Concrete Blonde | Menkena October 28, 2011

“The thing right now for me,” says Johnette Napolitano, “is to figure out how everything in my life fits together.” The Concrete Blonde singer-songwriter-bassist goes on to say she just graduated tattoo school and a “sewing thing.” It sounds just like what a retired musician might do with herself after decades spent on a record-tour-record cycle. Except Concrete Blonde’s future has never been so cemented. While the critically-lauded trio took two six-year breaks since forming in 1982, they always came back around. In the last few years, says Napolitano, the phone would ring with invitations to perform in Brazil, China and Peru. The prospect of “going places we’ve never been” appealed to her, guitarist James Mankey and drummer Gabriel Ramirez Quezada. And there was always the call of the road and the band’s rabid fans. Even during a “hiatus,” the band would sneak off for little one-week jaunts. So when another opportunity to explore new territory – by staying home – came up, the band jumped. “Things have changed; nothing’s the same,” Napolitano says. “There are so many new mediums. Something we’ve always wanted to do is just be able to webcast from wherever we are. Finally, it seems like the technology has finally caught up to be able to do that, more or less.”

Official Website: http://granadatheater.com/show/concrete-blonde/