During a recent appearance on the “JJO Discover New Music Podcast,” The Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson opened up about the band’s uncompromising career path and the creative process behind their brand-new studio album, A Pound Of Feathers.
Released on March 13 through Silver Arrow Records, the 11-track record marks a significant milestone as the legendary rock group’s tenth full-length release. When asked how it feels to reach double-digit number of studio albums, Rich Robinson offered a colorful analogy.
“It’s like an old worn, beat-up pickup truck. But maybe it got a new engine. I don’t know. There’s a lot of dings and rust or whatever, but it’s still functioning. No, it feels great.”
Reflecting on the band’s decades-long journey alongside his brother, frontman Chris Robinson, the guitarist admitted that their stubborn dedication to their own artistic vision likely cost them mainstream commercial heights.
“Chris and I have always only made the records that we wanna make… We probably shot ourselves in the foot. We probably could have been a much bigger band if we had listened to people and tried to do the things that people do. But we are in it because we love music and we love the process and we love being in a band, playing and we love being in the studio and making records and writing new songs. And so it’s pretty amazing to sit back and look at ten records,” he explained.
The new album was rapidly tracked over just 10 days in Nashville, Tennessee. Joining the Robinson brothers in the studio was drummer Cully Symington, who has been playing with the group since 2023. At the helm was Grammy-winning producer Jay Joyce, who also produced the band’s previous 2024 album, Happiness Bastards.
According to Rich Robinson, bringing in a trusted outside producer was a crucial decision for the fiercely opinionated brothers.
“Chris has produced a bunch of bands. I’ve produced a bunch of bands, written songs for other people, produced all my solo records. Chris has worked with tons of other people, and we both know one thing about ourselves is that we have our strong opinions about how things should be, how things should sound or what a thing should look like. So we both agreed early on that we need someone to come in, someone that we trust that we can just kind of turn over the reins. Like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m doing, this is this and this is that.’ And then someone that can take that and look at it from 10,000 feet and be a little bit cooler… I just think Jay‘s such a cool dude. He’s a talented musician in his own right. He comes from a similar background to us and speaks our language. And that’s what we really like about him.”
The guitarist also lamented the music industry’s historic restrictions on release schedules, noting that he would have preferred a much faster output throughout their career.
“I was talking to Chris the other day. If I had had my druthers, I would’ve made a record a year. We could have easily done it, but the industry back then wouldn’t let you. ‘Cause they’re, like, ‘It’ll thwart the sales of this one record,’ and everything was kind of wrapped up into sales. And now it seems like you’re much more capable or able to go in and make a record or two records a year. Some of the bands in the ’70s would make two records a year, which was really cool. And you look back after a 36-year career for them, and they’re, like, 20, 25 albums released and stuff like that. So it’s all put into perspective.”
To support the release of A Pound Of Feathers, The Black Crowes are currently performing across Australia and Japan. Following their international run, the band will launch a North American tour on May 17 in Austin, Texas, featuring support from Whiskey Myers and Southall.
The current 2026 touring lineup features the Robinson brothers alongside drummer Cully Symington, keyboardist Erik Deutsch, and guitarist Nico Bereciartua. Longtime bassist Sven Pipien is currently sitting out the tour and has been temporarily replaced by Mark “Muddy” Dutton of Burning Tree.
A Pound Of Feathers tracklist:
- “Profane Prophecy“
- “Cruel Streak“
- “Pharmacy Chronicles“
- “Do The Parasite!“
- “High And Lonesome“
- “Queen Of The B-Sides“
- “It’s Like That“
- “Blood Red Regrets“
- “You Call This A Good Time“
- “Eros Blues“
- “Doomsday Doggerel“
