Edie Brickell & New Bohemians is an

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational " jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often ...

that originated in Dallas,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, in the mid-1980s. The band is widely known for their 1988 hit "

What I Am "What I Am" is a song written by Edie Brickell and Kenny Withrow and recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians for their debut album, ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'' (1988). The song is highlighted by a guitar solo that notably features an ...

" from the album ''

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'' is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, released on August 9, 1988 by Geffen Records. The album went 2× platinum in the United States. "What I Am" was the l ...

''. Their music contains elements of rock, folk,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

. Following the 1990 release of their second album '' Ghost of a Dog'', lead singer

Edie Brickell Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...

left the band and married singer-songwriter

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

. In 2006, she and the band launched a new web site and released a new album, ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Pr ...

''.

Early history

New Bohemians started as a three-piece band in the early 1980s, gaining experience in the

Deep Ellum Deep Ellum is an American neighborhood composed largely of arts and entertainment venues near downtown in East Dallas, Texas. The name is based on a corruption of the area's principal thoroughfare, Elm Street. Older alternative uses include D ...

neighborhood of downtown Dallas, Texas. The original line-up featured

Brad Houser John Bradley Houser (born September 7, 1960) is an American bass guitar, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet player, originally from Dallas, Texas. He was a co-founding member of the New Bohemians, later to become known as Edie Brickell & New Bo ...

vibraslap The vibraslap is a percussion instrument consisting of a piece of stiff wire (bent into a U-shape) connecting a wooden ball to a hollow box of wood with metal “teeth” inside. The percussionist holds the metal wire in one hand and strikes th ...

, Eric Presswood on guitar, and Brandon Aly on drums. Drummer Aly, guitarist Kenny Withrow, and percussionist John Bush went to the same arts magnet high school in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHSPVA) is a public secondary school located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States. Booker T. Washington HSPVA enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and ...

. Singer

also went to this school. However, the others didn't know her until later. According to Houser, Edie was there for art. Houser attended Hillcrest High School and lived in the same neighborhood as the others. He played in various neighborhood bands like The Knobs which included Kenny, and was also in the Munch Puppies. The additional core members joined in 1985. Edie became the singer after being encouraged to join the band onstage during a show. It was soon after that first show that a local agent who was booking bands at Rick's Casablanca was brought to hear the band. The band signed a six-month management contract which brought with it better paying gigs at Rick's. When the six months ended, they started regular gigging in

. Presswood left and Kenny Withrow joined as guitarist, playing his first show in July 1985 at the Starck Club in Dallas. John Bush joined on percussion in September of that year. His first show with the band was September 12, 1985, at Poor David's Pub in Dallas, when the band was backing

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

. "New Bos" were a local favorite, packing in the fans at now-famous Deep Ellum venues such as Theater Gallery, 500 Cafe, and Club Dada. They were also regular performers at the annual Fry Street Fair on the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

campus in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

. During this period of the band's history, Edie's name was not used in the band's name. Their debut album, ''

'', was a commercial success, and produced the US top 10 hit "

". The follow-up album, '' Ghost of a Dog'', was less successful. Soon after the album's release, New Bohemians disbanded.

Recent activity

In recent years, New Bohemians have released compilations and a live album and have recorded new material. In the mid-1990s Brickell, Bush and Withrow reunited as The Slip. In 2006 the current members reunited to record and tour with the release of ''

''.

Carter Albrecht Jeffrey Carter Albrecht (23 June 1973 – 3 September 2007) was an American musician best known for his keyboard and guitar work in Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. Biography Originally from Derby, Kansas and a 1995 graduate of Southern Methodi ...

was killed in Dallas, on September 3, 2007. The band's song "Circle" appeared on an episode of ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

'', ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

'', and '' Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later'', and in 2013 it was covered by the

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

band

Bowling for Soup Bowling for Soup (abbreviated as BFS) is an American rock band formed in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1994. The band consists of Jaret Reddick (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Burney (guitar, backing vocals), Gary Wiseman (drums, percussion, backing voc ...

on the album '' Lunch. Drunk. Love.''. The band played live at the North Oak Cliff Music Festival in October 2014 with the current lineup as well as keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist

Matt Hubbard Matt Hubbard is an American television writer and screenwriter who has worked on many television shows. He graduated from Beverly High School, in Beverly, Massachusetts in the class of 1996, where he excelled in the English Department. He la ...

. The band reunited again in April 2017 with three concerts at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. On February 19, 2021, the band released its second album since reuniting, entitled '' Hunter and the Dog Star''.

Members

Current members

* Brandon Aly – drums *

– vocals, guitar * John Walter Bush – percussion * John Bradley Houser – bass guitar,

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

* Kenneth Neil Withrow – guitar

Previous members

– keyboards, electric guitar, harmonica, vocals (died 2007) * Wes Burt-Martin – guitar *

Matt Chamberlain Matthew Chamberlain (born April 17, 1967) is an American session musician, drummer, producer and songwriter. Biography Life and career Chamberlain was born in San Pedro, California on April 17, 1967. He began learning how to play the drums ...

– drums * Eric Presswood – guitar * Chris Wheatley – keyboards *

Chris Whitten Chris Whitten (born 26 March 1959) is a British session drummer who provided drums for the hit singles " What I Am" by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, "World Shut Your Mouth" by Julian Cope and " The Whole of the Moon" by the Waterboys. Two not ...

– drums * Paul "Wix" Wickens – keyboards

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result , - , 1988 ,

Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by ''Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of t ...

, "

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International Rock Awards The International Rock Awards was a United States music award ceremony meant to honor the top musicians in the rock music genre. The awards were broadcast on ABC for three years from 1989 to 1991. The award show is interpreted to have been an atte ...

, Themselves , Newcomer of the Year , , - , rowspan=2,

Pollstar ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. History and profile Founded in 1981 in Fr ...

Concert Industry Awards , rowspan=2, ''Tour'' , Small Hall Tour of the Year , , - , Best Debut Tour , , - , rowspan=1,

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

, "

" ,

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, , - , rowspan=2, 1990 ,

ASCAP Pop Music Awards The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

, "What I Am" , Most Performed Song , , - ,

, "

A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" is a song written by American musician and Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan in the summer of 1962 and recorded later that year for his second album, ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' (1963). Its lyrical structure is modeled after ...

" ,

Best Video from a Film The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks beca ...

, , - , 1991 ,

, "Mama Help Me" , Best Art Direction ,

References

External links

Brandon Aly's official websiteJohn Bush's official websiteNew Bohemians Live Music Archive at archive.org
– Article from Dallas Observer, 1998

– Dallas Observer, 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brickell, Edie and New Bohemians American alternative rock groups American folk rock groups Neo-psychedelia groups American southern rock musical groups Jam bands Musical groups from Dallas Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Musical groups reestablished in 1997 1985 establishments in Texas Edie Brickell Female-fronted musical groups Thirty Tigers artists