'I Was Pretty Bad At Being A Pop Star'

Riding high on the back of Bon Iver’s endorsement and his finest album in years, the piano master discusses the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, cryogenics and appearing in “some of the worst videos ever made”

- Sam Richards

SITTING in his hotel room in Denver, Bruce Hornsby is wryly pondering his current predicament. His latest album, Absolute Zero, has re-established him as a creative force – inspired by Don DeLillo and Steve Reich, it artfully combines the resonant, pianoled heartland rock of his 1980s heyday with spry neoclassical arrangements, jazz-funk and avant-garde flourishes, sometimes ending up not a million miles from the rousing, deconstructed anthems of his famous disciple Justin Vernon (who also guests on two tracks). Yet Hornsby is still being booked to play the kind of civic festivals where vintage rockers are expected to boost the profits of local breweries by smiling politely and playing the hits.

“Who knows what they’re gonna think when I start singing about cryogenics or IRS tax examiners as American heroes?” he laughs, of his upcoming engagement at the Dillon Amphitheatre. “But lucky for us, the uninitiated seem to be following along nicely.”

It should be a clue that Hornsby has long since swapped The Range for a backing band called The Noisemakers. But how does he feel when the crowd just want to hear “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain”? “It’s definitely a challenge, but we’re not shying from it,” he says. “Nasty letters abound in my world, ever since my second record. I’ve never been the vehicle for your stroll down memory lane. Let’s face it, most people who go to see bands are there for that nostalgic night out. I get it. But it’s a creative prison for me, so I refuse to be shackled by it.” And then he laughs again, keen that we don’t confuse him for a tortured artist. By continuing to evolve, Bruce Hornsby is having the time of his life. Some things will never change? Don’t you believe them.

What’s your daily routine while on tour?

Nathan, Rochester, MN