Innocent Explanations

Alec Berlin's music crackles with the same energy he brought to 2010's Broadway show 'American Idiot'. Mixed by Chris Dugan (American Idiot, 21st Century Breakdown) at Green Day's Jingletown Studios, 'Innocent Explanations' tears the roof off of the songwriting territory staked out in Alec's 2007 release 'Beauty, Grazing at the Trough', which was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. Listen for the first single Thunder Without Rain on radio stations this spring. A native Clevelander who now calls Brooklyn home, Alec honed his skills first at the New England Conservatory. Subsequent tenures as a gun-for-hire in the downtown Jazz world as well as with untold numbers of rock bands and singer-songwriters (he has shared the stage with Elton John, James Taylor, Green Day, Rob Thomas, Rufus Wainwright, and Ben Folds) provided a different, grittier education. As a guitarist, Alec was an original band member in the Broadway show Green Day's American Idiot. From the world premiere at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009 to the Tony Award-winning run at New York's St. James Theater in 2010-11, Alec was there - including performances on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, and the 2010 Tony Awards Live from Radio City Music Hall. His guitar playing was featured on the Grammy Award-winning Original Cast Recording (his second brush with the Grammy's, after 2010's A Colbert Christmas.) Alec's songwriting evokes Elvis Costello, XTC, and the Beatles. Spanning the stylistic spectrum from the pop-punk energy of Get Dirty to the lazy, comfortable swing of Still, with stops along the way at the apocalyptic (Washed Away), reflective (Henry at Home), soulful (I Want it Done) and groovy (Bury Your Head), each song is a story-telling opportunity fulfilled. Bringing together such luminaries as drummer Brian Wolfe (Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond), cellist Dave Eggar (Sheryl Crow, Coldplay, Pearl Jam), drummer Shannon Ford (Danny Gatton), and bassist Skip Ward (Steve Martin), 'Innocent Explanations' engages the listener from the very first - you'll be singing along during your first listen, all the while anticipating listening again and again.