New Sounds from Britton - Lager House on Saturday

Self Sounds.... Tim Monger -... "Marathon Man..."

"I guess I'm at my best when everything is going on at once..."

The stately singer/songwriter said this has "been the winter of solitary projects," where he finally wrapped up his 2nd proper solo LP, New Britton Sound, honing his hybrid of quaint, charming, provincial pop ballads onto elegant musical milieu’s of urbane baroque pop whimsy.

"I'm not really sure how I ended up running a marathon and releasing a new album within a month of each other," Monger said within his makeshift recording space, at home in his rural, reserved HQ, in Britton (SW of Detroit, in Lenawee).

"It was kind of a rough winter, but running helped keep me focused," Monger said, deep into "training," having just run 18 miles before this interview, in preparation for an the upcoming event.

"Running helped me keep focused and I was able to get a lot of work done by just staying home and being anti-social." New Britton Sound is the follow-up (more than 6-years-in-the-making) to Summer Cherry Ghosts, a rich and ruminating record that galvanized the middle ground between Bejar's cerebral conceptuality and Newman's nostalgic pop; between 70's solo McCartney's percolating charms and Meloy's more august and theatrical sweeps.

Now, his hermit-esque winter has allowed him time to finish Britton from home (with a bevy of collaborating camrades adding their accoutrements) as well as join in the re-energizing of his flagship band, Great Lakes Myth Society.

Not to mention, he worked on "the business side" of his music, thus starting up a Kickstarter fund for Britton that met its funding goal, with help from donors, in 24 hours!

" I finished mixing (Britton) in late November, but during the holidays and early winter I just didn't have the time or money to get it mastered or move forward with it." Kickstarter seems to be the best route for those who are sans-label to move these things forward.

Monger understandably had trepidations, since he'd spent the years since Cherry's release trying to get out of debt that he didn't want to "screw" himself "all over again." Monger said he needed to build up some "nerve" to go the route of Kickstarter's "fan-funding" platform. He'd recorded most of Britton by himself over the last three years, mostly keeping it behind closed doors, thus, to ask for support for it in such a public manner was somewhat scary for him.

"The response was unbelievable! I'm so happy."

Listen: Timothy Monger - "Sunday Night Swing Dancing Lessons" Mp3

"A lot has happened..." Monger said, since Cherry. "Playing with my brother and friends in Great Lakes Myth Society has taken up the bulk of my artistic efforts and time over the last six years, but I knew I would get around to doing another solo album and the material slowly built up." Britton's songs: "very personal...and quite a bit darker in subject and tone than (Cherry).

"I worked with some great people on the recordings, but much of it was just me in a small farmhouse in rural Michigan working on my craft." "Now that I've established my ability to record at home with good results, I want to keep all of my projects active and as prolific as I can..."

Timothy Monger State Park will perform regionally and nationally through the Spring, with Britton coming out in June. Also, watch for the third Great Lakes Myth Society album sometime this year. More info