Retrospective rhythms: Alternative rockers Cracker brings tour in support of new album to Launchpad

David Lowery has his place in music history.

It’s one he is proud of and is grateful.

“Starting out, I never realized I’d be here decades later still touring,” Lowery said. “Being able to do a two-hour set these days helps keep me young. I’m 64 now and it’s fairly challenging to get on stage and give it your all. I’m grateful I have my health still because being on stage is amazing.”

Lowery is one of the masterminds behind the alternative rock band Cracker.

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The band recently released “Alternative History: A Cracker Retrospective” on Nov. 22, and is on tour in support of the album. Cracker will make a stop at Launchpad on Sunday, Dec. 29.

“We’ve played a lot in northern New Mexico and in Albuquerque,” Lowery said. “It’s always a great spot for us. We’ve even performed a few times in Silver City because one of our friends lived there.”

Cracker was formed in 1990 by Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. The pair remain the two original members.

The band’s self-titled album was released in 1992 and included the single “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now),” which hit No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.

In 1993, Cracker’s sophomore album, “Kerosene Hat,” was a breakthrough hit, spawning the hit singles, “Low,” “Get Off This” and “Euro-Trash Girl.”

The band has released nine studio albums and “Alternative History: A Cracker Retrospective” takes a look back at the band’s career in a different way.

The plan for a retrospective is an idea that came from Lowery’s students at the University of Georgia, he said.

His students noted that because they are experiencing music through streaming apps, when a new band is found, the algorithm usually points to the oldest songs.

“One of the ways to cataract this is to put out your own greatest hits,” Lowery said.

Lowery and the band were going to license the songs from the record label, but it got too expensive.

“There were a lot of songs that we owned and we could use the alternate recordings,” he said. “The new album is an alternative telling of the Cracker story by using unreleased and rare b-sides and high-quality live performance songs. It’s an interesting alternate take on our history.”

After decades in the music industry, Lowery’s love for performance hasn’t changed much.

“I think really to be a recording artist, you have to balance that with being good at the live show,” he explained. “Learning to play with others is just a way more challenging environment. In many ways, Cracker has always been more of a live band. Our records sound like our live shows. Some bands have two different sounds.”

For Cracker’s current tour, the band is bringing along rock/fiddle player Anne Harris.

Harris has joined them during Midwest runs. She has deep roots in blues and Celtic music, Lowery said.

“She blends with the band really well,” he added. “People at this show will see a slightly different show.”

With more than 30 years making music professionally, Lowery still has a list yet to be accomplished.

He’s releasing a boxed set of solo music in May 2025 – a project that began well before the pandemic.

“I’d also like to make one more straight up rock record,” he said. “I’ve explored the folkier side of myself with the solo work and it’s out of my system. I want the rock record to be informed by the late 1970s, early 1980s and punk. That’s my goal for the near future.”