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 When I gave Edie Brickell a big hug between the sets of
her Deep Ellum return to Dallas Club Dada gig with the New Bohemians, in
July, 2006, I was tempted to greet my long lost friend, (Edie Brickell song
title pun intended), with my own version of her lyrics: Youre hotter than a
jalapeno; its been way too long since Ive seen you.
Edie would have probably laughed. After all, Ive known her since she delivered
pizza to my apartment in her little yellow pickup, when she was a Dallas
teenager, and it had been a long time since we traded hugs, albeit a little
less than the 16 years since Edie and the New Bohemians recorded their smash
hit platinum CD, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars.
Wow, how time flies. It seems like only yesterday, I was sitting in that funky
little Dallas club, (I think it was the old 500 Caf), with my son, Brandon,
and the other guys in his band, known as the New Bohemians, waiting to hear a
musical set by some of their friends, who comprised the house bar band.
 I had no idea the Bos would be invited to play a couple of numbers, using the
bar bands instruments, or that this tall drink of water would suddenly walk
over to the performance area, from her seat at the bar, (where she had been
sipping a Jack Daniels), and proceed to suddenly adlib lyrics, off the top of
her head, to the instrumental tunes the Bohemian guys were playing, mesmerizing
the crowd with her sultry, sexy Rickie Lee Jones-type voice in the process.
Not many people in the club that night had ever heard of the New Bohemians, and
only a few collegiate friends knew Edie Brickell, then an 18-year-old art major
at SMU. It was a rather auspicious debut for the New Bohemians, who didnt even
know they were going to perform, much less be blessed by the dazzling debut of
the future Mrs. Paul Simon.
I doubt that the reclusive Edie would have even been there at the club that
night, if she had not been coaxed by her friends to take a break from her art
lessons and get out and mix and mingle a bit.
 I was a person who went to school and was working, Edie recalled later during
a rare press interview. I didnt have a boyfriend, I didnt know anybody. I
had the same high school friends. I said no and I hung up the phone. Then,
Edie said she thought twice about her decision.
I said, Look at you, you're so pathetic, your life won't change if you won't
go out. Brickell later joined her friends and, at about 1:30 am, did a shot
of Jack Daniels whiskey, or what she later called, her liquid courage. As it
turned out, one of her girlfriends knew the guys in the New Bohemians and also
knew that she sang.
 When the bar band had finished playing and invited the New Bohemians to play a
few songs, Brickell's friend urged her to sing a tune with the Bos and
arranged it with the band. Was it the booze or a case of being bitten by the
show biz bug that prompted Edie to respond that night? I did it because I felt
it, Brickell later said. This was fate.
When somebody in the club asked her how she made up all those nifty lyrics
while doing her impromptu debut, she said, she didnt just make them up on the
spur of the moment, she had a whole shoe box full of them, tucked away on a
shelf in her closet.
 Naturally, the press had a field day with the incident, once word got around
town about the impromptu performance. Over the years, I must have read or heard
at least a dozen different versions of what happened as word spread quickly
from coast to coast about the chick singer in Dallas with the weird name.
It was not uncommon, then, for the press guys to misspell her name Eddie. Or
call her that instead of Edie. Though it was embarrassing for her at times, it
contributed to the magical myth that helped introduce the shy, but charming
young lady, to the mass musical world she would eventually tantalize with her
unique talent.
Actually, Edies infamous Jack Daniels impromptu singing performance wasnt
as bizarre a happening as most folks made it out to be, though it did,
eventually, help propel the Bos into the national music spotlight, almost
overnight.
 The New Bohemians and Edie knew each other; they had all attended Dallas Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts, (the same high
school that later spawned Grammy Award winners Roy Hargrove, Erika Badu and
Nora Jones).
It was no surprise, really, when a local agent, who happened to be in
attendance at the club, immediately signed the Bos (with Edie) and booked them
for an engagement that almost ended abruptly because the venues manager said
the band played too loud and the customers complained.
