Sting's on the road with his latest musical project, Sting 3.0: a "power trio" with himself on bass, Dominic Miller on guitar and Chris Maas on drums. If that lineup sounds familiar, it should: Sting's former band The Police was also a bass/guitar/drums combo. Sting says touring with a trio now is all part of his ongoing effort to keep things interesting.
"I'm playing songs that I may have written 40 years ago ... so I have to keep my curiosity about them intact. And I do that by putting myself out of my comfort zone," he explains. "I think it's a very creative place to be. It's a little scary."
He notes wryly, "I've had some experience with a three-piece band before, quite successfully, so it's not entirely unknown territory. What's very heartening is that the songs are sturdy enough to withstand a lot of stripping away ... you just have the bare bones of the structure of the song, and it still gets over."
Sting also stays on his toes by letting his guitarist choose a song in the middle of the performance.
"Dominic, who has a fantastic memory, will challenge me with with a song that I only half know," he chuckles. "And I have my heart in my mouth, I'm wondering, 'Is he going to ask for something that I don't really know?' But so far, it's proved okay."
In between the trio's theater shows, they're also co-headlining stadiums with Billy Joel, which will continue into 2025, along with a European tour. And Sting says he has no intention of slowing down.
"No, I don't really want to stop. I mean, I walk out in front of 15, 20,000 people most nights and they're pleased to see me," he says. "You don't want to give that up!"