During the tour, you seemed to be pretty at ease and enjoying it. Is that accurate?
Yeah, absolutely. For 90 percent of it, I was very much at ease. Once I get up on stage, I feel at home. I feel safe up there. I don’t feel like anyone is going to shoot me or anything like that. [Laughs] All in all, I enjoyed it.

What kind of trepidation did you have, if any, pre-tour?
Well, there was the fear of playing alone, which is very difficult. It’s how I started, and then I was in a band and then another band and then the Replacements. I went solo, but I always had backing musicians out there with me. To just go out there on your own and hold an audience by yourself, it’s tough, you know? You gotta to be thinking ahead while you’re singing, and you gotta keep the ball rolling so as not to bore anybody. Hence the breaking of a couple guitars (on this tour).

Had you played any solo shows previous to this tour, maybe some one-offs somewhere?
Once or twice a long time ago, I had done a two- or three-song set here or there. Plus, with whatever band I put together, I would have a little mini-set that I would play by myself. So I had warmed up to the idea, but there was never that comfort of having a drummer behind me or someone to pick up the slack if I couldn’t do it or if my wrist was swollen or some shit.

When you were with the Replacements or touring as a solo act with a band, did you have any desire to do a solo tour?
I never wanted to because I’d never wanted to go see someone solo. There was no one I wanted to go see all by himself—Dylan, maybe. But [this tour] was a different sort of thing: I was on a different label, and I had the double album, and I wanted to do something I hadn’t done before-to make it exciting again and scary. I was fairly scared at the start of the tour, but I would do it again. I don’t think too many people were disappointed that there wasn’t a band or were under the impression that there was going to be a group. God, I’ve done that for 25 years and did two months solo, so I can see going out solo again.

From Stereo/Mono to these two new records to Folker (due out in early 2004), you’ve been very prolific, especially considering we didn’t hear from you for a few years. What do you think sparked it all?
I don’t know. It’s one of those things where I can’t put my finger on what turned me around. I think I sort of went as far as I could with my first dream, which was to have a big record and be on a major label and all that. I finally realized that dream was done and it was time to start over again and go with something different. That’s when I started recording by myself in the basement and enjoying it 10 times more than going into a studio with other musicians and a producer. It was back to what I started to do when I began, which was just play guitar by myself and sing.

The response to Stereo/Mono was very positive, especially in relation to how some people reacted to your previous solo stuff.
I think part of the reason that everybody liked Stereo/Mono so much is that I gave a very pregnant pause there. I mean, you can’t miss somebody unless they go away. It’s inevitable that if you stay away and come back with a record—a really lo-fi, low-profile effort that you let people find out about on their own—they tend to enjoy it much more than if it comes ramming down their throat with some big publicity campaign. These two records here—well, three records—they’re all sort of in the same group. It’s the new style that I do, which is similar to the old, but it’s done very much by myself. Things are done incorrectly and not fixed and for the love of the happy mistake.

Dead Man Shake is a pretty reverential take on the blues, so I’m guessing you’re a pretty serious fan of that music.
I am. The record was bluesier in the beginning of putting it together. There are about four songs that the label took off. I had sent some extra songs that weren’t bluesy at all; I was waiting so long for the contract to be signed, I figured they could whip out an EP or something. They went and put those songs on the record, and I think that now it does make a better record because it isn’t just a straight blues record, which is what I had to begin with. You know, does “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” fit? To me it does. It’s not a blues song or a blues structure, but the passion and the meaning behind the lyric is as real as any of the other songs.

How did you end up selecting “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” to cover?
I’ve always liked it. We used to listen to all sorts of music in the van: Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and shit. Our own little Rat Pack. We certainly got bored with listening to the tapes that we were given by local bands. There are lots of classic songwriter songs from like the ‘60s and on that I hum all the time, so I figured it was time to record some of them.

Without hearing it, there are surely people who will think “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” is meant as a joke, but your vocal is straight and serious.
Yeah, that’s the question, because some people will look at it as a joke and some people will hear that there’s passion in my vocal. Sometimes you can take someone else’s song and pour more of yourself into it than you can your own song. There’s something to that that I’m just waking up to. I’ve always written my own tunes and rarely done covers and only done them as jokes, but I’m starting to rethink it.

Maybe you can bring a different emotion to the material because you’re detached from it, as opposed to being attached to something you’ve written.
Exactly. I can live the words. “What Kind Of Fool Am I?” speaks to Grandpaboy. It sums up the whole thing—me hiding behind a mask, a disguise. It’s a great song.

Since you’ve done that song, can we expect a Grandpaboy album of Broadway showtunes?
Maybe. I could do a whole thing. I did “Wonderful Copenhagen” (from the musical Hans Christian Andersen) a few years ago that ended up as, I don’t know, a Switzerland b-side or something. I don’t know, I would have to go back to the piano. I haven’t played the piano much for the past four years, and a lot of those songs are based on piano chords and don’t sound quite right with guitar. But anything’s possible. If I was to do that, I think I would choose one artist and do like a Westerberg Sings Tony Hatch kind of thing. [Laughs]

I think we’d all look forward to hearing that.
Yeah. I’m sure Tony would.

What can you tell us about Folker?
Basically nothing. [Laughs] No one wants me to talk about it. All I can say is that it’s done. The record company hasn’t even heard it yet. But it’s the bomb.

I forgot to ask this earlier about the Come Feel Me Tremble soundtrack: On “Knockin’ Em Back,” there’s the lyric “I’m drinkin’ once again.” When you write something like that, do you wonder how fans that care about you might react?
Yeah, but it’s just one more step toward the feeling that I’m going to say anything I want, whether it hurts someone or not. I had that chord sequence lying around for years, and I rediscovered it and those were the words I blasted out to it. It just seemed right. But I’m not worried about what they think about me.

I ask because I think your fans seem to have a particularly personal attachment to you.
Yeah, but I’ve got the drunks that never went away, too. I still have people trying to buy me drinks. I could go sober for 25 years, and someone will still think I’m drinking.