The Bottle Rockets, the Festus-born, St. Louis-based band of alt-country stalwarts some 28 years running, have announced today that they have broken up.
The news came via a statement on social media. According to the post, guitarist, frontman and co-bandleader Brian Henneman has decided to retire, and the group simply can’t go on without him.
“Although he’s in good health, he’s been feeling the passage of time and has lost interest in anything that distracts from or takes him away from home,” the post reads. “Unfortunately, this means the Bottle Rockets can’t continue as we know it. This is a difficult and emotional outcome for the band, and we share the sense of loss over this ending, but it can also be framed as an opportunity for new directions.”
Accompanying that post is a statement from Henneman himself that makes clear the decision was not made lightly.
“Been thinkin’ about it this entire time off,” Henneman writes. “I’m more certain of it than anything I’ve ever been certain of before. I’m turning 60 this year. Including my time with Uncle Tupelo, I have been doing this recording/touring thing for 30 years. I don’t consider myself too old to do it anymore, but I do consider myself too old to want to.”
I’d been trying to convince the group’s bassist Keith Voegele to do a European tour so we could all go over there together for a couple of weeks and get weird. Alas, that wish will never be fulfilled.
* Henneman is just a top-notch lyricist. Here’s one example…
Guess I’m gonna have to row
Looks like the Gulf of Mexico, down by the Texaco
