Former I MOTHER EARTH Singer Launches 'Alt-Country' Solo Career

Former I MOTHER EARTH frontman Brian Byrne has launched a solo career as a singer/songwriter playing a style of music dubbed "alt-country."

"Over the last couple of years, I was just collecting my thoughts over what I wanted to do with the record," Byrne told Soulshine.ca. "I wanted to do something country-folky but not too country-folky…something with a rock caliber. I have no idea what people are going to call it — if it's going to be alt-country or roots-rock or whatever. But I never said I was going to write this certain album — it's just a bunch of songs that came together to make an album."

With regards to whether I MOTHER EARTH are still together and if there no chance for another album, Byrne said, "No, I wouldn't say that because we didn't leave on bad terms. Every band fights, and we had our moments, but we're still friends. It's just that everybody needed a break because we'd been working pretty much nonstop. Even when it seemed like we went away for four years, we were still in the studio, writing and rehearsing. The only break we really had was when I damaged my vocal chords and got six weeks off. That was it in over six years. It was a long time to spend with each other."

Byrne's first band, at thirteen years old, was a hair metal cover band called PANDEMONIUM, and prior to I MOTHER EARTH, he sang in a metal band called KLAVEN. The singer isn't dismissing the possibility of returning to his heavy rock heritage. "I think that I might do a punk thing or a metal thing again — sure, why not? But I really enjoy singing and playing and telling stories. It does my heart good to do that. At the end of it, that’s what it's all about. When you love music and you feel music, it's kind of timeless and shapeless, not to sound too hokey or anything. You have to make your own statements."

For more information on Byrne's upcoming solo album, entitled "Tuesdays, Thursdays and If It Rains", visit www.brianbyrnemusic.com.