The Shins to play Kiva Auditorium

Jul. 27—The days have been busy for James Mercer lately.

In addition to his regular life at home, he's been busy practicing for The Shins' tour, which makes a stop in Albuquerque at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, at Kiva Auditorium.

The show will be a return to his hometown, as Mercer began The Shins in the mid-1990s while in Albuquerque.

As awesome as a homecoming always is, Mercer's also excited to be celebrating the 21st anniversary of "Oh, Inverted World." The album is responsible for changing the trajectory of The Shins as they became part of mainstream music.

"In some ways it feels like it's been no time at all," he says of the album's release. "It's hard to believe that it's been so long since it was released to the world. I'm forever grateful to the album."

Mercer is the remaining founding member of the band, which got its start in Albuquerque.

He recalls performing at the local venues for years and hoping the band's luck would change.

Decades of being in the industry, Mercer wouldn't change a thing.

"I still have a lot to learn," he says. "When we got signed, I was in this crazy head space. I was flushed with success and I felt like all the years working in Albuquerque had finally come to fruition. I didn't feel the pressure to go back to college. I was really just a kid still. In the last few years, it's like I'm kind of a grown up and I have kids."

For years, Mercer and the founding members of The Shins cut their teeth performing any gig they could get.

Though there was plenty of hard work, Mercer felt like time was running out. He was balancing music and his studies at the University of New Mexico.

"I had made a commitment to my parents and I asked them to give me one more year now that I had equipment and I could record myself," he recalls. "I would go back to UNM. Luckily, I got signed and things worked out."

The Shins have released five albums to date. The most recent is 2017's "Heartworms."

Mercer says he will begin working on a new Shins album after he completes work on the upcoming Broken Bells album later this year.

Mercer and Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, formed Broken Bells in 2004, and both are actively supporting the outfit.

As Mercer has continued to navigate his career, he's learned many lessons along the way.

One of them is practice does make perfect.

"I noticed that I'm better at playing guitar nowadays than I was back then," he says. "Personally I've changed a lot and I've gained some clarity on many things."

One aspect that has changed for Mercer is he's able to manage his emotions before a show.

"I remember having terrible stage fright," he says. "I'm better now. It was really kind of scary when we first got signed. We had only played in front of 200 people at the Sunshine (Theater). It changed rapidly once we got signed to Sub Pop. It was a nervous time. There were questions and I remember asking Megan Jasper at Sub Pop, 'Are you sure we should be playing these shows?' She told me to hold on and perform my heart out."

Mercer feels like he's been lucky during his nearly 30-year career in music.

He often takes time to think of what he would tell his 1990 self.

"I would tell him to hang in there and I would have started (music) earlier," he says. "To keep working on writing because that is going to be the key thing to get started. That's actually my advice to any new artist. Concentrate on writing and don't rely on a recording studio or engineer. Get those skills down because it's expensive."

It's been about five years since Mercer was back in Albuquerque and has looked forward to it since the tour was announced.

"I'll be reuniting with my family and just being back in Albuquerque again is amazing," he says. "First, I'm going straight to Frontier for some carne (adovada). I love that place."

The Shins

With Joseph

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4

WHERE: Kiva Auditorium, 401 2nd. St. NW

HOW MUCH: $39.50-$109.50, plus fees at axs.com