While many people may associate the Spin Doctors with their two hit songs from the 1990s, the foursome started out as a blues band. And they’ve returned to their blues roots on their newest album, “If The River Was Whiskey,” which was released April 30 on Ruf Records. Spin Doctors will headline the Warsaw Parks Department Classic Rock Concert June 14 in Central Park. The free concert is at 8 p.m., with opening act Kyxx, an Anderson-based classic rock band, performing at 6:30 p.m. In a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon from New York City, lead vocalist Chris Barron said the band started out in The Big Apple playing at blues clubs in the 1980s. The guys wanted to play their own original music, but the clubs wanted cover songs of the old blues standards. So one evening, the guys got together and wrote several originals. When the people at the clubs heard those songs, Barron said, they thought they were old blues songs. “We completely got away with it,” he said. Several years later, in 1991, Spin Doctors released the multi-platinum album “Pocket Full of Kryptonite,” which featured the hit songs “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes.” The idea for the recently released blues album came as Spin Doctors was touring the world in 2011-12 behind the 20th anniversary edition of “Pocket Full of Kryptonite.” Barron said the band was out at concerts playing the album, including some “deep cuts” from it. The band found their audiences wanted to hear Spin Doctors’ older blues music. Some of the audience even had copies of Spin Doctors playing songs the band members couldn’t remember. From those experiences, Barron, along with drummer Aaron Comess, guitarist Eric Schenkman and bassist Mark White, batted the idea around of doing a blues album. Instead of re-inventing themselves, they decided to go back to where they were from – the blues. “We didn’t think of it as a commercial venture, but as a labor of love for us,” Barron said. Originally, the band was going to put together a demo so they could get money from a record company for a blues album. During rehearsals, they got six tunes from their repertoire from back in the day. They then selected a couple of deep cuts, and wrote a couple of new songs. On the first day, they recorded five songs. On the second day, they recorded another five. The demo had become a record. Barron said the new record sounds like it’s about to “go off the rails.” It has a lovely ensemble feeling and good vibe to it, he said. The band – which has been together 25 years – liked what they put together. They shopped the album around a bit and found Ruf Records. Owner Tom Ruf went bananas about the record, Barron recalled, as did everyone they played it for. Reviews at their worst were tepid, but “If The River Was Whiskey” generated 99 percent good reviews, he said. “It really changes the Spin Doctors discussion,” Barron said. They aren’t just a two-hit wonder band anymore with this album, he indicated. People who were 10-15 years old when Spin Doctors had their 1990s hits are discovering the band are a blues band. “People who followed our music all along hear us playing our blues stuff and ‘Pocket Full of Kryptonite’ and it really makes sense. It’s neat to go out and play all this stuff,” Barron said. People often ask Barron if he ever gets tired of performing “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes.” He doesn’t. He said he’s grateful to have two hit songs that took the radio by storm. When an artist hears their music on the radio, Barron said that’s a feeling that never gets old. Also, Barron likes those songs. They really weren’t written as pop songs. As a kid, he just always wanted to write songs that were good. And “Two Princes” was a song written because he thought girls would like it. But he never had any design to write a pop tune. He said Spin Doctors’ musicianship also is really high. During live performances, he’ll subtlely change phrases of a song. Comess will hear it and play along with the changes, making his own along the way. The audiences, meanwhile, may never notice. “We’re always fooling around with music,” Barron admitted. He also admitted to resisting Spin Doctors’ music being characterized as a jam band. “We always thought of ourselves like a rock band. I grew up listening to Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Rolling Stones. They jammed but no one called them a jam band. We knew and toured around with groups like Phish. We played at the same places they did and for the same people,” Barron stated. Audiences can make up their own mind about the Spin Doctors at the June 14 show, but the band will do its best to entertain, he promised. “We’re going to play everyone’s favorite tunes, play some songs off the new album. Just generally play our guts out,” he said. And beyond June, the Spin Doctors could be very busy thanks to the new album. “We have offers through next March. We haven’t made a record in eight years. It was about time we made a record. We had broken up for a long time and gotten back together. I think we will make our next album a lot sooner,” Barron said. All four band members have ideas for the next album. Barron said the next album possibly will be a blues-rock album, then the following one will be a rock-blues album. Spin Doctors has a five- to seven-year plan in place, and the “Whiskey” album has given them a focus to move forward. “We had sort of, kind of become a band about these two songs. It’s nice for us to play this (new) material because it’s sort of like a music renaissance for us,” Barron said. “The band broke up for awhile. It took us awhile to pick up where we left off. We weren’t sure where we left off. Now, with this blues album, it defined our direction, at least for the next several albums. It’s an exciting time.” For more information about the band, visit online at: www.spindoctors.com www.rufrecords.com
