Everlast returns with new effort

Everlast is not only a hip-hop legend, but also a Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and multi-platinum artist. And now, he's about to return with a brand-new album, Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford, which will be released early next year via management company Three Ring Projects' innovative deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
"The sound is totally different than anything I've ever done before," says Everlast, who recorded his first solo album in 1988 with Ice-T before busting out a platinum album with the group House of Pain and its iconic 1992 hit, "Jump Around." "I think people are hungry for good music and I believe I made a really good album. All I can say is I feel good."
Masterminded by Three Ring Projects' Jeff Rabhan, the deal follows on the heels of a similar arrangement with American Idol star Elliott Yamin, whose self-titled debut debuted #3 on the Billboard 200, and is now over 350k in sales.
"This new model gives the artist significant input into the creative, marketing and promotion of his music," explains Rabhan. "The deal is structured as a partnership that allows Everlast to be involved as a creative partner in the album's financial success."
"I've been making albums long enough to know nothing is guaranteed," says Everlast. "But I've got a feeling in my bones that I don't get very often and I like it."
Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford was co-produced by Everlast with his longtime partner Keefus Ciancia, whose credits include T-Bone Burnett. It's the logical sequel to his 1998 solo breakthrough, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, an eclectic mix of rock, blues, country, pop and hip-hop, which cracked the Billboard Top 10 and sold more than 2 million on the strength of its crossover Top 40 hit, "What It's Like." The following year, Everlast's collaboration with rock legend Carlos Santana, "Put Your Lights On," earned him a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. His last two albums were the critically acclaimed Eat at Whitey's (2000) and White Trash Beautiful (2004). More recently, Everlast was recruited by Nancy Miller, creator and executive producer for the TNT series Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter, to create the theme song for the show.
"The second I heard his voice, I went crazy over it," she says. "He has such a sexy, interesting vocal. I fell in love with his music. His lyrics speak so much to the struggle of Grace-her pain, her heroic nature-that I immediately connected to them."
The experience was also a positive one for the singer/songwriter, who is now in discussion about scoring the show.
"I'd love to be Danny Elfman, sit in the studio all day," he says. "There's a lot less pressure than having to write lyrics and songs. And I'm such a fan of movies, to see what the music really does, before and after, is pretty cool."
With the album complete, though, Everlast is ready to hit the road. He has already undertaken some "mash-up" performances with Ciancia and Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs.
"I just want to go out and play to as many people as I can," he says. "That's what the album's for. I don't care if I sell a million records, but if I can get a million people to come out and see me, that's even better."