Huey Lewis & the News are starting to think about new music -- and even have something in their pocket already.
"We wrote a new song, one very good new song -- which is pretty frightening," Lewis tells Billboard with a laugh. It's called "While We're Young," and Lewis describes it as "a little tongue-in-cheek thing. I think it's fabulous. But now we need nine more. And I think we're going to try. The band is playing really great now, so I think it's a good time to get something going."
Huey Lewis & The News Live in Boston, 8/1/12
The group's last album, the Stax/Volt tribute "Soulsville," came out in 2010 and was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis, while it's been 11 years since the Lewis and company's last set of original material, "Plan B." The band is also in a period of transition, having split from longtime manager Bob Brown. "It wasn't right for a long time, in my mind, and you don't want to work when you don't feel right about it," Lewis explains. "So we feel much better right now. We're booking a lot of shows, working hard this year and re-establishing some ties."
Lewis has also been in touch with EMI's catalog division and is in talks for a 30th anniversary edition of the band's seven-times platinum album "Sports" next year.
"They want to make a big deal out of it, so I'm listening," he says.
The News' other new development is a new office and studio complex in a space owned by Grateful Dead alumnus Bob Weir in the San Francisco Bay Area. "It's perfect. It's got everything we need," says Lewis, who's thinking about hosting performances at the facility as well. "I think when we get off the road we'll take a break and then maybe go in and see what we can come up with as far as more (new) songs."
Lewis and the News are touring with Joe Cocker until Aug. 19, then has its own dates booked into November, including performances at the Snowy Range Music Festival in Laramie, Wyo., and the Spokane County Interstate Fair in Washington State.
