Boston singer-songwriter and guitarist turns up the volume through a gritty new blues single featuring Mia Boostrom out Friday, August 21
There’s a sweet irony at the surface of “You’ve Got To Choose,” the rousing debut single from the newly-minted Sean Coleman Project. In the song, the protagonist offers an ultimatum to her lover after discovering he’s been unfaithful, and the confrontation plays out in unexpected, and increasingly intense, fashion, all while slotting the sound and storyline alongside the timeless type of bluesy, rock and roll barroom Americana that’s come before it.
But beyond the title of this inaugural single, set to hit the streams on Friday, August 21, ahead of a flurry of new music and a collaborative debut album Apropos of Nothing arriving in October, the creative ethos behind the Boston-based project led by longtime musician Sean Coleman is one where variety is the driving force.
The album’s voice highlights stories of our shared humanity through a spectrum of styles and sounds from a collection of impressive musicians, from a core of classic rock, blues, and Americana, and splintering out to gospel, soul, folk, jazz, and country.
Coleman, a Boston-based songwriter, producer, singer, and guitarist who quietly honed his craft in classic rock cover band The Bleeding Hearts over the past few decades, wanted to make a splash with the new band’s debut single, showing off its players as an invitation to what comes next and opening up a portal to a more throwback kind of record.
And “You’ve Got To Choose,” featuring the powerful blues vocals of Dighton native and The Voice and America’s Got Talent contestant Mia Boostrom, as well as a quartet of guitar players that fuel its sleek and seductive sound in Andrew Gravel, Bill Danylik, Sam Crawford, and Coleman, not to mention a rippin’ organ from Brad Goff, serves as the perfect primer.
“It’s a story as old as time: A woman discovers her man has been unfaithful, so she gives him an ultimatum – you’ve got to choose,” Coleman says. “Unfortunately for the man, the choice he’s offered isn’t the one he expected.”
Echoing the album’s blurred genre lines, where a range of genres emerges in vivid color, with Coleman’s writing as a connective tissue, “You’ve Got To Choose” was first conceived as a gospel song. But its gritty DNA began to shine through, and after some lyrical tweaks, its potency was fully realized with the team of artists Coleman brought in to bring the record’s vision to fruition.
“I wanted the song to tell a story of love, betrayal and anger that builds to a climax over all three verses, so I needed a singer with the emotional and vocal range to bring the song to life,” he adds. “I’d worked with Mia Boostrom on previous songs, and I knew she would absolutely crush it, so I wrote the song specifically for her voice. We kept the arrangement relatively sparse – guitars, drums, bass and organ — to leave room for her vocals to really shine.”
Apropos of Nothing plays out like our earliest memories of discovering music, whether flipping through the radio dial when formats allowed for unencumbered variety, or stumbling upon a family member’s vast CD or record collection. Coleman explores a colorful gamut of styles across the album, and “You’ve Got To Choose” emerged at the type of introductory starting point that sets a tone for what’s to come.
“It’s a very accessible song, with memorable lyrics and a catchy melody,” Coleman admits. “It captures the essence of the project, which is bringing together a talented group of musicians to play some of their favorite music, without having to worry about appealing to current stylistic trends. There’s a timelessness about the blues and blues-based rock songs, so I was trying to capture that classic vibe. I love artists like Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi, so I was trying to invoke their style, attitude and hopefully, their musicality.”
The Sean Coleman Project achieves that solely by the wealth of talent he’s assembled. In addition to Boostrom on vocals and the quartet of electric guitarists (Gravel on the lead solo, joined by Danylik, Crawford, and Coleman), “You’ve Got To Choose” also features the aforementioned Goff on organ; Sean McLaughlin on bass; and Mike Levesque on drums.
“You’ve Got To Choose” was produced by McLaughlin and recorded at his 37’ Productions studio in Rockland, with mastering done by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering with assistant mastering engineer Costanza Tinti.
Unsurprisingly, Coleman is quick to praise the band he’s built around him.
“Mia Boostrom’s vocals are characterized by her ability to immediately draw the listener into a song; she can take a song from whisper-quiet to show-stopping high notes without breaking a sweat,” Coleman notes. “Mike Levesque’s drumming is both powerful and tasteful, and he always seems to have an iconic drum fill at his fingertips. Brad Goff, the keyboardist, is probably the most versatile member of the project. He brings it all – vocals, piano, organ, guitar — but on this song he just focused on those great Hammond organ fills.”
He adds: “Sean McLaughlin is not only the producer on the project, but the bassist as well. And as far as guitars go, this album was chock full of incredible players — Cody Nilsen of GA-20, Bill Danylik of The Bleeding Hearts, Andrew Gravel from the Gravel Project, Sam Crawford, and yours truly, trying to keep up with the other guys!”
Though Apropos of Nothing is the debut effort from the Sean Coleman Project, the seeds of the band were planted during the pandemic, when Coleman began writing original music for the first time in his career. He and The Bleeding Hearts were enlisted by a personal friend, Ginnie Breen, to record a concept album for her non-verbal autistic daughter, disability rights activist Elizabeth Bonker.
