Elaine Summers and I have finally settled on exactly what we are going to call our project. Drum roll please… we are now “The Droge & Summers Blend.” That is our name and we are sticking with it. We are working on the first in a series of EPs now. Basic tracking was a dream. Our heartfelt thanks to Dave Hull, Matt Chamberlain, Scott Weddle, Rob Stroup and Vincent LaBelle for their amazing contributions. We could not be happier with how things are shaping up around our songs. The early stand out track is the upbeat toe tapper “Sad Clown.” We are chipping away on vocals and various overdubs. And we will soon turn our attention to more writing for Volume Two which will feature bassist Jennifer Condos and drummer Jay Bellerose. We saw Jay last night while he was in Seattle playing with Robert Plant and Alison Kraus. We plan on making Volume One available as a download before the end of the year. Look for the limited edition CD in early 2009.
You can hear Elaine and I singing on two brand new songs from our pal Stone Gossard. Visit PEARLJAM.COM/STONEGOSSARD to listen for yourself. I served as the executive producer on the tracks as well. Stone’s also got some really cool live video versions of some great songs on his site. He will be steadily releasing more new songs and live videos in the coming monthes. Gossard’s digital release helps to kick-off Timberland’s DIG IT campaign; a multi-city initiative bringing together eco-minded, activists and artists for daylong re-greening efforts.