Morty Shallman takes
Novel Approach.
Is it a novel? Is it
a record? "It's both," says singer-songwriter,
Morty Shallman, whose new CD, "Love's
Oblivion " A Novel in Twelve Pop Songs" is now available
on-line at www.morty.org, and at all major web
retailers including Amazon.com, CDbaby, and itunes.com.
"I've always
taken a strong narrative approach to my songwriting,"
says Shallman, an Illinois native, who currently
lives and works in Los Angeles, California. "Treating
each song as a chapter in a larger story, with
characters, a plot, and emotional twists and turns,
is simply the next logical progression in my work.
After all, we've had rock operas, and concept albums
for years. Why not a pop novel?"
After graduating from
college at the University of Chicago,
and performing both as a solo artist under the
pseudonym, "Andrew Ashbury" and as lead singer
for modern rockers,
"Minds of Babes," Shallman moved to
Los Angeles several years ago to pursue his solo career.
Since then, he has performed at top local venues
such as the House of Blues and The Gig/Hollywood,
and recorded with the cream of the crop of
local musicians. Players on "Love's Oblivion" include
Ben Peeler of The Wallflowers, Scott Bennett of
the Brian Wilson Band, and Todd Sucherman of Styx. Shallman's
unique brand of melodic, hook-filled, modern
pop rock has been praised by the Chicago Sun-Times
as "buoyant, infectious and car radio ready."
The novelistic theme
of "Love's Oblivion" is carried on
in the record's package design, which was inspired by
"pulp fiction" novels, complete with edgy cover imagery,
a jacket "blurb" setting up the plot, and an "author's
photo" of the artist, in contrast to the typical rock and roll
performance shots found on most rock CD's. Inside, each song's
lyrics are presented as individual
chapters in the twelve page color booklet that
accompanies the CD. While the precise plot details
of "Love's Oblivion" are open to interpretation,
suffice it say, there's no typical "Hollywood
Ending" to this modern love story. "No, it's
much darker than that," says Shallman. "more of a "North
Hollywood Ending."
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