The alternative rock band formed back in 1987, in Tempe, Ariz., taking their name from a photo of W.C. Fields which bore the caption “W.C. Fields with gin blossoms,” which referred to the actor’s gin-ravaged nose.
In the ten years that followed, the Gin Blossoms released three albums and had several hits in the mid 1990s, before breaking up in 1997.
 The Gin Blossoms, famous for their '90s rock hits 'Hey Jealousy' and 'Follow You Down,' will perform at the Alaska State Fair starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Borealis Theatre. Special guests, The Rembrandts, will join them on stage. Tickets are $29.50 or $39.50 for reserved seats. Visit Alaskastatefair.org for details. |
Today, the band is considered to have a wide influence on modern rock, due to its consolidation of melodious rock, folk, and country components that rocked the radio airwaves for more than a decade.
The Gin Blossoms will take to the Alaska State Fair’s Borealis Theater stage on Aug. 31, along with ‘90s rockers The Rembrandts, to show fans they still have what it takes.
When lead vocalist Robin Wilson, guitarists Jesse Valenzuela and Scott Johnson, and bassist Bill Leen reunited as the Gin Blossoms in 2002, the idea of recording new songs was something the group thought about, but didn’t want to force.
Successful tour dates demonstrated that the many fans who cherished “New Miserable Experience” (which has sold more than four million copies in the U.S.) and “Congratulations. . . I’m Sorry” (which has sold more than one million) were still eager to hear more from the band.
On the radio, it was as if the Gin Blossoms had never left, even as all the band’s members moved on to other projects. And getting back together proved satisfying.
“A lot of fans came up to us and said, ‘I loved you guys for so long, and I was so bummed when you broke up and I never got to hear you play. I’m so glad you’re back,’” said Scott Johnson. “That was gratifying. Now I respond by saying, ‘You’re going to hear us a lot more.”
Scott Johnson and the Blossoms first came to Alaska in 2003, on a Holland America cruise through Southeast Alaska.
“It was beautiful,” Johnson said. “I saw the northern lights for the first time. You always hear how spectacular it is.”
“We’ll do shows off and on with them,” he said. “They’re great. It’s like they’re a modern day Everly Brothers. We had talked about adding another date after the fair, but it didn’t work out.”
Johnson said the Gin Blossoms have had their fare share of ups and downs over the past 15 years, but that in the end the Arizona quartet, in whatever format, decided their story was far from over.
“We stopped playing for a while and inevitably decided to try it again,” he said. “A few years ago, we had gotten more offers to play gigs again. Now we’re rebuilding, trying to remind people we’re back and now things are going really well.”
Johnson said that even though their last album, 2006’s “Major Lodge Victory,” was a commercial disappointment, the Gin Blossoms still love to record new material and try out new ideas.
“We really like to record and write new material,” he said. “It’s a big part of it. We have to have more than just live shows. Living off the past music is not such a great thing. I think we’ll try it one more time. The challenge is do we need a label or do we do it ourselves?”
Johnson said the recording industry is not what it was ten years ago with the advent of online downloads and free music sharing software.
“No one buys CDs anymore,” he said, “but yet you have to still pay $500 a day for a recording room and promote a new album as if it were to sell.”
Johnson said one way the Gin Blossoms have elevated the struggles of recording new songs that people will hear is to get involved with the motion picture industry. The band has been included on several soundtracks recently, including Owen Wilson’s comedy “Drill Bit Taylor” and Kate Hudson’s “How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days.”
“It’s a way for us to record and to let people out there know that we have new material that is good,” Johnson said. “I still have dreams of that Oscar.”
Johnson said when the Gin Blossoms broke up in 1997 due to the separate artistic directions each member was taking, including himself, he didn’t expect the gravy train to come to a screeching halt.
“I was really surprised,” he said. “Everyone had moved on to different projects. I started a band called the Peacemakers on the side and then one day, out of the blue, Robin [Wilson] called and said he was writing songs and that he was leaving the band. It kind of shocked me. Even then there was no talk of getting together again.”
Johnson said that the temporary split of the platinum selling band didn’t last long, with all the members eventually agreeing that they worked well as a team in 2005.
“It kind of felt like putting on a glove,” he said. “It felt right to get back together. We had pushed the band to the top, had six successful singles, and to just leave that behind and walk away, well, that’s just silly.”
Johnson said since the band has gotten back together, their stage energy has changed for the better along with their updated sound.
Singer Robin Wilson, who had spent a majority of his stage time in the ‘90s spooning the microphone stand, now gets actively involved with his audience ten years later. Johnson said he’s finally come out of his shy closet and wants to give energy back to Gin Blossoms fans during their shows.
“Now he hi-fives people, plays the tambourine a lot, and plays the cell phone game, where he grab someone’s cell and calls their mom, singing into the phone,” Johnson said. “The energy’s changed.”
Johnson said the Gin Blossoms promise not to disappoint their fans on Aug. 31 at the Alaska State Fair. All the hits, as well as a couple future hopefuls, will take the crowd into a night they’ll remember, he said.
“I felt it was important to stick to what we do best,” says Johnson. “We’ve changed, obviously. We’re a bit older. In the past, we were young and naïve, and, instead of dealing with our problems, we made the classic stupid move and broke up. Now I think we’re comfortable with eachother and how we sound. We’re going to hang around and see what it brings.”
Contact J.J. Harrier at valleylife@frontiersman.com.
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