shooting rubberbands at the stars

Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians got a little too deep with the languid grooves and jazzed out folk of their delightful debut.  The group began as a ska trio with Brad Houser on bass, Eric Presswood on guitar, and Brandon Aly on drums. They played around Dallas and eventually brought in schoolmates  Kenny Withrow and John Bush after Presswood left.  Edie Brickell joined the band onstage one night and became the focal point for the group.  They secured a contract with Geffen Records and the name of the group was changed from The New Bohemians to Edie Brickell & New Bohemians as a marketing ploy.  

'Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars' was produced by Pat Moran at Rockfield Studios in Wales, UK with Edie Brickell on vocals; Kenny Withrow on guitar; Brad Houser on bass; Brandon Aly on drums (fired from the band by the label during the sessions); John Bush on percussion; plus Robbie Blunt on guitar; John Henry on background vocals; Chris Whitten on drums; and Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards.  

The album went to number thirty-three in Australia and the Nethelands, twenty-nine in Germany, twenty-six in Canada, twenty-five in the UK, twelve in Austria, ten in New Zealand, five in Italy, and four in the US, eventually selling over two million copies.  'Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars' became a fixture in college dorms.  Brickell reflects back on the overnight success:    "The funny thing about it was, I had these dreams as a younger girl. When you are young, you have the naive idea that having a big hit will change your life. All your problems will go away and everyone will live happily ever after. I looked at it like that; I believed it. I thought: 'I will take care of my mother and my grandmother.' They struggled for so long trying to raise their kids by themselves. I thought: 'I’m going to do this.' And that was my main goal. I used the one gift that I felt I had, that I was able to sing and people seemed to like it. But I made the mistake of putting that goal first over writing. I didn’t have the sense that music should come first...I wrote without a sense of conscience, that it would always be out there — that you could make something of real quality. It was really about fame and fortune for my family. I made stuff up and thought: “This is good and I like it,” but I wasn’t focusing on being a real professional. You are just young, and all through school all I was thinking about was how I am going to change my family’s life — and that was first. Once I achieved that, then I really looked at the music, and I thought: “This could be better.” I looked at the way we were marketed and I thought: 'This is not the way I am' — which was ironic, because that was our song. (Laughs.) I started thinking: 'Now, my mom is taken care of, and now it’s time to start thinking about myself — about making something true.' Slowly but surely, I started getting there."







http://www.ediebrickell.com/


http://www.newbohemians.com/










"What I Am" became their first and only hit.  Brickell reveals:   "The lyrics came from my one elective in my first year in college, world religions. From the time I could first think, I wondered, What does the rest of the world think? I know what these Texas folks think [laughs], but what’s going on in the rest of the world? So I took this world religions class, and I was immediately annoyed at the chatter going on in the classroom. … To adopt behaviors, to adopt some sort of dogma, I felt defeated the purpose of evolution. That song just blossomed from irritation.  [The line “Religion is the smile on a dog”] I meant that in an endearing way, because what is more expressive and sweet than that smile on a dog? And I felt that in terms of religion, some people see it, some people don’t see it. [As for, “Choke me in the shallow water”] That’s the part that was irritating about the class. Everybody was getting so deep in terms of making things up—“Does this mean this and does that mean that?” I was just irritated, like, just kill me now before I get out there and lose myself and my sense of who I am."




I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box
Religion is the smile on a dog

I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Choke me in the shallow water
Before I get too deep

What I am is what I am
Are you what you are - or what?

I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks
Religion is a light in the fog

I'm not aware of too many things
I know what I know if you know what I mean
Choke me in the shallow water
Before I get too deep

What I am is what I am
Are you what you are - or what?

Don't let me get too deep



This performance on 'Saturday Night Live' helped to propel the song to number seven on the pop chart and was also the occasion that she met her future husband Paul Simon.  









"Circle" was their only other single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number forty-eight.  




"Little Miss S."  was inspired by Edie Sedgewick.  






"Air of December"  








"The Wheel"  






"Love Like We Do"  






"She"  





"Nothing" 







"Now"






"Keep Coming Back" 










'Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars' 
full album:

http://www.last.fm/music/Edie+Brickell+and+New+Bohemians/Shooting+Rubberbands+at+the+Stars




1. "What I Am"   Edie Brickell, Kenny Withrow 4:54
2. "Little Miss S."   Brickell, Withrow, Brad Houser, Brandon Aly, John Bush 3:37
3. "Air of December"   Brickell, Withrow, Houser, Aly, Bush 5:54
4. "The Wheel"   Brickell, Withrow, Houser, Aly, Bush 3:53
5. "Love Like We Do"   Brickell 3:13
6. "Circle"   Brickell, Withrow 3:11
7. "Beat the Time"   Brickell, Withrow 2:58
8. "She"   Brickell, Withrow, Houser, Aly, Bush 5:06
9. "Nothing"   Brickell, Withrow 4:49
10. "Now"   Brickell, Withrow, Houser, Aly, Bush 6:00
11. "Keep Coming Back"   Brickell 2:42
12. "I Do" (Hidden track) Brickell 2:00