April 18, 2002 — Multi-platinum, Grammy-winning Soul Asylum lead singer, songwriter and musician Dave Pirner will release his debut solo album July 30 on Ultimatum Music. A musical outgrowth of his mid-'90s move to New Orleans from Minneapolis, the self-produced-and-written album merges moody pop melodies, electric/acoustic textures and intimate lyrics with a soulful R&B undertow. "Never Recover," featuring the legendary keyboardist Billy Preston, will impact radio June 24. Acclaimed guitarist Chris Whitley also performs on a number of tracks on the yet-untitled album, which features additional production from the team of Oliver Leiber and David Gamson (MeShell NdegeoCello, BBMak, Corrs, Long Beach Dub Allstars) on two songs and a mix of "Someday Love" from Tom Tucker (Prince, Lucinda Williams, Shannon Curfman). In addition, the album was recorded by Trina Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow) at New Orleans' Kingsway studio.

"Moving to New Orleans and listening to the local players really changed how I think about music," Pirner says. "It had a huge impact on me." The gravelly voiced singer admits that pianist/singer/composer Henry Butler, New Orleans jazz man, so-called "barbecue swinger" Kermit Ruffin and acclaimed funksters the Meters "pushed me in the direction of this record. I needed to be closer to them and understand where they were coming from. I was influenced by that."

Pirner continues, "When I moved to New Orleans I came upon Kingsway studio, which was in the process of closing. So there I was in New Orleans going, 'What the hell...All this gear's here. All these engineers are sitting around with nothing to do. Let's roll some tape!'"

Of the subtly poignant "Never Recover," Pirner says: "It became very obvious to me that I was writing this song about loss and I was stuck in a very particular moment, where I was realizing that there is this instant where you just feel helpless and hopeless. But you get over it, even if you have to crawl your way out. I wanted to capture that desperation. I don't like to use the word pathetic but you just feel overwhelmed with 'I can't see my way out of this' and I just thought it was such a naked feeling."

"I always wanted to write happy songs but I'm just not good at it," Pirner adds. "I think that there's this classic element of songwriting that comes from the blues or the songs they used to call 'laments,' and I'm not afraid to be brutally or embarrassingly honest about expressing a sentiment."

As the 20-year frontman for Soul Asylum, Pirner wrote and recorded his solo material while writing songs and touring with Soul Asylum. "I never had this big ambition to make a solo record. Honestly, I prefer being in a band," says Pirner. "But I think that after being in the same band, I needed to try something new and different and I think I saw this as a window of opportunity." Soul Asylum plan to release their next album in spring of 2003.

Stay tuned for news of an upcoming promotional tour that will take Dave into 12 cities prior to the release of the album. He will also embark on a solo tour following the album's July release.

The complete track listing is as follows:
"Teach Me To Breath"
"Never Recover"
"Feel The Need"
"Faces & Names"
"364"
"Someday Love"
"Much Too Easy"
"Levitation"
"Start Treating People Right"
"Tea"
"I'll Have My Day"