After she had enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame, Edie was prepared to return to
the SMU campus and pursue her career as an art major. (Ironically, Edies
unique stylistic drawings later graced the cover of the Bos first CD for
Geffen Records).
The day after the Jack Daniels incident happened, however, the band (with
Edie) was besieged with offers from a number of Dallas venues and the rest, as
they say, is history.
 Even when she wasnt singing, Edie was always turning heads. People who watched
her gliding, gracefully, through airport lobbies in her jeans and cowboy boots,
towering above most travelers, were just as stunned when they came to the New
Bohemians concert gigs and watched her stroll casually on stage and
immediately assume her dramatic pigeon-toed stance, while belting out one
soon to be hit song after another.
 Even when Edie talked, (which was seldom), she attracted attention. Back in the
early days of her career, it was part of her Texana persona that helped make
her What I Am. But, as she matured, Edie exuded much charm and sexuality in
her conversations. One astute critic even said that her Texas drawl was
friendly and sexy, conjuring up images of Julia Roberts on the giant silver screen.
Well, shucks, honey, as they used to say in Oak Cliff, where Edie grew up,
she may not be in Julia Roberts class, but she has been a movie star, sorta.
After all, she played the folk singer in the Oliver Stone 1989 film, Born on
the Fourth of July. Her version of Bob Dylans A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall
was also featured on the films soundtrack.
 It was only a matter of time before the Bohemians (with Edie) recorded a funky
audio cassette tape at the Caravan of Dreams in Ft. Worth. Shortly thereafter,
the band began peddling the product to Dallas music people and, subsequently,
sent the tape to some of the top record label reps in California.
Through the efforts of Kim Buie and others, a local showcase for the New
Bohemians was arranged and at least a half-dozen key record labels sent talent
reps to Texas to see and hear the band in person.
One of those hot labels was Geffen Records, who eventually signed the group and
took them to Wales, England where they recorded the now historic CD, Shooting
Rubberbands at the Stars. This was, of course, the CD with the destined to be
Edie Brickell Top 10 Hit, What I Am, the song that rocked the then unknown
young group to almost overnight stardom and turned the shy, young Edie into a
budding superstar. But, not without a few unnecessary and unsavory show biz
wrinkles.
Though they were thrilled to have an opportunity to record anywhere, Edie and
the Bos felt obligated to the local music establishment, who had helped them
when they were pinching pennies in their early days. It seemed only logical,
(and, face it, admirable), too, for the Bos to return the favor and pay back a local recording studio, now that they were in the chips and money was not
considered an issue.
Unfortunately, as far as the Dallas music industry and the Bos were concerned,
Geffen Records didnt agree with that theory. They did agree, however, that the
local group could patronize some of the Dallas musical establishments by
purchasing new instruments from music stores in the city.
 Money was no object to the Geffen group, who were tossing big bills around like
paper money in a Monopoly game. In fact, they instructed Edie and the Bos (who
were still known as the New Bohemians at that time), to purchase only the best
commercial brand name instruments on the market, no matter what the price tag.
At that time, the local group was still trying to persuade Geffen reps to
record in Dallas, (or at least in Texas), because the area had some of the best
recording studio facilities in the country, where many of their peers, (like
Willie Nelson), had cut hits.
Geffens brass didnt nix the idea completely, but they did offer an
alternative to placate the New Bohemians and the recording studios in the
process. They suggested the band rent studio time locally to rehearse and
keep their chops in shape while arrangements were being finalized for
eventually recording at some well known studio in Los Angeles, Nashville or New
York.
Edie and the guys, I think, felt like this was a slap in the face. Their pride
was hurt, and it sorta set the tone up front for what was to happen later. Much
later, in fact. After all the big promo, Geffens reps didnt seem to be in
much of a hurry to hustle the Bos into ANY studio to record.
