After breaking through with the hit Runaway Train in 1992, Soul Asylum went through some changes. Singer Dave Pirner made a solo album and guitarist Dan Murphy spent time in Golden Smog. Bassist Karl Mueller was diagnosed with cancer and died in 2005, but not before helping record Silver Lining, the band's first new album in eight years. Pirner talked recently with Mark Brown about the rocky years.

Question: How did you get Michael Bland in the band? He's one of the best drummers in the world.

Answer: "Agreed. It was kind of just a matter of waiting around. I heard about Michael when he was 14. He kind of had legendary status before he graduated from high school. Then he went off with Prince and did various things. At the point he became available, we were still standing there."

Q: Eight years between albums is a long time.

A:"We didn't really have it together. The whole band felt like we'd been in a moving vehicle together for 20 years. Then Karl got sick. A lot of life happened."

Q: You recorded this album while Karl was ill and managed to get a lot done with him before he died.

A: "He was diagnosed right when we were tracking the record. A major amount of the material had been written before he was diagnosed. There's definitely a sense of urgency there, a sense of desperation there . . . But we were also not taking it for granted. We were absolutely positive he was going to pull through."

Q: You've had side interests. Dan has his antique gallery and you moved to New Orleans.

A: "People make jokes that you can't make New Orleans music unless you were born in New Orleans. Well, I had a kid in New Orleans. Now I'm witnessing this person absorbing it from an incredibly young age."

Q: How did Hurricane Katrina change things?

A: "Living through the Katrina ordeal was the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity . . . where everyone who experiences it wishes they didn't have to. It was very difficult to not be there. You don't wanna know about your home from Fox News. You just don't."

Q: What was your reaction?

A: "Shocked but not surprised is the best way I've heard it put. It brought out the worst in the federal government, it brought out the worst in people. It put everything in everyone's face, and everyone failed to react. Failed to learn a lesson, failed to come through. It has been one big heartbreak."

Q: Soul Asylum has survived vinyl, cassette, CDs and now downloading. How do you adapt?

A: "I wish I was a little bit more bedazzled with technology . . . A song is a song. It doesn't matter. If you didn't grow up listening to vinyl you're not going to miss it. You're watching an industry that just stumbles over itself trying to figure out how to make money. Music is something that's going to flourish no matter what happens."

Soul Asylum

• When and where: 8 p.m. today, The Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut St.

• Cost: $40, includes food and select drinks

• Of note: Kicks off the club's second anniversary celebration, including a Gin Blossoms show Saturday

• Information: 303-292-1700 or thewalnutroom.com