“Thirty-five years is a long time,” said Boneheads’ keyboardist Bob Colwell in a recent interview. “Bands are generally pretty ephemeral things, and it's highly unusual to last that long.”

Right! I say ... longer than The Beatles, not as long as The Stones. Hey, it got an appreciative chuckle ...

To celebrate that longevity, the Boneheads - Colwell, Steve Jones, guitar, Scott Elliot on bass, and Dickie Hollis on drums - are combining their annual winter show at the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor with the CD release party for “Still Kickin” on Saturday, Jan. 10.  We’ll hear the dozen or so new, or rather, never been released before tunes, during the Opera House show. Music and merriment begin at 7:30 p.m. 

Bob suspected the title originated with Scott (like I thought), "But," he said, “like most things Bonehead it’s hard to remember.” 

Tunes on "Still Kickin'" date back to when COVID shut down the world. “I was fairly sure what I’d devoted my life to - live music and recording music – was done. There was so much uncertainty about how long it would be before normalcy, or what had been normal life, resumed.”

At some point the band started meeting weekly at Bob’s studio, The Root Cellar, masked and ready to write and record. “Basically we’d come in with no songs or a germ of an idea, and then spend four or five hours until we had a song. We did that over and over again every Wednesday, so basically, this (new CD) is the fruition of that endeavor. A lot of it was songwriting as a group, so, lots of fun. We have a lot more material that we didn't use. We're actually probably going to do another record fairly soon. We had a bunch of instrumentals that are pretty fun that will, hopefully, see the light of day at some point.”

Funny thing was, all the while they were recording no one was even thinking of putting out an album. Round about last fall, with the 35th anniversary looming, Bob suggested they start to look back through their catalogue, finish some songs, re-record others and do whatever it took to make a record – and use Scott’s artwork. 

"Still Kickin" features 12 new, or, rather, never recorded, songs they'll be playing as well as others from the Boneheads catalogue. The cut "Mellow" is out on Spotify: https://rb.gy/9qvdbt

So, taking into consideration when these songs were being written, are they largely super personal with a lot of societal commentary? Bob noted a Steve Jones song, "Don't Let Them Take Your Mind,” which is a little about people going down the rabbit hole and questioning whether they are the same people they were before ... Because I remember you."

“During that period where the world stopped you know, the idea that you were off the hamster wheel, your focus definitely, definitely changed,” shared Bob. “You couldn't just keep doing the regular thing. There was no regular thing. I can feel it when I listen back to the record. I can feel the mood of that time period, you know, there was definitely an influence ..."

Let’s talk merch: In addition to “Still Kickin,” there will be some older stuff, no, not 92’s “Cranium,” which some Boneheads fans still think was the best album of the band’s history to date (check out its Facebook page – fans still talk about it). What will be there: Their greatest hits aka “20 years of Boneheads” with “greatest hits” crossed out replaced with “above average songs.” How many? Hard to say.

The band always has a great time playing the Opera House. "The people at the Opera House are awesome. Cathy and Kevin, and Jomo doing sound, but you know, it's always a great crowd of very supportive people for the music," Bob said. "You know, that's the other thing: It's about the music at the Opera House. . It's not necessarily about, you know, getting drunk or picking up somebody. You always have that feeling like it's a room full of people that are on your side. It's like a home game. Yeah?"

Like the Boneheads, we're all looking forward to the show this weekend - and Scott's first solo show opening at the Opera House on the 8th! - to take a break, let our hair down and have ourselves a mighty fine time.

I thanked Bob for his time - and for all four of them keeping the band together. He replied, "It's all we can do; we have no other marketable skills!"

Tickets are going fast - don't miss out on getting yours - and they are just $20 in advance. The box office, at 86 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor, is open Wednesday-Friday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.; call the box office at get 'em from the official Opera House website: https://boothbayoperahouse.com