Days, weeks and months went by, (more like a year, actually), without any
affirmative action on the part of the Geffen group. Finally, the Bos
confronted the Geffen execs, and told them they might be a bunch of kids, but
they had enough musical smarts to know they were getting the short end of the
stick. Geffens people laughed at the Bos, and in fact, issued an ultimatum
for them to cool it, or there would be no recording deal.
 Meanwhile, as members of the media fanned the flames, other record labels
continued to pester the New Bohemians, trying to persuade them to use legal
means to get out of their contract with the Geffen organization.
Finally, word came from the Geffen organization that the Bos would record in
Europe, at a facility that had once been used by the Beatles Paul McCartney.
Once the kids arrived in Europe, the bomb was also dropped that the
Dallas-based band would no longer be known as the New Bohemians, but henceforth
as Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.
This didnt sit too well with the local musicians, who thought of themselves as
a musical unit, originally organized by bassist Brad Houser and my drummer son,
Brandon, while in college. Edie didnt much like the idea of fronting the
band either, in much the same manner as Janis Joplin and Grace Slick.
The Bos didnt resent her getting the notoriety, they simply thought of
themselves as a band. Edie, for the record, totally agreed with the guys in
that regard. Right from the git-go, she always wanted to just be one of the
band members.
 But then, one day, things started to take a rather nasty turn. Im not sure if
it originated with Edie, or with members of the band, but somewhere in the
misunderstood conversation, it came to pass that the band members looked at
their good friend Edie as someone who had betrayed them. Truthfully, that was
not the case. Edie never did that at all.
The problem was that the Geffen people, a little perturbed and a little
frustrated at the same time, finally told Edie to put up or shut up, either
her name got top billing, in front of the band, or the company wouldnt release
the CD.
When it became public knowledge that the New Bohemians were being whisked off
to Europe to record, parents of the young musical prodigies showed some concern
also. As a matter of fact, not all of the groups parents showed up at the
Dallas airport to wish them well in what was to become their historical musical
journey.
Prior to the groups departure, Geffens people informed the Bos to leave
their newly purchased musical instruments in Dallas, because the company would
purchase new instruments for the band once they arrived at their European
destination. Of course, they neglected to inform them that the labels producer
would be using the recording studios musical synthesizers (then the rage in
the music industry) to produce most of the musical sounds for their CD debut.
 This didnt set too well with the band, who became confused and even somewhat
belligerent about what they thought was an uncalled for compromising situation.
Once the band had settled into their personal quarters in England, it became
apparent that the Geffen organization was intent on establishing a lucrative
musical career for singer-songwriter Brickell, (and themselves), and that the
other Bohemian musicians would play a minor, albeit necessary role, (with the
possible exception of guitarist Kenny Withrow), in the actual recording
process.
Though Brandon played drums on a couple of the Bohemians initial CD tracks, it
was decided by Geffen personnel that studio synthesizer drum machines, and a
studio drummer, would also be utilized for the majority of the bands tracks,
replacing the trademark funky jam band sound that had been so essential to the
Bohemians early musical popularity.
This caused dissension among the ranks and the Bohemians musicians were not
happy campers. Though it was not general knowledge in music circles, initially,
(particularly in Texas), the record label forced Edie and the band to fire
Brandon, a friend and integral part of the bands laid-back, jam-rock feel.
It broke our hearts to go on tour without him, Edie told the press when the
band released their current Stranger Things CD. You think you can play music
and do whatever, but people arent replaceable. It was a bittersweet success.
 Once the CD was completed and the distribution-promotion tour was scheduled,
Edie contacted Brandon and asked him to tour with his fellow band mates. By
that time, however, he had already made commitments with Leroy Shakespeare and
Ship of Vibes.
Though they had brought in a hired gun to replace Brandon for the remaining
Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars studio sessions, Geffen finally relented
and agreed to let a friend of the band, Matt Chamberlain, replace Brandon on
drums at that point for the bands tour, future sessions and performance dates.
Geffen followed the initial Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians CD with Ghost
of a Dog, which met with critical success with loyal Edie fans, but did not
approach the commercial success of the previous CD, which produced a Top 10
hit, What I Am.
