With two successful solo albums under his belt, as well as the forthcoming Monsters of Folk collaboration with Jim James and M. Ward, it seemed inevitable that Conor Oberst would outgrow the Bright Eyes moniker he used during his 7-album climb to fame. Speaking to the Omaha World-Herald, Saddle Creek records president Robb Nansel basically affirmed Oberst’s recent suggestion to Rolling Stone that he would shed the moniker in the near future, though there will be at least one more Bright Eyes album first.
“My guess, based on what he’s expressed to me, is that there will be one more Bright Eyes record and that will probably be it,” Nansel told the World-Herald’s Kevin Coffey. “I think that’s his line of thinking at this point — closing the chapter on that moniker. I think he feels like Bright Eyes has a certain association, for better or worse. I think he’s trying to distance himself a little bit from what that means to people.”
As we previously reported, the Monsters of Folk lineup isn’t too far off from the group that played on Bright Eyes’ I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (Oberst’s best album, IMO), so dropping the Shirley Temple film-inspired name shouldn’t change Oberst’s musical trajectory much.
Now he only needs to do more Emmylou Harris duets and I’ll be happy.