The Black Crowes Ain't Hidin'

Posted: Jul 04, 2009

The Black Crowes New Single "I Ain't Hidin'" Explores Funk

The Black Crowes just released a new single, “I Ain’t Hidin’”, from their album they recorded earlier in the year at Levon Helm’s Barn called Before The Frost…Until The Freeze, that has stirred inflammatory talk among longtime Crowes fans. Black Crowes fans have always been a ruthless bunch, and this new single brings about an old artistic question. Should an artist refrain from trying to expand his boundaries within his idiom?

“I Ain’t Hidin’” conjures a funky, almost Disco-dance groove with thick R & B overtones and of course the Crowes own blend of gritty rock and roll. The Crowes are a versatile gang of musicians who can adapt many different musical styles. Should a musician not push creative boundaries…even in the fear of failure? Should they play the same style of music and over and over to play it safe? Paint the same picture? Write the same story? Take the same picture?

The Crowes can hang with any band out there. Now, my only issue with “I Ain’t Hidin’” as the first single is I don’t think it’s indicative of how Before the Frost Until the Freeze sounds as an overall album. I haven’t heard any of these new songs, but I’d be willing to suspect there are more mandolins, country twangs and organic sounds than any dance floor street funk. But hey, how many times as an artist being criticized by his own fans for experimenting with a different sound…tones…beats? The Crowes have always chosen dark horse songs as their singles.

Dave Schools told me very recently about being an artist and all the people who consider themselves authorities on what it takes to continue to be a creative artist. “Those are the same people who sit at the back of the room with their arms crossed, saying ‘I could do that.’ Well, you know what? They’re not doing it.”

It’s true. Anyway, check out the song. The new record comes out at the end of the summer.

Have a safe and Happy Fourth of July!

James Calemine