One question lingers in Scott Terry’s mind when Red Wanting Blue is writing and recording songs for a new album – how will this sound live?

RWB has an impressive studio catalog, but the band – Terry, lead vocals, tenor guitar and ukulele; Mark McCullough, bass, chapman stick and backing vocals; Greg Rahm, guitar, keyboards and backing vocals; Eric Hall, guitar, lap steel and backing vocals; and Dean Anshutz, drums and percussion – has made its living as a live act for more than 25 years (about 14 with the current lineup).

Terry knows many of those songs recorded in the past never get played live or drop off the setlist as soon as the tour promoting that album is over.

During a two-hour conversation last month, Terry referred to the band’s upcoming album, “Light It Up,” as “bulletproof – everything on this we could play out live,” and he said it with enough conviction that it didn’t sound like a musician just hyping his latest release.

“Light It Up” comes out June 7, but at least a couple of those songs are likely to be in the setlist when the band returns to Westside Bowl for a concert on Friday with JD Eicher opening.

THE WAITING SINCE ‘THE WANTING’

It’s been six years since the release of 2018’s “The Wanting,” about twice as long as the band has gone between releases since “Velveteen” in 1996.

Some of that was unplanned. About the time the band was ready to start thinking about its next record, the COVID-19 pandemic started. And the songs created during lockdown weren’t something Terry wanted to release.

“I dread even talking about the pandemic,” he said. “If the world didn’t turn on its side, this would have been a very, very different record. Things you wrote before, it didn’t make sense anymore. Things you wrote because of that, you had enough time to look back and, you know, I don’t think I ever want to sing a song like this live. We all lived through it, we’re going to have to talk about it for the rest of our lives (but) no one wants to sing about it.

“We decided let’s just scrap all that stuff and we began looking more at, when we get out of this, what are people going to want? What do people think of when they think of our band and how do we deliver that? We’re known for being a good live band, we’re known for having energetic, sing-along songs, so let’s start there. Let’s go in that direction … We’re losing anything that’s mid-tempo or sad and going from there.”

“Hey ’84,” with its nostalgic lyrics and sonic flourishes that replicate the arcade sounds of those younger years, was the first song recorded with that guiding philosophy and was released more than a year ago as a single.

PRODUCING THEMSELVES

But the pandemic wasn’t the only factor that shaped the record. Instead of using an outside producer, the band members produced “Light It Up” themselves. In a separate interview, Anshutz said when working with Jamie Candiloro – who helmed the albums “These Magnificent Miles,” “From the Vanishing Point” and “Little America” – it felt like the band was working for him instead of the other way around

“We were all very unhappy with that formula, at least myself very much so,” Anshutz said.

Being in the studio with fellow musician Will Hoge, who produced “The Wanting,” gave the band the confidence to do it and change the way it worked in the studio.

In the past, the band made money when it was playing live and studio time was expensive, so it would block out a couple of weeks to record an album.

“Our band always felt we don’t have the time or the luxury to work on stuff like that,” Terry said. “The record will be a moment in time. Some songs you’re able to road test and you’re pretty confident how that recording will come off. Others no one’s heard. You hope it sounds cool and do the best you can, yet ultimately when you’re playing it live it shifts and changes.”

“Hope on a Rope” on “From the Vanishing Point” is a perfect example. Terry doesn’t like the intro on the studio version, but the song has evolved live into a setlist staple.

SIT ON IT

A conversation Terry had with Emerson Hart, lead singer of the band Tonic, also played an important role in shaping the approach to “Light It Up.”

“He said, ‘If I could give you any advice about making records – just sit on it. Don’t take so much on, don’t put so much on your shoulders. Things will get lost trying to take on so much work in a short amount of time.'”

Instead of going into the studio with the mindset that the band had to finish a dozen songs in two weeks, RWB scheduled shorter blocks of time with the intention of only working on one or two songs.

Before the group studio sessions, the guys traded ideas back and forth online. While Red Wanting Blue still is referred to as a Columbus band, Terry and Hall live outside of New York City and Anshutz lives in Youngstown with only Rahm and McCullough still in the state’s

Anshutz said he could spend a couple of days working out a percussion part in his studio rather than doing it while the rest of the band was waiting for him.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time,” Anshutz said. “I feel like each one of us could produce someone else’s record. Why can’t we do it together on our own.”

“Eric definitely had a big part in producing this record. He stepped up and did a lot, and everybody brought a piece to it, just like we hoped it would be.”

The band was hands-on with all aspects of the album. Terry spent several minutes talking about the cover of “Light It Up,” which features a photo of the albino deer from Mill Creek Park that was taken by a friend of the band, Seth Basista from the Youngstown band Sam Goodwill, and manipulated by Terry’s brother, John.

“I can’t say enough how proud I am of that,” Terry said. “I think it’s the best cover we’ve had. If that was in a frame, I’d hang it on the wall in my house.”

GETTING THE MIX

The band used several different mixers on “The Wanting.” Terry contacted former RWB drummer Mark Stepro, who has worked with such artists as Butch Walker and The Wallflowers, and he suggested Columbus native John Spiker, who has mixed songs for The Killers and Beck and also plays bass in Tenacious D. Spiker also, years ago, played in a Columbus band that once opened for RWB, Terry discovered.

RWB’s recording structure worked with Spiker’s busy schedule. If the band had delivered a completed album, Spiker might not have been able to clear the time to do a full LP at once. Getting tracks as they were completed allowed him to fit the job around his other projects.

“The album is the dartboard on the wall,” Terry said. “How close can we get the darts to the center of the board? This is how we want it to sound. Over the years, some don’t even stick to the wall. This one feels like the closest we’ve gotten to how we wanted it to sound, who we are and what we were trying to articulate

“Everything about the record, there’s no third party stepping in – ‘This is what I think you are.’ No, we know exactly what we want and John Spiker, because of our history – being Ohio kids and knowing the band – he took every song and mixed it with such care. I think you can hear it … Sonically, this is the best Red Wanting Blue album we’ve ever made. Structurally, the songs are the most innovative.”

PLAYING IT LIVE

Friday’s show may be the only chance for area fans to hear some of the songs live until fall. The road warriors are planning to scale back their usually busy summer schedule with only a few dates planned. Anshutz will be on the road again as drum tech for The Zombies, and Hall is filling in for the ailing guitarist for Gaelic Storm (that’s why neither Anshutz or Hall were at the Kent Stage with RWB for The Summit FM’s 330 Day concert at The Kent Stage).

McCullough and Rahm have children and are less interested in spending weeks and months away from their families, and Terry said he is looking forward to enjoying his summer.

But he expects the “Light It Up” song to be featured prominently when the band tours in the fall.

“Not every song will be played live, but I want to know I could play every song live,” Terry said. “Your greatest hope is to make a record so good you have to bump out three or four old songs and put those in the mix.”

If you go:

WHO: Red Wanting Blue and JD Eicher

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Westside Bowl, 2617 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: $32 in advance through Eventbrite and $35 at the door.