Back around 2007, a friend asked Bill Griese if he had anything in the pipeline to follow up his 2003 debut album, For This Day.
And it dawned on him that he had not written a note for at least two years.
He headed home to Morris Plains that night determined to write something–anything.
“I didn’t care how good or bad,” he said. “It opened the floodgates.”
You can hear the results at 8 pm on Saturday, June 18, in Morristown’s Dark Horse Lounge, where Bill and a six-piece band will perform tracks from Bill’s new CD, appropriately titled Too Long Coming.
We’re pretty sure you will like the vibe, starting with Zoom, a pop tune that became the theme for a FujiFilm TV ad campaign last year.
This music video of ‘Zoom’ was shot in Randolph. The TV spot is at the end of this entry.
Most of Too Long Coming shares Zoom’s sunny sensibility; the counterpoint comes from the occasional hint of regret (Too Long) and temptation (Tonight’s the Night). He admits fielding a few questions from his wife about those compositions.
“I have a good imagination!” he said, assuring fans that all is well on the home front.
The new album, available at the show for $10 and online, is produced by Morristown native John Ginty, who has played keyboards for Santana and Matthew Sweet. John plays on Bill’s CD, along with guitarist Mark Dollar (Kool & The Gang, Lil Wayne) and drummer Louie Appel (Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes).
Too Long Coming was inspired by pop music of the late 1970s–songs like Baby Come Back by Player, Sharing the Night Together by Dr. Hook and Biggest Part of Me by Ambrosia, said Bill, who landed a full-time marketing job thanks partly to the Zoom campaign.
First-time listeners at Bill’s performances inevitably are struck by a silky vocal style reminiscent of another ’70s star, James Taylor. Bill said he would be thrilled if his new track Think I’ll Stay landed on J.T.’s setlist.
Recording with a band required some adjustments by Bill, who is accustomed to being “the guy in the corner of the coffee shop” at solo acoustic gigs.
He had to learn to hang back and let the other musicians carry the songs. During the year-long studio sessions for Too Long Coming he came to enjoy that back-and-forth; now he often brings Mike Buckman of Morristown on his solo gigs to accompany him on bass and electric guitar.
At our MG Songwriters Night last month, Bill stressed the importance of editing and re-editing lyrics. That attention to detail is one reason he is pumped about Too Long Coming. These 11 cuts do not meander; Bill knows how to make his musical point without belaboring it.
“I’m really proud of it, and I’m really excited about it,” Bill said of the CD. “It came out pretty much the way I wanted it to.”
Doors open at the Dark Horse on DeHart Street at 7:30 pm Saturday. Admission is free; you must be over 21.
