Lawrence.com

Bob Dylan is trying to break up BR549.

No, it's not quite like what Yoko Ono did with The Beatles. Instead, Dylan has recruited multi-instrumentalist Don Herron from the Grammy-nominated country act as part of his touring band. The situation has made it rather awkward the past few months for the Nashville unit to conduct business as usual.

"What a great experience for Donnie," says BR549 frontman Chuck Mead, who won't be able to hook back up with his bandmate until Dylan's tour finishes.

"We're just going to have to work around his schedule for a while, which is fine because it gives me a chance to do stuff. I have a bunch of songs that may not be BR549 songs, so I needed to do something on my own anyway."

With his ensemble on hiatus until May, Mead is using the time to return for a solo show in his hometown of Lawrence, where he was a musical mainstay before he split for Nashville in 1993.

Mead will headline a set at 8 p.m. Friday at The Jazzhaus, 926 1/2 Mass. - a venue he hasn't performed in for nearly a decade. The singer-guitarist will be backed for the first time by local quartet The Crumpletons.

"I've known these guys forever. They were all guys that were somewhat related to hanging out at Richard's Music," says Mead of the long-standing Lawrence guitar shop where he worked during the '80s. "We'll have a couple rehearsals, but we'll be winging it like always."

"Chuck is the kind of musician that you love to have in your band," says Crumpletons guitarist John Lomas. "He knows a million songs and can sing all night long. He has an energy and enthusiasm that is infectious, and he projects those good vibes to the audience."

Playing musical chairs with a lineup is nothing new for Mead. After BR549 saw two of its founding members quit in 2001, their replacements have also permanently left the group. Guitarist Chris Scruggs (grandson of banjo legend Earl Scruggs) and bassist Geoff Firebaugh amicably departed months ago. The band recently compensated for the loss during a tour of Switzerland with new bassist Mark Miller (The Ex-Husbands).

Despite these membership shifts, and Dylan's current meddling, Mead insists BR549 is still together.

"There's no reason NOT to keep it going," he says. "It doesn't have to be all-consuming in my life. I can work on other things ... It's just not going to be a relentless pound."

So what has Mead been doing with all the recent downtime?

"If you ask my wife, not enough," he says. "I mow the lawn. I sit around and write songs. I've been writing with Guy Clark. Marty Stuart and I wrote a song, which was a gas. I've just been trying to generate some mailbox money."

Heart, soul and sincerity

Formed when Mead and drummer Shaw Wilson left Lawrence for the Music City, BR549 began gaining attention as the house band at Robert's Western Wear, a combo bar/clothing store where the members played for tips.

Audiences were impressed by the group's fusing of vintage country sounds (circa '40s and '50s) with a punk-rock approach.

"I resent being called 'alt-country.' We're just country," Mead says.

"To me, country music is a story told in everyday language that resonates with everyone, told in a poetic way. It has to have heart, soul and sincerity. Even something like 'I'm My Own Grandpa' has a certain sincerity to it - even though it's a novelty song - because that's a true experience."

Record deals with Arista and Sony followed, as did performances on "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and even a national ad for Southwest Airlines. And there were hundreds and hundreds of shows.

Mead recalls a few of the more memorable gigs:

"At Robert's, owner Robert (Moore) also trained boxers. Early on he had a ring upstairs at the club. When we were playing, every three minutes you could hear a bell.

"They had a boxing exhibition at the fairgrounds one time. Before the main bout we played INSIDE the boxing ring. ... At one point we had this shtick where we pretended we were getting into a fight and we took off our pants and had boxing trunks on."

BR549 also had the unique honor of performing at the 2000 wedding of movie star Kate Hudson and Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson. The band had toured with the Crowes on multiple occasions, which led to a gig at the private reception.

"The next morning we went over to Goldie (Hawn) and Kurt (Russell's) house and had elk stew from some elk that Kurt had killed," he recalls. "We watched football and sang songs."

Across the universe

As Mead walks around downtown Lawrence this week, he can't seem to get more than a few steps before running into another acquaintance from the old days - a junior high school friend, a former co-worker from Liberty Hall. The 44-year-old musician says the experience is not all that different from being on tour.

"It used to drive everybody in the band crazy," says Mead, who moved with his family from Kansas City, Kan., to Lawrence in 1969.

"We'd be out on the road - like in Odessa, Texas - when we'd run into somebody from Lawrence. Everywhere. Like in Europe, there's somebody that I know from Lawrence. It caused them to understand that Lawrence is the center of the universe."

Mead's parents and sister still live in the city. And while he admits to being perfectly happy in Nashville, the singer and his wife Brenda (a Kansas native and KU grad) aren't ruling out a return ... assuming Bob Dylan doesn't somehow interfere.

"I can see us moving back here years from now," he says. "It's still home to us. And because of global warming, the winters aren't so bad."