Artist Biography
by William Ruhlmann
Formed in 1984 by high-school friends Sammy Llanas and
Kurt Neumann,
the BoDeans
mixed Midwestern roots rock with elements of adult contemporary pop,
fashioning a sound that earned critical acclaim during the '80s and
commercial recognition during the following decade.
Llanas and
Neumann fronted the group by sharing vocal and guitar duties, while bassist
Bob Griffin and drummer
Guy Hoffman populated the rhythm section. Although based in Waukesha, Wisconsin,
the BoDeans
began building an audience 20 miles east in Milwaukee, and their
success in that town helped gain them a contract with Slash Records,
with manufacturing and distribution handled by Warner Bros.
The
BoDeans worked with
T-Bone Burnett on their debut album,
Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams, which appeared in 1986 to warm reviews. They recruited another big-name producer,
Talking Head Jerry Harrison, to helm 1987's
Outside Looking In, which found the band reduced to a trio after the departure of
Hoffman.
Outside Looking In broke into the Billboard Top 100, and
the BoDeans grew their audience by touring alongside
U2, appearing on
Robbie Robertson's
self-titled solo album, and receiving the honor of Best New Band by
Rolling Stone magazine. By the time they released their third album,
Home, in 1989, keyboardist
Michael Ramos and drummer
Danny Gayol had joined. This lineup stayed intact for the release of 1991's
Black and White, but
the BoDeans went without a drummer once again on their next recording,
Go Slow Down.
Following the release of a double-disc live album,
Joe Dirt Car, the band returned in 1996 with
Blend. Around the time of
Blend's release, "Closer to Free" -- a song that had originally appeared on 1993's
Go Slow Down
-- became a hit, due in large part to its exposure as the theme song
for the TV show Party of Five. "Closer to Free" eventually cracked the
Top 20, becoming the most successful single of the band's career. The
BoDeans
were arguably more popular than ever, but the band took a break during
the late '90s, with both frontmen devoting time to their solo careers.
By 2004, the band had reconvened and signed with a new label, Zoe.
Resolution was released that year, followed in 2005 by
Homebrewed: Live from the Pabst.
Griffin left the group in 2006 and was replaced by
Eric Holden, who appeared on 2008's
Still. By this point, the bandmates had found a new home on 429 Records, and they remained with that label for the release of
Mr. Sad Clown in 2010 and
Indigo Dreams in 2011. That same year saw the departure of
Llanas, citing "differences of opinion." The band's 11th studio album,
American Made, arrived the following year on the band's own Free & Alive label, and was the first with
Neumann as sole leader. The
BoDeans toured extensively in support of the release, and in 2014 began work on their next studio project. Released in 2015,
I Cant Stop featured a new
BoDeans lineup anchored by
Neumann, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist
Sam Hawksley, bassist
Eric Holden, and drummer
Kenny Aronoff, the latter a well-respected journeyman musician who had played on several
BoDeans recording sessions in the '90s. In June 2016,
the BoDeans
brought out a single, "My Hometown," with the release benefiting the
Milwaukee County Historical Society. The single was a preview of the
group's next album; titled
Thirteen, the 11-song set was released in April 2017.
