The last time The Bobby Lees played the Vanguard in 2023, it was months before the garage punk band announced they were taking a break that sure sounded like it was going to be permanent.
Now they’re back with a new album, “New Self,” returning to Vanguard this Saturday and bringing Jason Momoa and his band ÖOF TATATÁ with them. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. (Yes, it’s the Mamoa from “Game of Thrones” and “Aquaman.”)
“We’re gonna play all the favorites and almost everything off the new record,” said guitarist and lead singer Sam Quartin, who resides in Tulsa with her husband, director John Swab, and their toddler son. “These new singles that we had fun making recently, we’ll sprinkle those in.”
The comeback would not have happened without the help of the superhero.
In the opening moments of the season two premiere of Momoa’s HBO show “On the Roam” that dropped in May, the Hollywood actor known for many big-time roles climbs out of a black SUV and lifts the back door. Out spills The Bobby Lees drummer Macky Bowman and lead guitarist Nick Casa.
Quartin, along with bassist Kendall Wind, has exited from a passenger seat and joins her bandmates and Aquaman as they enter Atlantic Records headquarters, where they have a meeting with the CEO.
In the episode, Momoa sits in a chair in the African desert on the set of “Dune.” While on a break from playing Duncan Idaho, he talks about his love of the punk band that formed nine years ago in Woodstock, New York. Then he shares how he made sure they would keep playing music together.
After an EP and three albums, the band announced they were going to finish the tour before taking an indefinite hiatus. They weren’t making money. In a world dominated by streaming, Spotify pays indie artists like The Bobby Lees .004 cents a play, Quartin says in the episode.
Momoa saw the Instagram post and sent the band a direct message saying he wanted to do what he could to keep them going.
He joined them in Woodstock to watch them play in the band’s hometown quite possibly for the final time. Then they made that trip to Atlantic Records. Momoa helped fund the recording of “New Self” and now the band is hitting the road in support of it.
“It was awesome that he did that. He really kept this thing alive,” Quartin said. “He injected a new heartbeat, a new pulse. We were really on our last licks with everything, and he came in and helped us make a new record. It just really changed everything. It was amazing.”
The band was slated to launch their tour this month, but then part-time Tulsan Jack White called out of nowhere and asked if they’d open for him July 12 at the Brooklyn Paramount in New York City.
“We got to test out some of the new songs, which was like a crazy show to test material out at, but it was great,” Quartin said. “The new stuff played great, and it was a really nice taste. We’re excited to now get to play it for our fans because that was mostly his crowd.”
Quartin also has her side project Lady Boy, which allows her to play with songs she comes up with that don’t necessarily fit into The Bobby Lees’ universe. That said, a couple of songs have gone on to be reworked by her bandmates, including “Hey Na.” She works with producer Dave Sardis on the songs that she describes as “like workout music, kind of empowering, energizing music.” A Lady Boy album is slated for release next year.
And away from music, she’s continuing to act. After appearing in five of her husband’s films, she most recently played a role in Daniel Blake Schwartz’s “Cotton Fever,” which won the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature and Best Cinematography at the 25th annual Tribeca Film Festival. Written and directed by Schwartz, the movie is about his experience getting sober and stars Kyle Gallner and Sosie Bacon.
“I did that one pregnant actually, so I feel like it gave me even more energy,” Quartin said. “There’s like another wife giving me a little. I had a Boston accent, and I played this kind of trashy girl in rehab, and it was pretty fun.”
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