Album Notes

Between them all, you could try to count the instruments they play on your fingers, but you’d have to take off your shoes to finish up. You could also try playing “stump the band” with any kind of musical question you could think of and lose… badly. Take that new band The Afters and add a girl singer with some Kelly Clarkson-like chops, and the experience of a Sheryl Crow and you have Breathing Room. They straddle the fence between caring deeply and holding things loosely, between working in the trenches and keeping their faith before them. And for writing songs that speak to the believer and the doubter alike. Says good friend, Mike Elizondo, producer and musician for Dr. Dre, Fiona Apple, Nelly Furtado, Pink, and currently Maroon 5, “The Christian market needs a band like Breathing Room. These guys have got it all going on! And I also know their hearts are as genuine for God as their music is genuinely commercial.”

Breathing Room began as a writing partnership between Kevin Dukes and Jan Roper, a yin and yang relationship, if there ever was one. Kevin, the cerebral tech geek, rock guitarist for Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Shania Twain, and Don Henley to name a few, and Jan, keyboardist and singer, balancing a life of worship leading and directing music at a large church with sessions and live gigs in L.A. “In Breathing Room, the musicianship speaks for itself, but our true focus is on connecting with our audience, no matter the size or the venue”.

And next came Dan Franklin, bassist, singer and guitarist primarily, but also plenty proficient on keys, drums, and many brass and woodwinds, too. He’s played and/or toured with LeAnn Rimes, Jennifer Paige, Kellie Coffey and
Aaron Lines. “When you’re trying to focus on making a living as a player, it’s not every day that you get a chance to play music like this with a message that matters. It’s refreshing, to say the least!”

Rounding out the band is Chad Norris, who comes out of Dropline, one of David Foster’s courtings for his 143 record label. “Playing well written songs with great musicians is always a pleasure, but when those songs have a heart for Christ, it takes it to a higher level.”

Breathing Room’s EP, “Restoration Area” and debut CD “Coming Clean” is available on iTunes, Digstation, and other digital outlets.