Since my last album, "Rob Saffi & The Odd Breed," I've had a lot of changes occur - both in my life and in my musical tastes. I've become a solo artist - though I've even changed the way I've defined that description a couple of times. First as a live looper with a crazy rig (the live songs in the 'media' section of this site are the love children of that period), then just to a bare acoustic performer - guitar and voice. But each step has made me change the way I perform and the way I write.

Nothing sparks creativity like jumping into the deep end of a new style or format. After our band split apart, I had to find a way to perform the songs alone, and from that grew the looping style of creating a full band-sound while alone on stage. I got a couple looks when I dragged a djembe on stage for the first time, but the music that came out of those performances is some of the most pure sound I've ever created live - I was totally consumed by the creation of sound that my mind could not be anywhere but entirely in the moment. From that new format came some new songs that fit the style. Then, as I began to strip down the sound even more into a bare solo acoustic format, I had to adopt yet another style of writing, singing, and playing.

This new album is the result of the changes I've gone through creatively since my last album was released. It is entirely a solo effort - imagine me locked away in my NYC apartment recording hand claps and djembe drum beats - so there is no set date to finish recording. I've begun the process, and am basically working on it with every free minute, so unless my hard drive melts, I should be done tracking by the end of the year. As soon as the album's done, it's back to what I love: live shows. Look for a new record to emerge sometime around February, and a new sound next time you see me live - until I change it again. RS