Gerry Beckley - Gerry Beckley (2024) [Hi-Res]

Gerry Beckley says there was a pragmatic reason for putting his own name as the title for his 10th solo album. "There wasn't an obvious title that was leaning in its favor, and I've never done a self-titled album, so it felt like, OK, this might be it," he says with a small chuckle. True to form, Gerry Beckley the album contains 12 outstanding tracks including first single “Crazy,” the most self professed auto-biographical song in “Well Worn Shoes,” and the soulful “Red and Blue” which leaves no mystery as to its subject matter. Produced, arranged, engineered and mixed all by Gerry along with his good buddy Jeff Larson, Gerry also plays the bulk of the instruments on the album. "I tend to do things in layers," says Beckley. He cites influences such as Tom Petty's “Wildflowers" and, more recently, The 1975. "I've been kind of dipping back into the Wall of Sound stuff and using more echoes and just making it bigger. It might not sound like that at first, but if you were to put some headphones on and listen you start to notice little things that make the songs work." And he adds that the chemistry he and Larson share cannot be overstated. Gerry Beckley continues a musical path that's now in its seventh decade and, in Beckley's mind, a continuing conversation between a songwriter and his audience.