Local music: Hold Steady hold off

Normally, it's not news when a band does nothing. Nor do we typically pay attention to acts because they aren't performing here.

For those two reasons, though, the Hold Steady's return to town Friday is of special interest. Minnesota's favorite New York bar band had an unusually inactive year. It really looked as if 2011 would be the only year it did not return to most of its members' former hometown.

"That dawned on me the other day, that we haven't played there since last December," frontman Craig Finn said by phone from New York, where the band chilled for much of its nearly five-month break from April to August.

"Some years, we've done like 200 shows, and we managed to put out five records in seven years. So it was like, 'You know, we should take a break.' We had never done that."

Finn admitted that part of the decision arose out of the relatively tepid reaction to the last album, "Heaven Is Whenever." The hard-charging band was sounding a tad burned out (on record, not on stage; last year's shows were still a hoot).

"If we went right off the tour into the studio, I could've seen us making a very similar record to the one we just did," he said. "If we took some time, we could maybe get a different perspective or new creative angle."

That's where the solo album came in. Finn traveled to Austin, Texas, in July to make a record with Trail of Dead and Spoon producer Mike McCarthy. His first-ever solo disc is set to come out early next year, with the single "Honolulu Blues" arriving next week as a 7-inch for Record Store Day's Black Friday.

"I wanted to challenge myself. In the Hold Steady, I pretty much write just the lyrics, and Tad [Kubler, guitarist] writes most of the music. So this was just me with an acoustic guitar trying to write fully formed songs, words and music. It turned out pretty nice, I think."

When the Hold Steady reconvened in late August, Finn said they all "realized we're still really having a blast in this band." The rest of the guys had also stayed busy. Kubler worked on a photography book and commercial music. Drummer Bobby Drake gigged with friends. Memphis-based guitarist Steve Selvidge (ex-Lucero) welcomed a new baby. Oh, and Finn also came home in June to run the Twin Cities Half-Marathon. (Was I the only one surprised to hear that?)

Finn said the band hit the ground running and is "about five songs in" on a new Hold Steady record. With Selvidge now on guitar, the group no longer employs a keyboardist, a point that Finn suspects will define the new record.

"When we went to a six-piece, it became kind of unwieldy," he said. "We like it this way a lot. It opens up some space in the music and sounds leaner. Obviously, there are a few songs we had to rethink and rework. Namely, the ones with the long piano breaks [laughs]. But that was kind of a nice creative challenge, too."

The group now faces the challenge of performing at Epic, which Finn said he only remembers from its previous incarnations as the Quest and Glam Slam, "and I can't even remember what shows I saw there." Friday's concert is a fifth anniversary party for local A+E mag Vita.mn (a Star Tribune offshoot) that also features fashion and art shows suited to Epic's tiered layout.