Best known as the singer/songwriter/guitarist of the Philadelphia-based blues-rock band
CINDERELLA,
Tom Keifer is making his debut as a solo artist with the release of his long-awaited and highly anticipated solo album,
"The Way Life Goes", on April 30 via
Merovee Records (through
Warner Music Group's
Independent Label Group).
The collection of 14 new songs ranges from intimate, organic, acoustic tracks to driving hard rock. It embraces the blues, rock and country roots that have always been present in his unique sound that has generated the sale of over 15 million records worldwide for
CINDERELLA.
Rolling Stone praised
Keifer as "a gritty, bluesy (rocker) with enough genuine swagger to draw comparisons to
Mick Jagger."
"The Flower Song", the album's first single, will be serviced to AAA radio stations nationwide on February 4, while
"Solid Ground" will be serviced to all rock formats on March 11.
"To me, [
'The Flower Song'] is about how unbelievable it is that you're able to find that one person that's perfect for you,"
Keifer, 52, tells
USA Today. "Obviously, it's told from the perspective of a guy, but I think it's true for both men and women: When you find that one person, it's a miracle."
Keifer wrote
"The Flower Song" with
Jim Peterik, formerly of the bands
SURVIVOR and the
IDES OF MARCH.
"
'The Flower Song' is one aspect of the record,"
Keifer says. "The record ranges from that more acoustic side to hard-driving, high-energy rock songs, and everything in between. It's a pretty diverse album."
"The Way Life Goes" is a raw, introspective look at the roller coaster ride that has been
Keifer's life for the past 15 years. From being told that he would never sing again as a result of a partially paralyzed left vocal cord, to the emotional and personal battles that followed, his solo debut is a story of perseverance, a testament to the power of passion and will, when combined with a true love of music.
In touring news,
Keifer will launch his first-ever solo tour on February 9 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina at Ziggy's. The 14-city trek of small, intimate rooms is an up-close and personal preview of songs from
"The Way Life Goes" along with some
CINDERELLA classics. Dates beyond February 28 are currently in the works.
Keifer recently spoke with
HuffingtonPost.com about
"The Way Life Goes". "The idea for a solo record started in the Nineties when the band parted ways and we left Universal," he said. "There was just a changing of the guard in the industry at that time and I started thinking about a solo record. I wrote for it for many years and the songs just kept going on the pile and I never got around to actually making a record... We started cutting tracks for this record in 2003 and I went to the pile of songs that had been building up and picked some that I liked and I've just been working on it ever since. It was produced independently of a label, because the idea from the beginning was to just work and record until I was happy with it. I wrote with a lot of different people — my wife,
Savannah, who's a great writer, co-wrote a lot of the songs on the record and also co-produced the record with me, and a good friend of ours,
Chuck Turner, who's a great engineer and producer. So from the beginning, the attitude was, 'Let's have fun and just make a great record and it'll be done when it's done.' Little did we know it'd be nine years later… it's done and we went through some crazy stuff and mixed and remixed and reworked things over and over and probably made a lot of mistakes along the way, but finally got it where we were all happy with it, so here it is."
"The Way Life Goes" track listing:
01.
Solid Ground02.
A Different Light03.
It's Not Enough04.
Cold Day In Hell05.
Thick And Thin06.
Ask Me Yesterday07.
Fools Paradise08.
The Flower Song09.
Mood Elevator10.
Welcome To My Mind11.
You Showed Me12.
Ain't That A Bitch13.
The Way Life Goes14.
Babylon
