The Black Crowes are flying again — sort of — thanks to the Magpie Salute.
The group was launched last year by guitarist and Crowes co-founded Rich Robinson, after enlisting former Crowes mates Marc Ford, Eddie Harsch and Sven Pipien to play with him at a special show in Woodstock. Robinson officially announced Magpie Salute’s formation last October, and this year the 10-piece group is on the road playing Crowes favorites and covers, while the group is also hatching plans to make some music of its own in the near future…
* Robinson was already working with his own band after the Black Crowes broke up in 2015. Bringing Ford and Harsch (Pipien was already in Robinson’s band) back into the fold turned out to be easy additions. “They both came down and we played together, and it was so much fun and just felt right to me,” Robinson, 48, recalls by phone from Los Angeles. “It was more about inclusion instead of exclusion. To me it was like bringing those guys into my band that I already had. When everyone was in the room and playing I could really feel, and so could everyone else, how special that was. Ed same up to me and said, ‘Man, we got to do this. This’ll be perfect. This’ll be great.’ Everyone there really felt the same way, so we decided to do this.”
* Sadly, Harsch — who lived in Detroit for many years — passed away suddenly last November in Toronto. “It was a shock,” Robinson says. “He was so excited and we were talking to him every-other day, getting his visa together, working it out. Next thing I knew he was in a coma. ‘What?! I just talked to him yesterday! What the hell happened?’ And then a week later he was dead. We really miss him.”
* The Magpie Salute has been particularly welcomed by Black Crowes fans who are happy to hear the return of songs that have been drydocked for many years. “Right now the people that are coming are hardcore Black Crowes fans,” Robinson notes. “A lot of these people have been incredibly supportive of me and my solo stuff and Marc and his solo stuff. I see a sense of almost relief when they hear those songs. It’s really amazing to see when people hear ‘My Morning Song;’ They’re like, ‘I never thought I’d heard that song played again.’ That’s very humbling.”
* Robinson says he’s “started writing” new songs and hopes to collaborate with Ford and other band members. But his primary focus right now is to introduce the Magpie Salute to the world. “This year is sort of education people about what we are, and to become a band,” Robinson explains. “You have to go out on tour and play and do these things. We don’t’ want to just always be playing Black Crowes songs; We want to be a band and a band that can go back to those songs, and my songs and Marc’s songs, and go forward to our new songs and cover all sorts of ground. We want to be vibrant and be creative and move forward.”
* The Black Crowes, meanwhile, remain nested. Robinson says he hasn’t spoken to his brother, frontman Chris Robinson, in three years, while drummer Steve Gorman, who has a nationally syndicated sports talk radio show, opted not to be part of the Magpie Salute. “I asked Steve to do this and he said now,” Robinson says. “He would’ve loved to, but he just re-upped his contract for his radio show. And that’s totally fine. I have no problem with that. He’s busy, I’m busy. That’s just how it goes.”
If You Go
* The Magpie Salute and the Trews
* Sunday, July 30. Door open at 7 p.m.
* Saint Andrews Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit.
* Tickets are $33 and $45.
* Call 313-961-6358 or visit saintandrewsdetroit.com.
