Candlebox frontman Kevin Martin has confirmed the band is well into work on a new studio album, due in 2027 — the follow-up to The Long Goodbye, the record that was supposed to be their last.
Speaking to Clint Switzer on the On The Road To Rock podcast, Martin didn’t overthink the about-face (via Blabbermouth): “Yeah, for some reason we think we should make another record. [Laughs] We have eight songs now. We’re working on probably two or three to get done, and single releases this year, and then go for the full album release next year.”
No small part of that renewed energy comes from the return of original guitarist Peter Klett, who rejoined the fold last year. Martin is unambiguous about what his presence brings back: “It’s been really just a pleasure. When he came back last year, and we did, I think we did, like, 15 to 16 shows last year, maybe 20, I don’t recall, it was just like old times. And I think that the thing that I forget, when I leave the touring world, and I go home, and I’m with my family, and I’m kind of doing what I do around the house, I forget how much Candlebox actually means to me. And having Pete back in the band, it’s the icing on the cake, really. He’s such a stellar player. He’s such a beautiful soul and a beautiful human being. And it really just ups the game when we get out on stage, because he brings all of that, the magic fingers that he has, right back to those songs.”
“It’s funny — when he plays, I sing the song exactly how it’s supposed to be sung,” Martin explained. “It’s just the oddest thing. With Brian [Quinn] and Island [Styles], I can go wherever I want, but there’s something about how [Pete] plays that makes me sing the song exactly how it was done on the record. It’s wild.”
As for the “farewell” tour — the “We Can’t Quit You, Babe” rebranding says it all. Martin explained earlier this year on the Stupid And Contagious Podcast how the whole retirement plan unravelled: “I was done [in 2023]. We were putting out the record, and we were going out with 3 Doors Down, and I really wanted to focus on my family and my relationship with my wife and son more, and I was also releasing this bourbon, and I wanted to focus on it. And I just kind of felt like I was done with this music business. And then the minute you say that, your value becomes tenfold. And then I was asked to go out with Bush, and, of course, Gavin [Rossdale, Bush frontman] and I have been friends since the ’90s, and I was, like, ‘I can’t pass up on that.’ And it was [also] with Jerry Cantrell [on the bill]. And then it kind of all kicked off again. And my wife’s, like, ‘Look, you know you’re not done with this.’ And then Pete‘s, like, ‘Hey, man, I’d like to come back.’ So, yes, it’s now — we’re calling it the ‘We Can’t Quit You, Babe’ tour. I mean, fucking Rainbow said they were retiring. So did The Who, Kiss…”
Martin doesn’t romanticise any of it, though. He’s clear-eyed about how brutal the economics of touring have become — and willing to name names on who he thinks is making it worse: “It’s a hell of a lot harder. It’s a hell of a lot more expensive. Certainly, with socials and social media and stuff, it’s difficult because there are expectations, I think, that fans have of the bands. I mean, back in the day, Candlebox was the most faceless rock and roll band out of Seattle. So it was easy to play a show and go out and watch the opening band, and nobody knew who we were. Now your face is all over everything, and people can reach out and say, ‘Oh, my uncle’s a huge fan.’ And, ‘I met you guys through this person’ and ‘You’re not coming to my town. Why not?’ That kind of stuff… Everybody asks that, and it’s, like, you live in a tiny little town in the middle of Iowa. Nobody goes there because it’s the most difficult place to get to, and it’s incredibly expensive to get there. And it’s not that we don’t want to — we would love to. If we could afford to hit 70,000 cities in the United States in one year, we would, but the odds are stacked against you.”
“But other than that, it’s really just the expense of being a touring band. It’s so financially unbalanced now. A tour bus, for example. If you’re in a 2010 tour bus, let’s say. That’s 15 years old — a 15-year-old tour bus that probably hasn’t been very well taken care of or upgraded or anything like that. It should be about $500 a day, but what you end up paying is about $1,500 a day for that bus. That doesn’t include the driver, that doesn’t include the fuel. So you’re looking at a bus that’s 15 years old that’s gonna cost you $2,200 a day. The cost of hotels is $350 a night, [plus] taxes, insurance. I mean, my daily nut to tour is $22,000. That’s a day that I have to pay to tour. And the merchandise isn’t cheap. To print a shirt is about $12 to $15. That’s why t-shirts at shows are $40 and $50 and $60 because it’s like retail markup. You’ve gotta make a hundred percent markup. And it’s not gonna get any easier as long as Trump’s in office, with tariffs,” he added.
That was 2023. It’s now 2026, there are eight new songs in the can, and Peter Klett is back on guitar. Retirement, apparently, is a conversation for another day.
The post CANDLEBOX’s KEVIN MARTIN Confirms The Band Already Have Eight Songs For A New Record, And PETER KLETT Is Back appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.
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