 After the disappointing performance of their follow-up album, the New Bohemians
disbanded. Brickell married Paul Simon
and the couple had a child. After several years of remaining artistically
quiet, she released her first solo album in late summer, 1994.
While Picture Perfect
Morning was pleasantly received, it wasn't a return to the
million-selling heights of the New Bohemian zenith. This was fine with Brickell, who had burned out from all the
press attention and the touring that followed the success of Shooting
Rubberbands at the Stars and was content to quietly issue the record while
focusing her attention on her and Simons young son.
Geffen, naturally, thought otherwise, but Brickell was resolute. She wouldn't
return to recording until almost ten years later. In the interim, two
greatest-hits packages appeared: Best Of on MCA International and Hip-O's Ultimate Collection
from 2002. Of these, the latter one was most comprehensive, drawing on material
both with and without the Bohemians and featuring seven previously unreleased
tracks.
 Brickell finally hit restart on her solo career in 2003 with Volcano, (Chery/Universal).
Produced by Charlie Sexton, the LP explored some new stylistic avenues inside the familiar rootsy landscape, and showed off Brickell's newly acquired acoustic guitar skills.
She supported the effort with the usual round of late-night TV appearances
and a brief tour, and, in 2006, reunited with the original members of the New
Bohemians. Stranger Things, the first official studio album from the group in
almost 16 years, was produced and distributed.
 The ultimate split between Geffen and Edie Brickell did not come about because
the public wasnt buying her CDs, or because Geffen or Edie wasnt making
money. To the contrary, everything fell apart between the two when, one day,
Edie stood tall in her Texas cowboy boots and summoned up enough courage to
tell the Geffen big suits to go take a hike.
Looking back at things now, Edie will tell you that it was primarily the New
Bohemians inability to say no that was the big part of the problems that
existed between them and the record company.
We were young and people in our face were saying This is what you have to do.
Go do it! The truth is, we were too young to know any better, and none of us
were very aggressive people.
But Edie is not one to dwell in the past very long, even when things are great. You can look back on anything, she said in a press interview recently, and
wish you hadnt done it. Who cares? I can honestly look back now and say that
everything happened for a reason. Everything that fell apart back then has
fallen back into place. Beautifully and magically.
I, for one, believed Edie when she told my son,
Brandon, to hang in there, man, she and the rest of the guys in the band
loved him, and someday everything would be groovy again, like it was meant to
be.
 No matter what happens, in her life or musical career in the future, Edie will
always feel close to the guys in the New Bohemians. Its easy to understand
why, if you hang around them very much or pay attention to what they say and/or
do when theyre working musically. Especially, when theyre having fun and
jamming.
The New Bohemians introduced the expression jamming to me and encouraged and
inspired me also to be fearless and improvise and just be in the moment, Edie
observed. I've had some of the best times of my life jamming with these guys.
I love their versatility and openness and how much they care about being good
musicians and good people.
After our band hit the airwaves and we ran the course of promotion, it felt
good to cool out and slow down and get away from the whole exaggerated scene. I
walked through Central Park and really loved life again without being looked at
and scrutinized and judged.
What was amazing to me was the fact that while we were in Dallas playing the
clubs, I couldn't wait to get on the tour bus and have the experience of being
a touring, signed band but, as I walked alone after it was all over with, it
wasn't the tour bus or the TV shows, the venues, performances, photo shoots or
videos that meant something to me.
 Edie said she kept remembering the garage that belonged to Brads dad and the
stankhouse John and Kenny shared where they all got together and made things
up. Those hours that flew by with the goofiest improvs and the most ambitious
attempts to come up with something fresh and real and interesting were all that
came back to me, she admitted.
The creative process with the laughter and spontaneity, the tug of war and the
energy toward a shared vision was our greatest success, she said. Every time
I went back to Dallas we'd get together and play. From Carter's 'goat house' to
a funky motel turned music space, we found a place to jam and taped everything
on my Walkman cassette recorder. Then, I'd rewind and hunt and peck after the
potential songs and we'd listen back and learn what we did and shape it up.
