Music: An epic first for the Hold Steady

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 for the Vita.mn Vth Anniversary Party at Epic 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 traveled to Austin, Texas, to make his first solo record with Spoon producer Mike McCarthy (due early next year, with a tour to include a Feb. 4 date at the Triple Rock). Guitarist Tad Kubler worked on a photo 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 admitted that part of the decision to take a break arose from the relatively tepid reaction to the last album, "Heaven Is Whenever." The hard-charging band was sounding a tad burned out on record (though not onstage).

"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."

"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 for the first time 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.

"Any time we're in Minneapolis and we're not playing First Avenue, it feels weird, but we do our show wherever the shows are at. And you gotta do different things to keep it fresh."