Album Notes

The Story of SweetLou
Sweetlou was formed in 2001 by Singer-Songwriter Bryan Cohen, Bassist Paul Christofferson and former Guitarist Ryan Mefferd. The band's 2002/2003 release American Singles was chocked full of pop songs perfect for a convertible ride, sunny day and lots of open road. The band blended harmonies and zippy guitar riffs into 3-minute pop gems. Super drummer Ben Smith (Heart, Left Hand Smoke) played drums with the group and keyboard player Andrew Nelson rounded out the group. American Singles was well received. Seattle's AAA radio station 103.7 The Mountain played several cuts from the record including "Radio Heaven" and "She's Got A Way." The band played venues all over Seattle including the Triple Door, The Tractor Tavern, The Crocodile and The Showbox. Finally in October of 2004 the band began recording demos for a new album in Bryan's basement.

While working on the demos Sweetlou, now a quartet without Ryan Mefferd and with new drummer Matt Carr, embraced a sparser less pop oriented sound. The songs that emerged were simple, laid back and much darker than the older material. They featured a moody Americana feel and minimal instrumentation beyond bass, drums, piano and acoustic guitar. A year later (yes they work a little slow) the band joined producer Dave Dysart and headed up to Bear Creek studios to cut basic tracks. Through the winter of 2005 the band cut vocals and overdubs in Dave's basement... and finally finished the record in early 2006!

The new album - Good Morning, Wherever You Are - is a return to the Americana sound of Bryan and Paul's late 90's band the AM Disasters with a dark pop twist. In addition to influences like Steve Earl and Wilco the band has added flavors of the Beatles, Crowded House, Mathew Sweet and Bob Dylan into the mix. Lyrically the new record is much moodier than American Singles. Recorded as live as possible with lots of acoustic guitar, the new songs lyrically probe the dark side of relationships and fleeting youth. Standout tracks include the opening cut "Consequence of Motion," with its George Harrison-esque guitar harmonies, the wistful "Next Summer," the down tempo jazzy "Break my Heart" and the anthemic "Genius Morning." For fans of the old material, rest assured that tracks such as "Tonight" and "Doubter" deliver plenty of Sweetlou's upbeat punch.