New York recording artist JOHN BRODEUR * GET THROUGH available now

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NYC-based recording artist John Brodeur took eight years to release his second solo album, Get Through. Why the long wait? His vague explanation: "It was supposed to come out years ago, but it didn’t."

The reasons behind the delay aren't quite that simple, but the basic story is this: Brodeur began recording Get Through in 2004, with the help of the Suggestions (bassist Keith Hosmer and drummer Jason Schultz, who appear on seven of the album's 12 tracks). Shortly into the process, band members scattered for various reasons, and financial backing fell through. Brodeur finished the album on his own, but left with no funding and no band, he moved his music to the back burner.

"I pushed myself on everyone for so many years and I needed a break," he says, "so I joined a few of my friends' bands." A few bands turned into five and soon Brodeur was performing almost every night of the week, in addition to recording and producing with other artists. But his own music never left his mind.

Unlike Tiger Pop, Brodeur's dial-spinning first record, Get Through is a more modern-sounding collection of songs about, as one title sums it up, "Love and Misery." "[Tiger Pop] was a manifesto," says Brodeur. "It was all over the map because those were the sounds in my head at the time. . . . I was saying 'Hey, look what I can do.' This one was intended to be a band record - something that was easier to connect to, and to re-create live."

But even in the early stages of recording it was clear this wouldn't be a traditional "band" record. "By the end of the first four days I had already put my hands on everything in the studio. The guys basically got a free vacation while Pete (Donnelly, recording engineer) helped me build my little castle." The resulting album follows the creative and sonic mold set out by Brodeur's previous releases. Lyrical themes—of depression, rejection, broken love—are set to generally bright tones, creating, as one writer put it, "a juicy dichotomy that begs for repeated listens."

Now that Brodeur's got the bug again, he plans to make up for lost time: Several Mr. Duck Records releases are on the docket, including last Halloween's covers EP, Slutty Nurse; another solo album, Little Hopes, due in summer 2010; and with help from fans via Pledge Music, a reissue of Tiger Pop will follow in the fall. But Brodeur’s first priority is supporting Get Through. "I can't move on to something else before putting this out there."

This album has been a roadblock, a detour, and ultimately a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s a back-against-the-wall record with a built-in exit strategy. As the title track goes, "If it's all that you can do, just get through." And now Get Through, as the title aptly implies, will finally get through to music fans.

John has shared stages with Fountains of Wayne, Greg Laswell, They Might Be Giants, TV On The Radio, 311, the Nightwatchman, Gavin Degraw, O.A.R., Rooney, Glenn Tilbrook, Shiny Toy Guns, the Bravery, Freedy Johnston, David Poe, and dozens more.

DISCOGRAPHY (click album cover to download album at iTunes)

Albums/EPs:

Tiger Pop (John Brodeur, 2001, Mr. Duck Records)
Infected (So In Love With You); Remains of a Heart; Dying for Me; Selfish; Sucker; Kitten; Changing Your Mind (Again?); It Goes Away; Easier; Confidentially; Peace.

Mix Tape (John Brodeur and the Suggestions, 2003, Mr. Duck Records)
Be True; Halo (edited); Birthday Girl (Into the Sun); Masterpiece; Art of Dying; Changing Your Mind (Again!); Halo (original); Antidote (bonus track).

Get Through (John Brodeur, 2009, Mr. Duck Records)
Make A Change; Heartbreaker; I'm Bad; Flame; Security; Silence, Please; Fight; Let's Pretend; Meltdown; Love and Misery; Get Through; Home.

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Compilation tracks:
Tourniquet and Over My Grave from Bump Into Fate CD (w/Norman, 1995, Paint Chip Records)
Remains of a Heart and Struck Out from Sink Into Solo CD (1997, Paint Chip Records)
Before She Watched Her Flame Go Out from Youre Still Here CD (2001, www.crumbs.net)
Infected (So In Love With You) from Frequency Modulation: A Low Watt Document CD (2001, Shut Eye Records)
Sucker from Magnet magazine New Music Sampler CD (2001)
Art of Dying (George Harrison cover) from He Was Fab--A Loving Tribute to George Harrison CD (2002, Jealousy Records)
Starlet from International Pop Overthrow Vol. 6 CD (w/the Suggestions, 2003, Not Lame Records)
"Be True" from Lollipop magazine sampler CD (w/the Suggestions, 2003)
"Sucker" and "Be True" from Albany Amped Vol. 1 compilation CD (w/the Suggestions, 2007)
"Be True" from Cornerstone Player, the Fader magazine fall sampler (w/the Suggestions, 2007)

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Guest appearances and recording projects:
Tom McWatters Atomic Waters CD (backing vocals, piano, guitars)
Freakwent Flyahs Freaks Fly Free CD (drums, guitar, vocals)
Katie Haverly Around the Bend CD (drums)
Hector on Stilts Fun Size CD (drums, vocals)
The Sense Offenders The Sense Offenders CD (drums, guitars, vocals, sax, melodica)
Five Alpha Beatdown Hello We Are Five Alpha Beatdown from Iceland CD (drums, vocals, guitars)
Guiltless Cult Help Me Out CD (drums, guitars, percussion)
Knotworking Notes Left Out CD (drums)
Knotworking The Garden Below CD (drums)
Knotworking When We Were Small split 7 with Uberjerk (drums)
Brian Bassett Rock and Roll CD (guitars)
The Day Jobs How I Wanted To Be CD (percussion)
The Wait Hollywood EP (percussion)

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