Living in Atlanta during the mid-1990s while he and his band, Matchbox Twenty, were working on their first album, vocalist and songwriter Rob Thomas turned his eyes toward the Fox Theatre many times, dreaming to himself that one day, one day, he would play there.
“We went to see Collective Soul at the Fox and we thought, ‘This is what it’s all about.’ ”
That day came, quicker than they could have believed. The 1996 album, “Yourself or Someone Like You,” eventually sold 12 million copies. It spawned a brace of hit singles, including “Long Day,” “Push,” “3 A.M.,” and “Real World,” and Matchbox quickly leapfrogged the Fox to play Philips Arena.
Doesn’t matter. The Fox still represents something special to Thomas. Which is why he’s happy to be returning there with his solo show Wednesday, touring behind the second record under his own name, “Cradlesong.”
Thomas, 37, recently took time to speak about his new ambitions, now that his old ambitions have been met. He spoke shortly after rock and roll pioneer Les Paul had passed away, at age 94.
Q: So Les Paul is gone.
A: When you think about the impact he had on music and the genre of rock and roll. Revolutions were started because of that [freaking] guitar!
Q: You’re returning to the Fox, but you’ve played everywhere. What’s your new ambition?
A: I want to be a wrinkled old guy. I want to be 94 years old, and still playing. ... If I make it to 94, you can hit the end button.
Q: What did [Atlanta vocal coach] Jan Smith tell you about singing?
A: One thing about Jan ... when you’re starting out, you think you got all the [stuff] figured out, then you meet someone so good. She knows the difference between where you are and where you want to be. People say you gotta quit smoking, and she says you’d better start using a bong. It cools off the smoke.
Q: Did she offer techniques to help you keep from injuring your voice?
A: For me, I’m a growler. It’s kind of like being a boxer: You go out there, you know, with the purpose of getting the [stuffing] beat out of you. Rock singers purposefully sing the wrong way. That beats you up a little more. ... But there are different exercises. ... [Jan] used to go in the studio with me, she’d say you figure out the hard points in the show. What are the hardest ones to sing? And you work on that, make sure you can do those first.
Q: Percussion dominates [the first single on the new record] “Her Diamonds.” Talk about recording that song.
A: We wanted to fit in on the radio, but I didn’t want to sound like anything before or after. You need urgency when you’re making an album, there’s gotta be urgency behind the rhythmic tracks. For “Diamonds” it sounded so much like that Paul Simon ”Rhythm of the Saints” vibe, I thought, ‘This will be the record.’”
Concert preview
Rob Thomas
7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, $36-$66, Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., 404-881-2100; www.foxtheatre.org/
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