I first began my so-called “Secret Project” well over a year ago, and first started mentioning it in April or May of last year. If I had known how long it would be before I could reveal details of the project, I probably would have waited before teasing folks with it. I mean, it’s not like “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” or anything. It’s not even “Who Killed Rosie Larson?”
Let’s put all of that behind us, okay? I am here today to announce (happily, excitedly) that I have co-written an album of pop songs with my good friend and former classmate, Whitney Lyman, who is a fantastic singer and songwriter, and one of my favorite people of all time. We’ve got 12 songs, ranging from ballads to rockers, of funky, thumping electric goodness and they sound great. Better than great. But (and I bet you see where this is going), we need some help finishing the recording of the music and so we’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the last few dollars we need. We’re actually almost done – all of the backing tracks were recorded last Fall with the help of our friends Tim Carey, Mack Grout and Adam Kozie, and we really just need another 4-5 days in the studio to finish the vocals. But enough about that – head on over to Kickstarter and check out the details of how you can help and what you can get.
I sat down in 2011 with the germ of an idea – I would write a bunch of pop songs and then, with the help of my many musical friends, bring them to life in the recording studio. I wanted to get out of my “normal” musical comfort zone and do something completely different. I sat down last Spring and Summer and wrote 12 songs – I even tried my hand at lyrics – and set out to get them recorded.
Originally, I wanted to feature different vocalists on different songs, and make a big party record with dozens of friends. Ultimately, this proved to be too difficult and complicated for me to organize and keep track of. I got as far as recording the backing tracks in the Fall of last year, sharing those with a number of people (including Whitney) before I ran out of money and the project ran out of steam.
Fast-forward to this Spring. Out of the blue, Whitney texted me to see if I wanted to get together to go over some of the songs. It turns out, she had continued to work on the project, and had lyrics and melodic ideas for several of them. When I heard what she had done with the songs, I asked her if she wanted to step in and do the whole record and she agreed enthusiastically. I think this music is a big departure for both of us, and that’s extremely exciting. I had an idea in my head of how I wanted things to sound and the kinds of influences I wanted to invoke, but Whitney has brought her own sensibilities and influences into the mix, resulting in something I could never have anticipated. The final recording is going to sound great.
We still need a name for the project, but I will keep you posted as things move forward. We’re planning to release the record late this year or early next with a 7″ single before that. In the meantime, please check out our Kickstarter campaign and consider helping us get this new music in your hands and ears.