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Cracker singer David Lowery has experienced quite a bit in his 20-plus-year musical career. From producing and printing his own albums because no major label would sign his band to gaining mainstream success and nonstop radio play Lowery found peace with both scenarios. So he and his bandmates decided to combine the two. Cracker has taken to producing new music via an independent label. However, because of its appeal stemming from the band's mainstream success in the early- to mid-'90s, Cracker is able to pack houses nationwide.

In support of its latest release, the critically acclaimed Greenland, the band will play a show at Jack's Patio Bar & Grill on Wednesday, Oct. 31. Lowery chatted with 210SA about major labels versus independent labels and the band's diversified fan base.
 

Would you say that Cracker's going to be one of those bands that tours nonstop for years to come?

I think so, and I think that's already occurred. Our mainstream radio hits were over a decade ago, but the reason Cracker is touring 10 years after that has something to do with a kind of cult following and the kind of fan we've sort of established ourselves with. That is what has given us a second life. We toured this last summer, and it was one of the bigger summers we've had in about 10 years, as far as the people we played to ..... There was a time when our sound lined up with alternative radio, and we had some big hits then, but then alternative radio went in a nu metal direction, and we went in another direction.

What kind of fan have you established yourself with?

I don't know, maybe a lot of people that would be vinyl and wouldn't figure it at all weird to see some indie rock band like Built to Spill but might also go see Led Zeppelin. We have a very wide age range. We definitely have an older crowd that had something to do with the Grateful Dead scene, but then we also have college kids and teenagers that like us because we bring the rock. That's something a lot of bands don't do. People are tired of the sugary pop-punk sound or the fake sort of emotions from these cheesy emo bands that are popular now.

What do you think when you hear a song like “Low” played on rock radio, more than a decade after it was released?

Those songs are played more now than they were when they were hits because there are a lot more stations that play our stuff. Rock, alternative, they all play Cracker as one of their artists. Even if they're playing stuff from 12 years ago, that's why people know who we are and how teenagers know who we are. A lot of them are too young to have seen us when those songs were current.

Going back to the early '90s, and knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently?

I can't really say I would because I don't think we would have ended up with the records we had. Even the mistakes along the way taught us something and made us make the music that we made. Ultimately, at the end of the day, in 20 years, whether we're touring or whatever, I'd like to be able to pick up one of our CDs and play a track and say, “Yeah, I'm glad I put that song on the record, and I'm glad we wrote it.” I want nothing that makes me cringe or go, “Oh, God, why did we do that? Why did we listen to the label? Why did we go for some pop hit when it wasn't in us?”

CLINT HALE | 210SA