Barenaked Ladies [ tickets ] keyboardist Kevin Hearn will always remember the bit of advice Brian Wilson [ tickets ] offered to the band earlier this year. "'Don't eat too much,'" Hearn said, laughing. "We were like, 'OK.'"

The pop icon, to whom the band pays tribute in the hit "Brian Wilson," made a surprise visit to the Ladies while they were in the studio working with producer Don Was on its latest album "Maroon."

"He came in and hung out with us for an hour. We played a couple songs for him. One that we played him was ‘[Tonight Is the Night I Fell] Asleep at the Wheel.' He said, ‘Oh. That's different.' He played us his new album. It has a version of ‘Brian Wilson' on it. He asked us, ‘Is that cool?' That's about as cool as it gets."

"Maroon" is the band's first effort with über-producer Was, who was a little less cryptic with his advice. The dreadlocked knob-turner encouraged the band to improvise.

"The more I got to know [Was], I was amazed because he's done so much. He's got great stories and a very cool demeanor about him. If there was a problem, he would say, 'It's just not right.' Then he would look into every nook and cranny of the song, figuring out what we should try. He encouraged us to play live. He's worked with everyone from Dylan to the Stones. The advice that he gave is to have Steve [Page, lead singer] sing live with the band."

The result is a collection of songs that, for the first time, capture the band's vaudeville-style live show. In the song "Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel," a graphic yet humorous account of a car accident, Page does an operatic solo at the end.

At first, the band wanted to cut the vocal gymnastics from the song, but Was encouraged them to save it. Same with "Never Do Anything," during which the band joins Page in an impromptu jam.

"We just joined in on all the fanfare and it worked," he said.

Humor and lightheartedness isn't something that came easily to Hearn the last couple years. Just as BNL's last album, the four-times-platinum "Stunt," hit stores in 1998, Hearn was diagnosed with a form of leukemia. To treat the disease, he had a stem cell transplant in Toronto, which put him on the sidelines for about a year.

Throughout "Maroon," he pays tribute to those who helped him. In the liner notes, he thanks his team of doctors, and he sings about his life-changing experience in the hidden track "Hidden Sun."

"I learned a little lesson in life. When I was at hospital at two in the morning and I needed something, someone was working the night shift. Those are the real heroes in life."

Now, the soft-spoken and humble Hearn doesn't let an opportunity for a joke pass him by:

Earlier this month, tickets for BNL's Sept. 22 tour opener at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich., were available for $5 off when fans purchased the band's latest album "Maroon" at 6 a.m. on Sept. 12. Upon hearing that, Hearn said his followers deserved way more than that.

"They should get an egg with that," he said. "An egg on toast. An Eggo."

And when asked if the band's theatrical release, "Barenaked in America," includes live footage, Hearn responded playfully, "That's none of your business."