Over the course of 25 years with the BoDeans, Sam Llanas has played his music at supper clubs, street festivals, stadiums and just about every venue in between.

But, he's never played at a hockey game.

That changes tonight, when Llanas and the BoDeans play a post-game show following the Admirals' game against Manitoba at the Bradley Center.

"I've never even seen a hockey game," Llanas said. "It should be fun ... I'm going to bring my mouthguard."

OnMilwaukee.com caught up with Llanas in advance of the show to talk about the band's longevity, his relationship with co-founder Kurt Neumann, some upcoming releases and playing a hockey game in the hometown that he loves.

OnMilwaukee.com: The Admirals organization is very excited about having you guys play before hockey fans and music fans on Saturday. You guys generally don't do a lot of shows at this time of the year, do you?

Sam Llanas: Usually not. We always do a run of shows around Christmas and New Year's, but January and February are usually pretty quiet. That's when we do a lot of our recording. In fact, I just got back from Texas. I was down there for about a month. Me and Kurt are already working on the next studio record. It's hard to find time when you're playing a lot of shows. You've got to do it when you can do it.

OMC: You and Kurt have been making music together since you started the band about 25 years ago. What's the secret?

SL: It's just luck, really. If you are lucky enough to find somebody that you have a good chemistry with, it really behooves you to try to nurture that. I'm not going to say we haven't had our ups and downs along the way. we surely have. But at a certain point, I think we just really recognized the fact that we're stronger together than apart. We really respect what each other rings to the table. So we just decided to stick together.

To last this long in this business is almost unheard of. That's what we're most proud of; that we're still here and doing it. We know we're not a big "A-list" name, but we never really wanted that. All we ever really wanted was to be able to continue in this business. to do it for 25 years and make your living by doing just that. and a pretty good living at that, I'd say that's a pretty good accomplishment.

OMC: You have such a core group of fans that have followed you a long time. Do you see a lot of familiar faces when you play shows in Milwaukee.

SL: People come back to see us a lot of times, and I think that's the best compliment you can have. The great thing now is people that grew up with our music and probably started listening to us in college or something, they all have families now so they're bringing their kids along. It's like we're being introduced to a whole new generation. It's wonderful to see kids at the shows. They don't lie. Sometimes they have their hands over their ears and sometimes they're just dancing crazy.

OMC: What is it like to convene for a show like this when you haven't been touring? Do you have to rehearse and get ready, or is it like putting on your favorite sweatshirt?

SL: It's hard for us to rehearse these days. Our bass player (Eric Holden) lives in L.A. Our drummer (Noah Levy) lives in Minneapolis. Kurt and Bukka (Allen, the keyboard player) live in Texas and I live here in Milwaukee. So, it's tough to rehearse. By now, we know our show. We've been playing some of these songs for 20 years. We know the songs. It's almost fun to not rehearse, because it's real fresh and you're not exactly sure what's going to happen. That can really be a good thing for a show sometimes.

We've developed this show over the past 15 years, and we've learned what works and doesn't work.

We'll put a new spin on a couple songs, but that's kind of the show we'll stick to. We'll always throw in a couple different songs just to keep it fresh for us, so we're not playing the same songs over and over and over.

OMC: Is it hard to keep things fresh?

SL: You might be playing the same song to different people in a different place and in a different circumstance. If people love the song and they want to hear the song, why not play it for them? They're paying you. Why not give them some of what they want?

The tough thing is that we have so many songs now and we can only play about 20 (in a given show). Someone is going to go away without hearing the song they really, really want to hear. That's kind of a tough balance. I don't get to play the songs I want to play. That's just the way it is.

OMC: How has the creative process changed for you in terms of writing songs? Has it gotten easier?

Sl: It's never easy. Songwriting is kind of waiting around until it hits you. When it hits you, you run with it. Sometimes, you write two or three songs in a week. Sometimes you'll have a month where you write a dozen songs. And sometimes, you wait around waiting for it to happen. In those dry periods, you often question 'Is it over? Has the well run dry?' It really hasn't for us yet. I feel lucky about that. Who really knows where it comes from?

OMC: You still live in Milwaukee. What is it that has kept you here?

SL: I travel so much, it's not like I'm stuck here all the time. I've been to just about every good city in the country. I've seen a lot of places and I know it sounds like a cliché, but there really is no place like home. My family is here. I'm so well connected here that anything I really need to get done, I can really get done fast. If I moved to a new place, I'd have to start all over again.

I've lived other places from time to time. I lived in New York for a while. I lived in L.A. I lived in New Orleans. I had a house in New Orleans and I used to go there in the winter.

I don't know -- there is just something about where you are from that draws you back. When I was younger, I couldn't wait to get out of Waukesha and Milwaukee. The more you travel, the more you come to appreciate what you have at home. That's how it was for me.

OMC: You've played a lot of shows in a lot of venues over the years. Do any stand out as being especially memorable?

SL: A lot of them. Some are close to home, like Summerfest. What really matters to me, what really makes a show for me is the people. If the people come and want to let themselves go and become part of the show with you. that's the best you can get.

It might be in a small town in Oklahoma or places that don't get a lot of entertainment. People come out and they're just rabid for entertainment.

New York is a great city. No one can argue with that. But, they've seen it all and they're a little bit jaded. They're a little bit ho-hum about it. They just kind of stand around and give you that look like 'Show me what you've got.'

L.A. is the worst. Everyone is in the business. Nobody paid for tickets. That's the worst. If you get into a show for free, you're a little bit nonchalant about it. If you laid down money that you worked your ass off for, you're going to have a good time.

OMC: If you check out YouTube, there are a bunch of clips of you guys playing from different shows. You started playing way before cell phone cameras and all, but how do you feel about things like that and bootlegs and things coming out now?

SL: I think it's good. I'm glad all that stuff is out there, because it's helping reach a whole new audience. You might have fans who have never heard a song or someone who has never seen a clip. I think it's good.

OMC: You guys are issuing a remastered version of "Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams" next month and that's going to have a DVD included, isn't it?

SL: They just remastered our first record. When they started making CDs, the transferring process wasn't very good. If you had a vinyl record, it sounded amazing. The CD wasn't able to take in all that information at that point, so a lot of music got left off. Now, it sounds like it should have sounded in the first place. Along with the remastered CD, they found a performance that we did in 1985 (at First Avenue in Minneapolis). They found it in the basement and they contacted us and asked if we'd be interested in releasing it, so that will be included.