Even for a rock performer with a career extending as long as Kate Pierson’s, the days, weeks, months and years seem to fly by in the blink of an eye.
“Well, it’s crazy,” Pierson said recently. “Time goes by so fast!”
The singer-songwriter from the B-52s sounded genuinely surprised that nearly a decade had flown by since the release of her debut solo album, 2015′s “Guitars and Microphones.”
Her belated second album, “Radios and Rainbows,” is due out Friday on fan-friendly music label SongVest Records.
“We were just touring so much — and then COVID came along and changed everything,” she said during a recent phone call with the AJC from her home in New York. “So it took a while.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Siren PR
Credit: Photo courtesy of Siren PR
But lengthy creative pauses are nothing new to the effusive, red-haired multi-instrumentalist.
“When the B’s released (their most recent studio LP) ‘Funplex’ in 2008, people were like, ‘It’s been 16 years since your last album.’ We were like, ‘What?!’” Pierson said. “But it’s true, the time just goes by when you’re busy. After my first solo record, which was so much fun to do, I kept thinking, ‘I wish I’d toured more behind it.’ At the time, we were playing everywhere, and there wasn’t time to do any solo dates. This time, I’m planning to do some shows to really play this music live for people. That’s what I want to do with it.
“But,” she said, pausing, “when that’ll actually happen, I’m not so sure. Probably early next year.”
On Tuesday, she’ll be joining bandmates Cindy Wilson and Fred Schneider for a couple of classic B-52s songs during the “Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song” show at the Fox. In October, she’ll headline the O+ Festival in New York in October, performing an intimate solo set of tunes from the new solo album. Then the B’s spring back into action for additional 2024 dates. Washington, D.C., Chicago and another run of their ongoing Las Vegas residency series at the Venetian in November are on the calendar — though she notes the band is still not technically back on the road.
“We finally said goodbye to the real grind of touring after we played the Classic Center in Athens last January at the end of the ‘Farewell Tour,’” she said. “And I must say, it sure is nice to settle in and do things like the Vegas residencies and finally stay in one place for a while. The fans come to us, instead of the other way around.”
Circling back, the B-52s will return to the Classic Center complex in December to headline the first show at the Athens venue’s new arena. They recently gave their blessings to the moniker of the new Athens Rock Lobsters hockey team, named in honor of one of the band’s best-known songs.
“Now that will be a fun thing to see,” she laughed. “I can’t wait for a marching band (to play) our songs for the team — but I guess hockey doesn’t have bands, so maybe we’ll have to do it!”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Siren PR
Credit: Photo courtesy of Siren PR
Returning for the Athens show is just one of the many orbital life arcs Pierson has noticed lately. “We do seem to sorta live in these circles, and this new record is a nice return to my own past. So in many ways, even after all the delays, the timing couldn’t be better.”
Pierson is excited about the launch of “Radios and Rainbows” and proud of the collaborative effort involved in the process. The album features contributions from a diverse cast, including Sia, Chris Braide, Jimmy Harry, Tim Andersen (the Ima Robot co-founder), Bleu McAuley and frequent Adele collaborator Sam Dixon.
“A lot of people were involved, and just gathering everyone together took time,” she said. “Even without a pandemic, this might’ve been a five-year project. Now nine years later, it’s finally here.”
Having worked with the core members of the B-52s since 1976, Pierson said she also enjoys the artistic freedom of creating music with new artists. She equates the experiences as equally rewarding.
“We started the B’s by jamming, so most of the time, it was just us. Then we’d take the groovy parts and jam those ideas some more, so it was always very much of a group thing. We all brought something to it which made it unique. And it was our own thing.”
But when Pierson worked on an outside project with the Japan-based band NiNa in 1999, her perspective on writing changed. “I think that’s when I realized I could collaborate with anyone. They didn’t speak English, I didn’t speak Japanese, yet somehow it still seemed to work. It’s just a totally different mindset to write with yourself or one or two other people, so that brought me out of the sort of ‘comfort zone’ of the B’s.”
Credit: Courtesy of Kelly Bugden and Keith Bennett
Credit: Courtesy of Kelly Bugden and Keith Bennett
Even though she embraced branching out from the familiar band mindset, the inspiration for the new collection’s title track harkens even further back, to her very first group formed when she was still in junior high school. The piece is a “bit of a protest song,” she said.
“The Sun Donuts was a band I had in junior high, back when folk was all the rage, and it all really informed me politically,” Pierson said. “Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs and all those singer-songwriters were bringing the message. I learned a lot about current events from them. Now that thread runs through ‘Radios and Rainbows’ because it’s about finding the truth among all the lies. It has a very antiwar stance, because it’s about peace and staying hopeful. So maybe it’s my version of modern folk music.”
The message of hope is a strong current in the genre-blurring collection of songs. “I wanted it all to be uplifting, no matter how the music sounded,” she said. “I mean, a song like ‘Higher Place’ is inspirational, as is ‘Dream On’ (recorded with Tracy Wormworth and Sterling Campbell from the B-52s’ touring band), but they’re very different at the same time.”
“Evil Love,” one of the featured “single” tracks, evokes a moody landscape that’s delivered with a campy twist. “Even a song like ‘Every Day Is Halloween’ (recorded with her pal Sia) is positive and fun because, let’s face it, we’re all sort of living in a maze,” Pierson said. “Every day, there’s something weird happening. Maybe we’re about to calm down a little, but you never know. All we can do is hope for the best — and I think that’s what this record is all about.”
IF YOU GO
“Jimmy Carter 100: A Celebration in Song”
7:30 p.m. today, at the Fox Theatre. Tickets $100 (excluding taxes and fees). Hosted by and benefiting the Carter Center; presented by Delta Air Lines. 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. foxtheatre.org.
ON TV
Kate Pierson discusses “Radios and Rainbows”
5 p.m. Thursday, on the TalkShopLive channel. talkshop.live/channels
