Before I get into this post, I’d like to announce that I have booked January 30th at Carnegie-Mellon University. That makes 6 shows for the tour! Also, March 14th will be CD release show #2 in Lowell. I will have more information shortly.
I met with Abby Getman today. She’s designing the artwork for the CD. We’re still working on a name and trying to ‘conceptualize’ the album, which will help dictate the artwork. I have a photo shoot next Friday with CASE AVP and we’re going to go from there. I sent her a rambling letter to help get her head around what the album’s ‘about’ and what it means. I’m re-posting it here:
Conceptualizing the album
I’m going to ramble a little bit and maybe this will: a.) help us think of an appropriate title for the disc or b.) help us get a better idea for the artwork for the disc. These songs have mostly been kicking around for some time. I’ve recorded 5 EPs (and one crappy demo-like EP) to lead up to this culmination—my first full length.
I like “The Restless Remain” because it’s a theme that I’ve seen take on more and more of an impact of my life. Without being restless, one becomes complacent and there’s nothing to aim for. “The Restless Remain” sounds dark but in fact, I want this album to reflect a celebratory nature because without this restlessness, things become stale.
I also see this album as a closing of the door, which is why I thought of album titles like “Relief”, “Release”, “Closer”, and “Close”. I’ve always liked short CD names—Damien Rice’s “O” and “9” among them—and I think those words can all be loaded and have a lot of different meanings to them. “Release” is one I thought of since we met and it’s starting to grow on me. The CD was a personal, emotional, spiritual release and it would also be fun to say.
Brian Bergeron’s first CD, “Release” will be released on…
…or maybe we could even mash it up and go with “The Restless Release”. I don’t know.
I see it as a closing of the door for a particular manner of songwriting for me as well. I’ve traditionally been an objective storyteller and not many of my songs are directly about me. There may be anecdotal or situational aspects in some of the songs, but I’m working on becoming more personal. I don’t think it’s better or worse, it’s just different, and it’s what’s calling to me now. Objectivity and impersonality don’t interest me right now. I think there is a spiritual aspect that is void in a lot of these songs that I hope to channel outwards more going forward.
I’ve attached the lyrics for most of the album to this email. I hope it helps you get a better idea of what’s going on. I like an album as a concept (even though it’s not a concept album) and it’s important that the album as well as the songs tell a story. I’m still working on sequencing in my brain but I think I have a pretty good idea how it’s going to go down.
I’m trying to think of what else to say. That sums it up well. I want to keep things simple. I don’t think this is a challenging album for people. I want them to listen to it and feel safe. I’ll challenge them later. I’ll have my confessional album later. I’ll have people reflect about themselves later. For now, I want people to feel safe and at home.
We’ll see.
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