When the Blacks reunited after nearly five years apart, the initial attention focused, in Fleetwood Mac style, on the relationship between former lovers Gina Black and Danny Black (originally Danny McDonough and no relation to Gina).
Danny Black realizes this and when questioned about the difficulty of playing music again with Gina, the now-married singer/guitarist offers a halfhearted explanation.
“I’ve heard this theory that people forget horrible things that happen to them as a defense mechanism to go on,” says Danny Black. “It’s like you filter out all of the crummy memories and just remember the good stuff.”
It’s understandable the band–known for its dizzy spin on blues, country and jazz, as well as Gina’s dominatrix stage wear–doesn’t want to rehash its painful split. And anyone who wishes to share in the misery need only listen to Healthy White Baby’s self-titled debut. The 2005 album, Danny Black’s first since the Blacks’ demise, is awash in the devastation of lost love–not surprising since a bulk of the material originated from his time with Gina Black. “Felt like you were trying to break me/Break me bone by bone,” sings Danny Black on “It’s Over.”
Yet eventually enough time passed that Danny Black began to realize he “didn’t hate [Gina] anymore.” He notes that the second time around is not nearly as emotional of an experience–a statement with which Gina Black might disagree.
“Ironically, the week we were rehearsing for [Taste of] Randolph, my boyfriend dumped me on Monday and I got to go rehearse all these songs about how much I suck,” says Gina Black. “It was like, `God, I’m so glad we’re back together.'”
When the Blacks appeared at the Taste of Randolph last month, it was the first time Danny Black, Gina Black (standup bass/vocals) and James Emmenegger (drums) had been onstage since their show at the Hi-Dive in Urbana, played on the way home from the 2001 South by Southwest music fest in Austin, Texas.
The 50-minute set, though performed under less than ideal conditions (90-degree heat and a sometimes indifferent, beer-swilling crowd), found the band shaking off its rust to deliver an often-raucous brand of country thrash, akin to Steve Earle swapping stories with Los Angeles punk pioneers X.
“Take Me Now” was a desperate plea, Gina Black letting loose a saloon-door creak of harmonica; a cover of the Doors’ “Alabama Song” swung like a gypsy caravan; “Never Coming Back” loped along on country-fried guitar, its sentiments antithetical to what was happening on stage:
The Blacks were indeed back.
A few weeks after the performance, Danny Black, Gina Black and Nora O’Connor are saddled up to the bar at the Cobra Lounge discussing the band’s almost-innate chemistry. O’Connor, who hasn’t played with the band in more than seven years, will complete the original lineup for the upcoming Empty Bottle show.
The foursome assembled at Danny’s Ravenswood apartment in May to begin rehearsals. “We just started calling out songs and a lot of them came back pretty quickly,” says O’Connor. Since then the band has practiced as often as three times a week, hoping to know every song in its catalog in time for the Empty Bottle show.
The group’s initial breakup was spurred when Emmenegger departed Chicago to start a family. (At Taste of Randolph his 4-year-old son, Bronco, could be spotted.)
“I thought about [Danny and Gina’s history], but I didn’t think it would be hard for them,” says Emmenegger, the driving force behind the reunion, when reached at his home in Los Angeles. “I brought it up because I love the music.”
“When it comes down to it, there were weird times back in the day,” says O’Connor. “But the music feels good to play.”
The band is now sharply focused on its future as it begins work on the follow-up to its 2000 release, “Just Like Home” (Bloodshot). “The thing that’s exciting to me is that I don’t think we ever reached our potential as a band,” says Danny Black. “It’ll be fun to see how far we can take it. And I’m thankful we have the chance to do that.”
The Blacks
When: 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.
Price: $10; 773-276-3600
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