Coleman and his bandmates would write the music and Bonker would pen the lyrics, and together they’d show what it was like to go through life trying to break free from the silent cage of autism. The album, 2022’s I Am In Here, generated a quarter-million streams on Spotify and featured a guest appearance by Tom Morello (“Silent Cage”).
Crafting that album gave Coleman the songwriting itch, so he took his work to a musicians’ songwriting workshop hosted by producer and musicologist Rick Beato and deliberately developed the core sound. The honest feedback helped steer the ship, but Coleman’s core vision of crafting an album that wasn’t limited by genre opened up a lyrical voice to reflect his own upbringing and relationship to music that remained dutifully intact.
What emerged in Apropos of Nothing was a record influenced by the ‘60 and ‘70s, but not merely in the traditional sense. There’s a feeling behind this first batch of tunes where sentiment is as powerful as any chord, beat, or lyric.
“Stylistically, there’s no single angle for the album,” he admits with a laugh. “When I was growing up in the ‘70s, you could turn on AM radio and hear incredibly disparate artists. Steve Wonder, Willie Nelson, Steely Dan, Curtis Mayfield, Linda Ronstadt, the Allman Brothers — they all had hit records at the same time, and you could hear their songs played back to back. There wasn’t that strict sense of putting each genre in its own silo, so that only fans of that style would be exposed to it. The only common thread among them was that they were making music that spoke to people’s lives.”
Coleman is eager to admit that his modest upbringing all those years ago was defined by music, with his parents’ record collection – boasting everything from showtunes to The Beatles, Miriam Makeba to Pete Seeger, The Beach Boys to B.B. King – helped foster a musical diversity in his tastes. It was one that would allow him to go to countless live shows and concerts, experiencing the likes of everyone from Vladimir Horowitz to Miles Davis and The Clash to The Carolina Chocolate Drops.
So while “You’ve Got To Choose” acts as the opening salvo to both the Sean Coleman Project and the forthcoming record, perhaps the most alluring quality of both is that no decision-making is necessary to enjoy what’s contained within.
All one has to do is press “play,” and settle in. And all are invited to the party.
“In one sense, I took on this project to break down walls,” Coleman concludes. “These days, everything — no matter how great or small — has become a tribal marker that serves to include some people and exclude others. I want no part of that. I’m trying to make music that will bring people together, regardless of where they’re coming from. So I set out to make an album that would connect with people. Songs that would get them out of their seats to dance with joy and songs that could help them reflect on their deepest sorrows, and know they’re not alone.”
Connect with Sean Coleman Project:
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Sean Coleman Project features:
Mia Boostrom: Vocals
Sean Coleman: Acoustic and electric guitar
Bill Danylik: Acoustic and electric guitar
Andrew Gravel: Electric guitar
Sam Crawford: Electric guitar
Brad Goff: Organ
Sean McLaughlin: Bass
Mike Levesque: Drums
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‘Apropos of Nothing’ album artwork:
Credit: Steph Larsen Photography
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‘You’ve Got To Choose’ production credits:
Written by Sean Coleman
Produced by Sean McLaughlin
Recorded at 37′ Productions in Rockland, MA
Mastered by Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering with assistant mastering engineer Costanza Tinti
Press photo by Lisa Czech
Album artwork photo by Steph Larsen
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Sean Coleman Project short bio:
Sean Coleman is a Boston-based songwriter, producer, singer and guitarist crafting story-driven songs inspired by music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. His writing blends conversational lyrics with heartfelt, emotionally driven melodies that feel familiar with a twist of something new. Drawing influence from the innovative experimentation of the Beatles, the soaring melodies of Joni Mitchell, and the deceptive ease of Motown harmonies, Sean writes songs that come from the heart.
Sean has studied with the renowned songwriter and musicologist Rick Beato, has collaborated with artists including Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine. His band of 20 years, The Bleeding Hearts, has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, and they collaborated with disability rights activist Elizabeth Bonker on the album, I Am In Here.
Sean loves creating music people can connect with, regardless of the genre. His belief that music is made to bring us together and not divide us fuels his genre-less creativity and exploration. He endeavors to create the same type of heartfelt, meaningful music he grew up listening to.
Currently, Sean’s focus is on the Sean Coleman Project, a collection of songs he has written across various vintage genres, pulling inspiration from rock, folk, country, blues, and jazz. The project is produced by the multi award-winning producer Sean McLaughlin (Rush, Elliott Smith, Marilyn Manson, Death Row Records) at his studio 37’ Productions in Rockland, MA. The project also features award-winning artists including Mia Boostrom, country artist Elisa Smith, Cody Nilsen from GA-20, Brad Goff, Mike Levesque, Daniel Tavani, Jose Delgado, Bill Danylik, and Andrew Gravel from The Gravel Project.
