First Listen: Peter Wolf's 'Midnight Souvenirs'

BOSTON — At 64-years-old, Peter Wolf, the front man for the iconic Boston rockers, The J. Geils Band, might be called one of rock's elite dinosaurs.

But Wolf's new effort — his first solo album in eight years, coming out next week — suggests he's also something of a Renaissance man.

Fourteen songs in all, "Midnight Souvenirs" is partly a collection of Wolf's trademark R&B sound, and part exploration of untraveled roads, including collaborations with Neko Case, Merle Haggard and Shelby Lynne.

Speaking to Here and Now's Robin Young, Wolf talked about his solo career, and he said he was smitten with Lynne.

"I fell in love with her in a really big way," Wolf said.

He also talked about J. Geils' first break-up, which occurred in the early 1980s.

"A group is a sacred thing," Wolf said. But after 17 years of living like a family and gaining a measure of critical and financial success and security, "the fratricide starts and the band broke up which was tragic for all involved."

The band still gets together from time to time to play reunion shows in the Boston area. That includes a concert this August, when Wolf and the fellow J. Geils band mates are scheduled to open for brethren Boston rockers Aerosmith at Fenway Park.

Wolf says he enjoys revisiting those old songs. "It's telling a story with a melody and making that story believable," said Wolf. "And if you can do that, you can sing."