Lucero frontman Ben Nichols talks about the band's evolution, Pennsylvania tour dates

Being beloved but not a household name has served Lucero well.

"Over the last 24 (years), we've been really lucky we never got too famous, so we were always able to do exactly what we wanted to do at any moment," Lucero frontman and lyricist Ben Nichols said. "Whatever really caught our attention. Over the years different influences have come and gone, and we've gone different directions."

The Memphis band got championed first by country-punk aficionados, who stayed loyal as the fan base grew, and Lucero ventured more into alt-country and embraced soul influences, meandering into more straightforward guitar rock with piano seasoning.

"I've always written the songs and I feel like they're always coming from the same heart, the same place, whether we're doing a more soulful Memphis thing with a horn section or more country-ish type stuff or straight rock and roll or indie rock," Nichols said in a telephone interview. "Whatever genre we're into at the time, I like to think that it still sounds like Lucero, but I love having that freedom to explore it and go a different place."

That exploration takes fuller shape on a Lucero tour launching May 16 in Indiana, before the tour bus steers toward Pennsylvania and shows May 23 at Titusville Iron Works Tap House, June 2 at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale and June 6 at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center.

Prior to the tour came a one-off hometown show in Memphis with just Nichols and pianist Rick Steff.

"We've been doing a few stripped-down shows with just piano and acoustic guitar, so that's something kind of just for fun," Nichols said. "We might video it, though, and do a record like that and re-address some of the old catalog in this nice kind of intimate format. But the tour starts in mid-May; we hit Indiana, Kentucky and work our way up to Titusville and Pittsburgh and stuff later on."

Steff's piano plunking, elevating songs like 2023's "She Leads Me," exemplify the evolution of Lucero, which in addition to Nichols includes original members Brian Venable on guitar, Roy Berry on drums and John C. Stubblefield on bass.

"Lucero's been around for 24 years and Rick's been with us for about half the time," Nichols said. "We'd been a rowdy rock and roll band – just two guitars, bass and drums – for the first half of our existence and had kind of run that into the ground, and when Rick joined up it kind of gave us a new lease on life and got me excited about the band again."

Make no mistake, a guitar-driven sound still embodies a roadhouse rowdiness, evidenced on the 2023 album's "Should've Learned by Now," which will supply a balanced portion of this tour's carefully crafted setlist.

"That record came out over a year ago, but we haven't put out anything new since, so, yeah, we're still supporting that album," Nichols said. "It's funny, some of the songs kind of stick with you and some fade into the background a bit. So, we're playing stuff off the new record, but we're not doing everything off the new record. We have a few that have now been incorporated into an overarching full catalog set that we usually do. We're playing stuff from our very earliest recordings all the way to "Should've Learned by Now," and everything in between. So, some of the new record, but we're not focused on it."

The album comes out swinging with “One Last F.U.”

"That one we will play for sure," Nichols said. "That's a fun one. Every night I have to tell the audience it's not about them. You can take this F.U. and pass it along to whoever needs it. Just take it and put it out into the world and spread some love. I don't know where I came up with that line but it kind of stuck. I thought that actually would make a ridiculous song. So, it's just a general F.U. not directed at anyone. I don't have a grudge or anything specific."

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The guitar-ripping second track, "Macon If We Make It," addresses storms of the literal and figurative sense, drawing its title from an unforgettable and potentially perilous night on the road.

"We were in Georgia on tour and a hurricane was coming through and we were trying to get to the next show," Nichols said. "We've crossed paths with hurricanes a few times in our career. They can mess things up. But in that case, we got lucky and made it just fine, but it felt like it was bearing down right on top of us for a little bit. But we didn't get whisked away to Oz or anything like that."

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A lyrical theme threaded through "Should've Learned By Now" finds Nichols, on behalf of the band, acknowledging they've all screwed things up, and still make mistakes, but are trying their best and realize that's fine.

"Absolutely. That's kind of wrapped up in the album title," Nichols said. "There's a lot we should have learned by now, a lot of things we should have fixed or readdressed. But the one thing I know is we kind of kept forging ahead and never quit. And we're still plowing through and making our way. We're resigned to knowing we're always going to be screwups and that's always going to be part of us, but so far we can still get away with it."

The five-piece band is living in the moment, savoring the simplicity of playing straight-ahead rock and roll, Nichols said.

"The songs hold up no matter what format of the band is in over time. I like to think the songs are good enough to be interpreted in numerous ways. Like you can take them all the way down to just me and Rick on piano and they still hold up. Or you can add synthesizers, or you can add horns, or whatever, but the songs are still Lucero," Nichols said. "So, there's no telling what the next direction will be. But I'm enjoying this simplified rock and roll bar band kind of thing we're doing. It might just continue in that direction."

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Lucero's ability to explore sounds and evolve successfully while continuing to fill concert halls points to a fan base that's loyal and understanding.

"You're exactly right. We're very lucky," Nichols said. "The fans have been super cool and extremely loyal in a lot of cases and willing to come along on that ride with us. And you can tell. Certain albums are fan favorites and certain ones kind of fall by the wayside only for folks who really like the kind of deep cuts. But I don't know if I could do it any other way. I don't know if I could keep making the same-sounding album over and over again. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me. It would probably be more lucrative (laughs) and a smarter business choice, but it's not why we got into it in the first place. So, we're very lucky people have been willing to stick with us."

Safe to say, upcoming audiences will include fans who've been on that ride for many years, maybe catching Lucero's 2013 co-billed tour with Titus Andronicus that jam-packed Mr. Smalls Theatre outside Pittsburgh.

"I remember that tour. That was one of the crazier ones maybe, but it was a fun one," Nichols said. "And, yeah, Mr. Smalls is always great. For the Pittsburgh area, that's always been a longtime stomping ground of ours. I don't know how sacrilegious it is to have Lucero play an old former church; somebody's burning somewhere. But they're always super nice to us. It's just kind of cool with that old DIY, no-nonsense, very welcoming, laid-back vibe to it."

The type of venue favored by the youthful music fans Nichols nostalgically salutes in "At the Show" from the 2023 album.

"They say write what you know. Like 'At the Show' is about a bunch of kids – indie rock kids, punk rock kids – putting on shows in DIY venues," Nichols said. "The gears on the street. It's chaos. Everyone is loading in. Nothing is done legally or you don't have permits for anything. But everybody's young and it's fun. And everybody loves the music. That song is trying to capture that spirit."

A quarter-century ago, those kids would have found out about that show from a flier tacked to a telephone pole.

"That's exactly how the Memphis scene was 25 years ago," Nichols said.

Nichols appreciates those kids got older, though didn't necessarily grow up, hence he still writes what he describes as "the maybe-I-drank-too-much-in-a-city bar-all-night-and-I'm-getting-myself-in-trouble-again" type of songs as well. "The innocent and the not-so-innocent," Nichols said. "It's all wrapped up in there."

A Lucero album is a fun listening experience, but fans more fully embrace the experience of a live and loud performance.

"We appreciate them being at the live shows," Nichols said. "That's how we earn our living, hitting the road and getting people actually out and into the venues. I know it's tough on those weeknights but just thank you to the fans for actually coming out and seeing us. Your encouragement keeps us going."

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Beaver County Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Lucero singer Ben Nichols discusses the Memphis band's tour