Finding out what's in the air is the fun part, she noted, and we've had
magical jams where we all felt the same current and rode the same wave together
in groove and melody. That cool connection to the mystery and joy of playing a
song as it is being written is my unique relationship with New Bohemians.
 Edie observed that when she met Bryce Goggin, she knew he'd understand and
bring out the best in the band. So, now theyve recorded again, after all these
years, with a team they put together and a unified sensibility and it feels
really good.
When the success faded, there was plenty of time for reflection. We
were really and truly having a good time unto ourselves, Edie noted in a
recent interview while promoting the current CD, and we weren't
self-conscious; we were creating, and hours just flew by, and that's all that
ever kept coming back to me.
Over the years, Edie stayed in touch with those experiences and her former band
mates, getting together to jam with them each time she traveled home to Dallas
to visit family.
I missed it so much,; said Brickell, who has three older sisters and one
who is younger, and I missed them. During Edies break from the hectic
musical scene, marriage and raising her own family, (she has three children
with Simon), has been a priority.
After her stepson, Harper Simon, introduced her to producer Bryce Goggin, she
said the time seemed right to record again with the old band, (the New
Bohemians). Well, we had all these songs and we tried to record them
ourselves,; she said in a press interview. But, we quickly realized that
if you don't have a great sound in your headphones and a leader, then it can go
south quickly.
 We were frustrated because we couldn't capture the spirit and the joy and the
sonic appeal on tape and yet we didn't want to go the traditional route and get
a really slick producer.
On the band's Web site, Brickell wrote that when she first met Goggin, I knew
he'd understand.
Though Edie has remained fairly quiet over the years about her private life and
professional relationship with Paul Simon, she mentioned her 64-year-old
husband as a stimulus for the New Bohemians Stranger Things album.
With her singer-songwriter husband as a role model, Brickell decided to give
reforming the New Bohemians a try. I thought, Lets do it our way and then
see if anybody wants it, she said.
 With kudos to Goggin, Edie and the old New Bohemians, (and the new guy,
Carter Albrecht), the band has never sounded stronger than on Stranger
Things. Its refreshing, in 2006, to hear Brickell and the band - guitarist
Withrow, bassist Houser, percussionist Bush and, once more back in the fold,
drummer Brandon - stretch out on tracks such as the calypso-tinged No Dinero.
The Edie Brickell; New Bohemian's Stranger Things CD, released July 25, 2006, has been called by critics an
honest, unadulterated and utterly charming sound of a longtime band just being
itself.
Brickell called the album, a true beginning, the one effort in which she and
her original band-mates performed together as a bonafide group, without the
addition of session players or too much studio production. In other words, its
as close to the combo's live sound as a studio recording can get.
Opening with an addictive little fuzz-toned guitar riff from guitarist Withrow
on the title track, Stranger Things quickly established a loose,  playful and
confident tone.
To Get "Stranger Things" CD click here==>
In the spring of 2005, the New Bohemians - guitarist Withrow, bassist Houser,
drummer Brandon, percussionist Bush, plus newly recruited keyboardist Carter
Albrecht -- traveled from Dallas to Brooklyn to join Brickell at the homegrown
studio of producer-engineer Goggin, a veteran of both jam-band and indie-rock
projects, having worked with artists ranging from Luna to Herbie Hancock and Trey Anastasio
Since 2001, Brickell and the New Bohemians had been informally developing new
material whenever they had the chance, with no specific release dates scheduled
or labels pestering them, offering to release their product.
We definitely needed somebody to guide us, Brickell noted. She happened to
meet Goggin about a year and a half ago. He took her to his Brooklyn studio for
a quick tour. Edie was immediately awestruck.
 I walked in there and saw these jam band records around and asked if he would
ever be interested in working with the New Bohemians. We wanted somebody who
understood a jam band, she said. I went home and immediately called the
fellows in the band and said, Hey, look, I found the guy. Why don't you come
up and give him a trial recording session?
