Most days you can find David Bromberg at a violin shop he owns and operates in Wilmington, Del. He buys, sells and appraises rare violins, and has a couple of employees who handle bow making, repair and restoration.
It's probably not the place you would expect to find someone who once enjoyed high-profile collaborations with the Grateful Dead, George Harrison and Bob Dylan. But the guitarist walked away from the music business after the release of his album "Sideman Serenade" in 1990, simply because he was burned out.
"And I didn't think I would ever get burned out," he said. "I was touring at a ridiculous rate. I was on the road at one point for two years without being home for two weeks. That's nuts."
For close to two decades, the 62-year-old Bromberg was pretty sure he would never make another album again. In fact, it was a rare occasion when he even picked up the guitar.
"I would play occasionally, and it was kind of like being at a picnic and somebody coming up with the softball and the bat, and everyone will go play softball and you won't think about it until the next picnic."
Quite unexpectedly, however, Bromberg was recently lured back into the studio to make "Try Me One More Time," a 16-song set that has Bromberg playing relaxed solo acoustic versions of traditional blues songs like "Kind Hearted Woman," "East Virginia" "Moonshiner" and "Lonesome Roving Wolves," as well as Dylan's "It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry."
Bromberg started working on the album when he accompanied his wife, sculptor Nancy Josephson, to a recording studio in Maryland. Josephson is a member of a group called the Angel Band, and Bromberg went along to back them on guitar. He ended up recording a few of the songs on "Try Me One More Time" there, and kept on working once he and his wife returned to Wilmington.
"It came together without a real plan," Bromberg explained. "People ask, 'Well, how did you pick these tunes?' And the truth is, I just sat down and started playing some tunes."
In keeping with the easy-going nature of "Try Me One More Time," Bromberg also has started booking concerts again, though, for the most part, it's mostly confined to the weekends and the East Coast. He'll be at the Rex Theatre tonight, along with the Angel Band and his own quartet.
A native of Philadelphia who attended Columbia University, Bromberg first came to prominence in the early 1970s, when he started playing on albums by Dylan, Ringo Starr, the Eagles, Tom Paxton and other artists. He soon started recording his own albums, and his second disc, 1974's "Wanted Dead or Alive" included the song "The Holdup," which was written with Harrison. Jerry Garcia and other members of the Grateful Dead also appeared on his albums.
Once the relentless pace of recording and touring took its toll, Bromberg relocated to Chicago and became a student at the Kenneth Warren School of Violin Making. He continued to record and perform sporadically for another 10 years before walking away altogether.
"I didn't want to be one of these guys who drags around and plays shows because he doesn't really know how to do anything else and gets resentful," Bromberg said on the phone from his violin shop last month. "So I felt it was time for me to find a new way to live."
He and his wife moved the violin shop from Chicago as part of an effort to revitalize downtown Wilmington and increase its cultural offerings. The city gave them the building they use and a loan for its renovation. Once he settled in Wilmington, he decided to launch periodic jam sessions in order to give the live music scene a boost.
"I figured I would evolve the jam session for about a month or so, and then they would live or die on their own. But I discovered they were wonderful and they got me playing again."
And even though Bromberg is performing before paying audiences again and "Try Me One More Time" has received good reviews, he's vague on what his plans will be after this.
"I'm thinking about putting together a blues album now ... It'll come out as it comes out."