Juanita's puts on Plain White T's

Plain talk seems to come naturally to Tom Higgenson, lead singer of the Plain White T's, a group -- known for its 2005 hit single "Hey There Delilah" -- that was formed by four teens in the suburbs of Chicago.

"When we started the group, we were kids and we had a list," Higgenson says, explaining how the band's name was chosen. "This was the coolest name on the list. It wasn't about how we were going to dress or anything, but a reference to what inspired us, which was the music of the 1950s and '60s, and the look of guys back then, especially the kind of look exemplified by James Dean and Marlon Brando."

Lead singer and primary songwriter Higgenson, who plays guitar and keyboards, started the band with three high school friends in 1997 in Lombard, Ill., about 20 miles west of Chicago. Called power pop, pop punk and various other terms, the band, which was equally inspired by The Beatles and Michael Jackson, started by performing cover songs, including Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA," The Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'" and The Ramones' "Pet Sematary."

Higgenson, Dave Tirio (originally the drummer, he later switched to rhythm guitar) and since-departed bassist Ken Fletcher and lead guitarist Steve Mast dreamed of being able to play the bar scene around Wrigley Field, home of baseball's Chicago Cubs.

"We've been able to do that and more," Higgenson says, laughing. "But probably the most nerve-wracking thing we've ever done was the national anthem at the ballpark before 40,000 people. They don't tell you there's no monitor, so there's that delay and echo thing. But somehow we got through it."

Keeping a band together for nearly two decades is difficult under the best of circumstances, but Plain White T's endured a near tragedy two years after forming, when Higgenson was driving the band's van and crashed, breaking several vertebrae. He had to wear a back brace for several months and had to learn to walk again. He also evolved into a more serious focus in his songwriting.

The band released its debut album, Come on Over, in 2000, then followed that with Stop in 2002, the same year that the lineup changed with the departure of Fletcher and Mast. Two men left and three were added: Tim Lopez on lead guitar, Mike Retondo on bass and De'Mar Hamilton on drums.

The restyled band's next album, All That We Needed, proved prophetic, thanks to "Hey There Delilah," which was inspired by a chance meeting Higgenson had with track star Delilah DiCrescenzo. The song, which was also added to the 2006 album, Every Second Counts, reached No. 1, sold 2 million singles and received two nominations for Grammy Awards.

The band has gone on to release another three albums: Big Bad World (with the hit "1, 2, 3, 4") in 2008, Wonders of the Younger (which included the hit "Rhythm of Love") in 2010 and American Nights in March, giving it a total of seven albums in 15 years. After starting with an independent release, the band worked with record labels Fearless and Hollywood. Now it has come full circle, releasing its latest independently.

"We spent three years finishing our latest album," Higgenson says. "We had been on the Hollywood Records label, and there kept being delays and we were getting frustrated, so we parted ways and we got to take the album with us, so that was a decent conclusion to the relationship, you could say."

Part of the problem, he reckons, came when guitarist Lopez entered the world of reality TV by taking part in a 2013 NBC dating show, Ready for Love. Label honchos started trying to capitalize on what they thought would be enormous media exposure, but the show flopped after a few episodes -- although Lopez married fellow contestant Jenna Reeves of Austin, Texas, on July 4.

Road warriors take to the road, and the Plain White T's have a lengthy resume of road work, having played the Warped Tour three times and toured with Jimmy Eat World, The Goo Goo Dolls, Panic! at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional and, this summer, with Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty.

Plain White T's songs have been used in TV shows, including iCarly, and in the movies Frankenweenie and No Strings Attached.

Higgenson notes that the new album is the band's most collaborative. He wrote six of the songs, while Lopez, who sang the band's Top 40 single, "Rhythm of Love," wrote four and Tirio wrote one.

"We had such complete freedom again, and didn't have to worry about what does the label want or how will this go over with radio folks, nor did we have to strike a balance between acoustic versus rock songs," Higgenson says. "We were shooting for honesty, which was what has always connected us to our fans."

Opening act Matt McAndrew, a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, released a debut album, View of the Pines, in 2014. The album drew attention from the NBC reality show The Voice. With Adam Levine as his coach, McAndrew finished second on the show's seventh season and was hailed for his cover of Hozier's "Take Me to Church" as well as for his original song, "Wasted Love."

Style on 11/15/2015