Ernie Halter on Myspace
Singer-songwriter Ernie Halter went through a real “shit storm" this year.
"The new record is called ‘Starting Over’ for a reason,” says Halter. “I wanted the title to be direct, simple, and set the tone for the album. In this past year, I experienced the ending of a marriage and the birth of my first son. It was during this year that I wrote the material for the new record and performed over 150 shows.”
“More than ever I think it’s important to be as open and honest as possible, both as a songwriter and as a person,” Halter continues. “One positive side to the tumultuous year I’ve had is this new-found freedom to say it as it is, to admit who I am and where I’ve been. I feel this is a total crossroads for me.”
“Starting Over” was recorded in early 2008 in New York City and is the follow-up to 2007’s “Congress Hotel.” ..ing Over", Halter puts himself out there in deeply personal ways like never before. Says Halter: “I feel like I’ve started to become a real songwriter in the last year through these experiences and the acknowledgment that it’s universal. I’m not the only person who has been in a situation like this, who’s been hurt, who’s hurt other people.”
On the eleven-track new album, Ernie mixes blue-eyed soul, pop, and rock in a style that is both familiar, unique and always inimitably Halter. His vocal delivery is percussive and smooth, raw and real, his phrasing often an instrument itself. From “Different Lives” to “Try” (a song co-written with tour mate Josh Hoge about balancing a life at home with a life on the road), to the plaintive, piano-driven ballad “Lighthouse” (“a song about friends who love you unconditionally”), Halter explores real life in ways he hopes will resonate with his listeners. But there’s also a lighter side to the record which reflects Halter beginning to find love again. From the soulful drive of “Blue Dress” to the calypso-esque “Crazy Love” (“a song about that intoxicated feeling you get from new love, even though your friends think you’re nuts”), to “My Heart is With You” and “Count The Days” (both written about a long distance love affair), the album dips and soars, alternating between heavy topics and light.
