BoDeans return to Sheboygan for the holidays

From the 1980s until today, the BoDeans have performed in Sheboygan at various events and Saturday, Dec. 26, they will return to the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in a concert that ties into them being “home for the holidays.”

This performance is presented as part of the Rotary Concert Series, which is organized by the Sheboygan Rotary Club.

“This is the third time we are bringing the BoDeans to Sheboygan, and it has been one of the most askedfor concerts we have ever presented,” stated Rotary Concert Series Chairman Mike Basch. “We are proud to bring this level of show to the Weill Center. It is a great concert venue and is appreciated by every artist that comes here and gives the concert goer an unparalleled concert experience.”

The BoDeans were formed in Waukesha in 1983 by Kurt Neumann (vocals and electric guitar) and Sam Llanas (vocals and acoustic guitar). Their ability to tell great stories in songs brought them immediate success on the global stage as the BoDeans became international recording stars. In 1985 after adding a drummer and a bassist, the band signed with Slash/Warner Records and recorded their first album. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band had several singles in the top 40 “mainstream rock” charts, which led to tours of the U.S. and the world. In the mid-1990s, the band had two top 10 songs on the “Adult Contemporary” charts.

In January 1987, a Rolling Stone reader poll voted the BoDeans the Best New American Band. Their second album, “Outside Looking In,” was released that year. Followed by that were “Home” (1989), “Black and White” (1991), and “Go Slow Down” (1993).

Their 1993 song “Closer to Free” brought them to a much larger audience after it was selected as the theme song to the TV series “Party of Five.” The band would return to TV in 1999 to perform a cover of The Beatles' “I've Just Seen a Face” as the theme song for the show's short-lived spinoff “Time of Your Life.” Due to the newfound exposure, “Closer to Free” became the group's biggest pop hit, peaking at No. 16 on the U.S. Hot 100, three years after its release.

“Closer to Free” was also the opening song used in the movie “Heavyweights.” In 1995, “Joe Dirt Car,” a two CD live set, was released followed by the 1996 album, “Blend.” The band took some time off in the late 1990s so Neumann and Llanas could record solo albums. Llanas created the band Absinthe and their album “A Good Day To Die.” Neumann released his solo album called “Shy Dog” on which he plays all the instruments. Neumann said that they decided to stick with the BoDeans because they “realized that the sound we made together was bigger than the sound we made apart.”

In 2001 the 17-song compilation “The Best Of BoDeans - Slash and Burn” was released on London/ Slash/Rhino. In 2004 they returned with new songs on “Resolution” released on Rounder/Zoe. A live album was released in 2005, titled “Homebrewed: Live from the Pabst.” The group released the DVD for “Homebrewed: Live from the Pabst” at the end of 2005. In January 2006, Bob Griffin left the band for personal reasons. Efforts for the band to leave Warner created a three-year long court battle, during which time they took a hiatus from the studio.

The BoDeans released their new album, titled “Still,” on March 4, 2008. The song “Pretty Ghost” from the new album “Still,” became a single as of Feb. 12, 2008.

It was stated that the first 15,000 copies of “Still” had some errors in the lyrics booklet. The record company recently re-released the album with the corrections in the booklet.

Recently, a live, acoustic CD became available on the BoDeans official Web site. It was recorded in Schaumburg, and Arlington Heights, Ill., in November 2006. It features only Sammy, Kurt, and Bukka, and has 13 rare live, acoustic songs.

Tickets are on sale at the Weill Center Ticket Office on North Eighth Street in Sheboygan or by phone at (920) 208-3243. The Weill Center ticket office is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Visit www.weillcenter.com for details on this and other performances at the Weill Center.