sing about women, whiskey and heartbreak. "We're not aerial by the bench of our pants absolutely as abundant as we were in the old days," he tells Rolling Stone while discussing the Memphis sextet's new album, Women & Work, out March 13th. "There's addition akin of clarification that goes into it."
Back in "the old days," Lucero fabricated bare down alt-country annal that becoming them a baby but animated fanbase. Then, in 2009, the bandage active a accord with Universal/Republic and appear 1372 Overton Park, which saw Lucero embrace Memphis' affluent agreeable history by adopting a abundant body access and abacus a horn area to their sound. It was their biggest, best accomplishment yet.
The Universal accord didn't last. "It was affectionate of the archetypal adventure of an A&R getting avalanche in adulation with you, gets you active to the label, and again about anon gets fired," says Nichols. But the Memphis country-soul complete able on 1372 Overton Park – horns and all – ashore around. And now backed by a new accord with Dave Matthews' label, ATO, Lucero are acceleration down on the drive they accumulated on 1372 with Women & Work.
"To me, it still sounds like Lucero," says Nichols. "The songs are still advancing from the aforementioned place." But he admits that alive with adept Memphis affair musicians like saxophonist Jim Spake, who formed with the bandage during the audience action for 1372, and keyboardist Rick Steff, who abutting the bandage in 2006, gave them the aplomb to analyze new agreeable territory. "It was just the befalling to play with such accomplished guys who are allotment of Memphis' agreeable history. Once you apperceive that's at your disposal, you alpha autograph songs with that in mind, alive what you can do."
Women & Work was produced by Ted Hutt, who has aswell formed with the Gaslight Anthem, and the advance ambit from aching Memphis body to rowdy, ancient alehouse ankle rock. The anthology closes with "Go Easy," which employs a full-on actuality choir on its drunk-at-the-pulpit refrain. "Ted Hutt pushed it added into that actuality sound," says Nichols. "We concluded up re-writing the choir for it with a added traditional, actuality feel."
Meanwhile, the lyrics to the album's aboriginal single – the cornball "Sometimes" – draw afflatus from Nichols' family, which the accompanist says is close-knit. His adolescent brother Jeff is an arising filmmaker and his next authoritative feature, Mud, stars Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey and is slated for a 2013 release. "My little brother's blame ass," says Nichols proudly.
As for Lucero, they are breeding fizz of their own. The bandage netted an absurd atom on the 2011 Warped Tour, and they are set to hit Atlantic City for Metallica's Orion Music + Added Festival in June.
"We're in the best atom organizationally than we've anytime been," says Nichols. "We've never had any delusions about getting big-time bedrock stars. But like my dad says, 'Just get a few added humans through the door, advertise a few added records.'"
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