So much for goodbyes (cd)

“This album came at a time in my life when I had a lot to write about. I had just lost my mother last June and still felt the talons of grief piercing my back. Before she passed, she and I had planned on trying to use some of her poetry to make songs from, but that just hasn’t panned out yet. A lot of her poetry is very stream-of-conscious, and I just couldn’t figure out how to put it to a tune. Maybe someday I will. Another dream we had was having her make art for the next record cover. She was an amazing artist and was constantly working on many different things. She would call me all the time and tell me about how she was painting this or gluing this thing to that to make some UFO alien battle with cowboys and fairies. All her pieces had a story. The piece we ended up using for the cover was the one she was working on the night she died. I believe her intention was to show it to me when it was finished to see if I would use it for the cover. Although I don’t believe she had the chance to complete it, I am so happy we were able to fulfill that dream. I never got to say goodbye to her. That’s why I wanted to call the album “So Much For Goodbyes.” When I mentioned it to my manager, his interpretation of it was different from mine. I was sad that I didn’t get to say goodbye, but when I told him the name of the album, he heard it from a different perspective. It’s not goodbye. She’s not gone. She’s very much still with me. So much for goodbyes.”

Produced by Strings and T Bone Burnett, the new 16-track project finds Strings channeling a deeply personal period into his most musically mature and reflective body of work to date. The record is accompanied by original artwork created by Strings’ late mother, Debra Apostol.