JJ Appleton

about

For the most part, singer songwriter, JJ Appleton lived in the small town of Norwich, VT, USA, growing up in an offbeat and hectic musical environment. His dad was a teacher of electronic music, as well as being a composer and inventor, and as a result, the family traveled the globe, and with music always on the agenda, a young JJ was able to indulge his musical leanings from the off. The household had a constant stream of noteworthy musical guests, as disparate as Don Cherry and Wang Chung, and it wasn't long before JJ knew that this was what he wanted to do. He studied classical piano and essentially tried to mimic everything he heard, especially the blues. “For me,” he says “when you want to develop into an original, you have to begin by imitating the masters.” But he had the most fun copping from his first loves, the Beatles and The Band. JJ began recording his album in 2005, starting in L.A, and then moving the action to New York, where he worked with notable producer Stephen Lironi (Black Grape, Space and Hanson, among many others). Of the title track JJ says with a bit of tongue-in-cheek, "Someone Else's Problem" was written with an amalgam of ex-girlfriends in mind, but it's mainly about snapping out of that sentimental state of reminiscing and, like a flash of light, you remember the hell they put you through." The chorus refrain JJ maintains, is clearly, "about relief, not anger." "Anyone" taps into the sadness and desperation of a break up and is seen through both