Photography by Matthew Mendenhall
After an acrimonious split five years
ago, both Chris and Rich Robinson thought The Black Crowes were over
for good. Now, with Warpaint—one of the group’s best
albums to date—The Black Crowes again reign as one of rock’s most
authentic practitioners. Just don’t expect it to be all warm and
fuzzy—it never was.
The striking building that houses the
Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts on the now ultra-fashionable
Lower East Side of Manhattan was built more than 150 years ago. Now a
performance and exhibition space, it is the city’s oldest surviving
synagogue, a rare architectural example of a Gothic synagogue, a kind
of fusion of Jewish and Christian aesthetics. It had been abandoned
and run down for decades, before being purchased in the mid-‘80s by
Angel Orensanz, a Spanish-American sculptor. Now the neighborhood is
on the upswing, and the gorgeous building itself stands as a
dignified reminder of deep spiritual traditions and rich, dynamic
communities that preceded the inexorable gentrification of Manhattan.
Angel Orensanz is a fitting setting,
then, in which to meet with Chris and Rich Robinson of The Black
Crowes who, after all, wrote “Talks to Angels.” The Crowes, too,
are on the upswing. After splitting up acrimoniously in 2002, the
band re-formed in 2005 and is now about to release Warpaint,
the group’s most confident and instantly appealing album since the
raw, raucous Shake Your Money Maker first brought the group
national attention in 1990—and sold more than five million copies
to boot. In addition, the Crowes, too, see themselves as symbols of
vanishing values. Sometimes disparaged, run aground for a stretch,
newly energized, the brothers Robinson view themselves and their band
as keepers of the rock and roll flame in an era in which slickness,
irony, self-indulgence and soulless technology threaten to plunge the
music world into darkness. Their new album is called Warpaint
for a reason.
“It’s the perfect title for where
we are,” Chris says. “There are clandestine messages in there for
people who like rock music.”
Want to read more? There are three ways
to get the goods: 1) Pick up a copy of the February/March issue with THE
BLACK CROWES on
the cover at a newsstand near you; 2) subscribe to Relix by clicking HERE ; OR 3) get a lifetime digital
subscription to Relix for FREE! All you have to do is go to www.relix.com/digital
and register.
| 
