Blind Melon, features new singer Travis Warren, second from left, formerly a resident of SLO.
As word spreads that Blind Melon is touring and recording again, many fans are asking the same question:
Without Shannon Hoon?
Of course without Hoon. After all, the hard-living lead singer died of an accidental overdose nearly 13 years ago, forcing the band to decide whether to forge ahead with a new singer or simply hang it up.
For a dozen years it seemed like Blind Melon had indeed called it quits. But when band mates Brad Smith and Chris Thorn heard Travis Warren—a former San Luis Obispo resident—sing in their studio, they decided to resurrect their band, which is forever tied to its blockbuster song “No Rain.”
“When those guys called me about it, I was just like, ‘I don’t know,” said guitarist Rogers Stevens, who was getting ready to return to school in New York when the call came. “It just seemed like it had been so long, and there would have to be a very good reason to do it.”
Everyone in the band knew Hoon was a vital part of the group — and loyal fans might resist a Hoonless Blind Melon. But they figured the key to the band’s comeback was to reinvent itself—to go in a new direction, rather than rest on the laurels of the past.
“Nobody really wants to go down to the county fair and see us cover ‘No Rain’ four times in a set,” Stevens said.
So the band recorded a new album, released just last week, and they launched a nationwide tour that stops at Downtown Brew on Wednesday.
Southern and Midwestern roots
The band formed in 1990 when Stevens and Smith—childhood friends from Mississippi— moved to Los Angeles and met Hoon, originally from Indiana.
A mix of alternative rock with an old-school acoustic flair, the band released its first album, “Blind Melon,” in 1992. The song “No Rain,” featuring a memorable
video of a little girl in a bumblebee outfit, became the group’s breakthrough hit.
Other songs, including “Tones of Home,” “Mouthful of Cavities” and “Galaxie” weren’t as successful as “No Rain,” but they still earned the band a faithful following, which helped them land gigs opening for the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Soundgarden.
The band would release just one more album, though, before tragedy struck. On the day the band was set to perform in New Orleans, in October of 1995, Hoon was found dead on a tour bus.
And suddenly Blind Melon was no more.
“It kind of all happened really quickly, and then it was over,” Stevens said. “It took everybody a long time to realize that we just lost everything.”
Initially, the surviving members considered going on without Hoon. In fact, Stevens even put an ad in the Village Voice, seeking a new singer for the band formerly known as Blind Melon.
He received 2,000 tapes. “You could imagine the people that would send something in for that,” Stevens said. “I wish I would have kept all of those tapes, man, because there was some hilarious stuff in there.”
There were some good candidates, Stevens said. But the band just wasn’t ready.
“Even if Jesus Christ came down from the cross and sang like Robert Plant, it would have never worked.”
So the members went on to other things. Smith and Thorn opened a studio in Los Angeles. Drummer Glen Graham bought a house in North Carolina. And Stevens was ready to enroll in Hunter College, hoping to one day attend law school.
Their lives might have continued in those directions had Warren never stepped into that studio.
A Texas native, Warren moved to the Central Coast at 17. While in San Luis Obispo, he performed in several bands, including 00-Metro and Supercell. But he left for Los Angeles with Rain Fur Rent.
While that band had promise, it remained unsigned. Yet Warren continued to write. And his persistence paid off when the guys from Blind Melon asked him to join the band.
For Warren, who had been a huge fan, it was surreal.
“Some days I’ll wake up and I’m just like, ‘Man, is this really happening?’ ” he told the Tribune in 2006.
Like Hoon, Warren has a voice in the upper registry. Some even say his vocals sound eerily like Hoon’s at times. But, Stevens said, Warren is not a Hoon clone.
“I would say in certain ways, he’s a darker personality,” Stevens said. “Shannon was kind of a ham. But Travis has got a lot of that same charisma.”
The new album, “For My Friends,” features much of Warren’s writing.
The new music is more polished, the band having improved musically over the years. And at times it’s more rocking. “Wishing Well,” an alternative rocker written by Warren, showcases his vocal range. “Sometimes,” another Warren tune, is more of a pop tune, with a nod to ’60s rock. And “Last Laugh” combines alternative with retro.
A fan’s perspective
In concert, Warren often tells fans he’d rather be in the audience watching Hoon than onstage taking his place.
“I understand that everyone is not going to get this and doesn’t agree with Blind Melon reforming,” he wrote on the band’s MySpace page, “and believe it or not, I honestly understand and I don’t look down on them.”
Fan responses to the post, though, were overwhelmingly positive. And, Stevens said, the crowds have been equally supportive during shows.
Blind Melon may not make the cover of “Rolling Stone” again. But for now the band is happy to experience a little of what it once had.
“It’s pretty magical just about every night,” Stevens said. “We know what we’re up against. It’s not going to be the same. It’s not intended to be the same.”
Reach Patrick S. Pemberton at 781-7903.
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