Keep an ear out for Greg Summerlin

Greg Summerlin’s All Done In Good Time is this fall’s answer to The Who’s rock opera, Tommy.

“Wherever his influences call home, there's no denying the appeal of sunny, upbeat, and beguiling pop tunes which are guaranteed to stay in your head for days.” – The Big Takeover

“What this record will do is grow to become the sleeper hit of the year.” – Earfood.net

Two years after releasing the heralded The Young Meteors, Greg Summerlin is once again behind the microphone for his most epic and poignant album to date, All Done In Good Time: The Life and Times of Polly Shields. Leaving behind the warm Alabama fall, Summerlin joined producer Ed Ackerson (The Replacements, Golden Smog, Brian Setzer, Juliana Hatfield) in a cozy Minneapolis studio. Together, with grandiose Who-like execution, Summerlin and Ackerson triumphed in delivering a sincere album with songs to hook you into a sing along or embrace you in an epic tale. Unafraid to wrestle with his own inspirations, Summerlin uses personal tragedy and triumph to unite four characters in a fluid album that plays like a 50-minute symphonic melodrama incorporating philosophy, theology, the meaning of life, and rock and roll.

Although Summerlin has always been a huge fan of The Who, that interest was rekindled when he read the Keith Moon biography ”Moon” by Tony Fletcher. He then bought the remixed and remastered CD of Tommy and became somewhat obsessed with the record and with The Who as a band. Summerlin’s amazement at the genius behind Tommy, and the enormity of the record’s concept, continues today. Musically speaking, however, the influences on Summerlin’s latest effort are much more diverse, and include what Summerlin cheekily calls “classic alternative,” like New Order.

About the time Summerlin was immersing himself in Tommy, he woke up in the middle of the night one evening and started writing the All Done In Good Time track “Please Don't Tell” and thinking about making a record with a storyline centered on a frustrated, disillusioned girl who rebels against her father. Although Summerlin had already written several songs that appear on the record, he retooled some of the lyrics to fit this storyline and started writing the rest of the album which now centers around four main characters: “Polly“ (the name taken from Keith Moon's daughter), “Mr. Shields”, “Johnny” and “Timmy.” Summerlin wrote more than 24 songs for All Done In Good Time, and eventually settled on the fourteen which make up the heart of the tale and appear on the finished record.

More about Greg Summerlin:
After leaving the groundbreaking alt-country band, The Quinsonics and their loyal fan base in the late 90's, Greg Summerlin has steadily developed his own following across the country and worldwide. Helping to raise Summerlin's profile was Paste Magazine, which selected Summerlin's last record for the “Paste Recommends” program. Summerlin's first two records have also been licensed for use by MTV and A&E programming. Mixing business with pleasure, Summerlin is also the founder and owner of Superphonic Records which has quickly become one of the leading indie labels in the Southeast. In 2007, Summerlin will help see the release of several highly anticipated albums including those of AA Bondy (Verbena), Louis Schefano (Regia / Remy Zero) and John P. Strohm (The Lemonheads, Blake Babies.)

More about the story at the heart of All Done In Good Time:
Mr. Shields is a single father raising Polly. Polly’s mother leaves the family for unstated reasons (“Shine On Where You Want”). Mr. Shields is overbearing and controlling for fear of Polly being corrupted by the world, and instead of protecting her, he ends up driving her away (“Just Listen Tonight”, “This Darkened World”.) Polly becomes bitter and rejects her father and his beliefs. We then meet Timmy, who enters the scene and falls in love with Polly (“Atmosphere”.) Simultaneously, Polly’s good friend Johnny develops feelings for Polly that he can’t bring himself to confess. Johnny thinks Timmy is a bad guy and wants to warn Polly but never does (“He's A Faker”). Polly eventually has a baby by Timmy, who eventually leaves her and the child (“Please Don't Tell”, “It's My Life”.) Polly becomes more depressed and bitter (“A New Birth”, “Plastic Roses”.) Then God comes into Polly’s life to make her aware that He sees everything that has happened (“The Paintaker”.) At this time, Johnny reappears and reestablishes a friendship with Polly (“Unlucky In Love”). Polly then begins to work at coming to terms with everything that has happened to her, and trying to understand it all, all while dealing with the situation with Johnny (“Redemption”.) Summerlin purposely don't have a tidy, clean ending to the story, but the essence of the album’s closing track (“The Final Plan”) is that both Mr. Shields and Polly have made mistakes that they hope to learn from, and that God is in control.

All Done In Good Time Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 2, 2007

01. A Warning
02. Shine On Where You Want
03. Redemption
04. This Darkened World
05. Unlucky in Love (MP3)
06. Just Listen Tonight
07. Please Don't Tell
08. A New Birth
09. The Paintaker
10. Atmosphere
11. He's a Faker
12. Plastic Roses
13. It's My Life
14. The Final Plan

On The Web:
www.gregsummerlin.com
www.myspace.com/gregsummerlin
www.superphonicrecords.com
www.myspace.com/superphonicrecords
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/greg_all.html