Unlike other situations in the past, involving hotshot studio producers and
multi-million-dollar recording studios with state of the art equipment with all
the frills and whistles, Edie said she found the scene in Brooklyn to be
decidedly different and refreshing.
 It was wondrous, joyful, perfect, she said. Bryce is so laid back and his
studio is like the funkiest garage, with crap everywhere. The guys felt right
at home because it looked like all the funky places we used to rehearse in when
we were playing the clubs.
Edie said they set aside another couple of months together, starting in September, to finish the record and that everything just fell into place, after that.
It seemed appropriate, then, that the Stranger Things CD should be released
by Fantasy Records, also home to notable singer/songwriter John Fogerty. It's
the famed label's first new pop/rock signing in over 25 years.
 Edie and the New Bohemians musicians learned the basics about musical
improvisation when they were students at the Booker T. Washington High School
for Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.
In fact, while other music groups of the era embraced the more predictable, and
often more commercial, musical avenues that were available, the New Bohemians
preferred to develop their own heavily improv-based style of music, which
immediately made them a crowd favorite and helped rapidly build their loyal
national and international fan base.
 Unlike other chick singers who were out there in the musical mainstream
fronting bands, Edie always did that somewhat naturally. Guitarist Withrow,
who writes most of the New Bos music with Edie, said he didn't know anybody
who could really do that quite like her. That's the way the band started out,
he said, that's how we wrote tunes, everybody in the same room hammering them
out, minus a few pre-written tunes from Edie.
When Edie and the New Bohemians got together with Bryce, they were all in the
same room, playing live, unlike the more conventional studio arrangement today. It's a beautiful thing, Withrow conceded, to know you made the album that, I
guess you could say, you always wanted to make, certainly in the atmosphere
that you always thought could be possible.
 Though a few critics panned the Stranger Things CD release because they said
it was difficult to hear Edies often delicate, fragile voice, overshadowed
or overpowered by the bands live concert sound production, and suggested
it would have been better, perhaps, if the producers utilized studio musicians
to compliment and enhance Edies vocals, instead of the band, most critics have
been quick to recognize the musical validity of the current Bohemians CD
release, hastily adding that it was a long time in coming, but definitely worth
the wait.
One critic wrote: Listening to Stranger Things is like slipping into a
comfortable chair and relaxing with friends or having a cool drink on a hot
summer day. It just feels good.
Another critic said: Here they (Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians) are
again, and this time sounding like a completely re-energized and vital band.
  Yet another critical observation voice commented: Edie and the New Bohemians
new CD has a beautifully inventive collection of songs, with excellent band
instrumentals to compliment Edies lyrics. This CD speaks to the lover inside
of its listeners. These are songs everyone who hears will want to listen to
time and time again.
Celebrity Cafs critical musical praise noted: Edie Brickell and the New
Bohemians new CD, Stranger Things, is definitely a hit record and a
wonderful comeback. I would recommend this CD to anyone. Any rock lover will
like this CD.
Even the NY Daily News got into the act: As surprising as the Bohemians
comeback may be, even more unprecedented is the uniformly pleasing vibe of
their reunion CD, Stranger Things. They are far more grounded now and focused
than they were in their youth. Edies singing voice has a willowy appeal. Her
vocals billow up like a dress being lifted and twirled by the summer wind.
Stranger Things lends both lyrical and melodic purpose to the bands dancing
beats. Edies voice is as rich as molasses.
  When asked what she thought about all the positive reaction to the Stranger
Things CD, and why it took so long for her and the New Bohemians to accomplish
their goals, the once shy Edie frankly told the press: I have a sense of
faith. I figure that good stuff will happen, but I dont feel like rushing out
there to make it happen. It will come to me when the time is right.
Somewhere, Orlando Bloom must be happy. After all, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars was the first CD the Hollywood actor
purchased for his music library.
Well, thats show biz, baby
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