The latest album from Soul Asylum has received a quick blessing from the fastest woman alive, Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney.

“I just couldn’t be more excited that she’s excited about it,” said frontman Dave Pirner, who remembers watching Muldowney drag racing during the 1970s.

Now 84 years young, she was delighted that Soul Asylum dedicated their 13th studio album to her and even provided a photo for the album art.

“In a way, it’s kind of a woman’s empowerment thing for me, but at the same time, it’s just cool,” Pirner said in his laid-back, midwestern drawl during a phone interview last month. Soul Asylum is on tour with Stone Temple Pilots and LIVE and will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at the AMP in Rogers.

Set to drop this fall, “Slowly But Shirley” is a return to form for fans of their album, “And The Horse They Road In On.” Both albums were recorded live with producer Steve Jordan (Rolling Stones, John Mayer, Robert Cray, Keith Richards).

“It’s very spontaneous sounding, and that’s not a gimmick at all. It’s just the way, the way we did it,” said Pirner. “It doesn’t sound like a bunch of toppled-together digital information that’s all noodled around and screwed with and fixed. It’s not perfect, but music is not supposed to be perfect.”

In their early days, Pirner said that it took 20-30 tries to get a song ready to record, after playing together for so many years with drummer Michael Bland (Prince, Paul Westerberg), lead guitarist Ryan Smith and bassist Jeremy Tappero (bassist Karl Mueller died in 2005), the group finds their sound within just a few takes.

“Over the years, you kind of figure out what you’re doing, hopefully,” Pirner added with a laugh.

Writing songs is a different story, Pirner admitted. As the primary songwriter, he relies on the band as a sounding board for what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes, he said, it takes a while to finish a song. Their latest single, ““High Road” took years.

Other songs come together quick. Pirner said their hit song, “Runaway Train,” which won the 1994 Grammy for Best Rock Song, was written in one sitting. Just playing half of the song hooked a manager for the band back in the day, which gave Pirner the suspicion that he was on to something, but still the success was a surprise.

Likewise “Misery” from their Platinum album, “Let Your Dim Light Shine” and later featured on the soundtracks of Kevin Smith’s movies “Chasing Amy” and “Clerks” was slated to be the third release from their album but “it came out of the gate pretty big,” he said.

“Misery” was the lead single, and is still one of the hits that people anticipate singing along with at Soul Asylum concerts.

Over the last 40 years in the music business, it’s the crowds and the love of playing music that keeps the 60 year-old Pirner going.

“If you love your job, that’s about the greatest thing that can happen, and I do. Every time people show up to hear the band. I’m a little relieved,” he laughs.

While travel is difficult, “you’re never anywhere for more than a couple days, and most of it is hurrying up and waiting,” he said. At the end of the day it’s all about the music. “It’s my life, and I love doing what I do.”

Plus, people’s reactions are fun to watch from the stage.

“You can see the reactions in people’s faces. You can see couples getting closer together and you can see people singing along that know every single word,” which helps him to remember his lyrics too, he added.

“Other times, people are obviously just mouthing words and they don’t know the words to the songs, and that kind of makes me laugh, too.”

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FAQ

+ LIVE + & Stone Temple Pilots with Soul Asylum

WHEN — 7 p.m. Aug. 24

WHERE — Walmart AMP in Rogers

TICKETS — $29.50 and up

INFO — amptickets.com