Get stoked for Stone

Last year was chaotic for Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard. Despite releasing the band's sixth studio album, Binaural, followed by a hugely successful world tour, the tragic events at June's Roskilde festival in Denmark -- resulting in the death of nine people during Pearl Jam's set -- cast a dark shadow on the year for Gossard.\nBut by his account, 2001 hasn't treated him much better. On Sept. 11, Gossard released his first solo album, the highly anticipated Bayleaf. Gossard says it was "exciting to make a record and to have people that I know respond to it and say, 'I really like your record. You made a good record.'" On the other hand, "the world is in total chaos right now," a viewpoint that has tainted his recent success.\nThe album began as demos recorded in 1997, following a South Pacific tour with his other side project, Brad. The demo, which would feature the track "Bayleaf," also contained two future Pearl Jam songs: "Of the Girl" and "Thin Air," which appear on 2000's Binaural. The success of those two songs gave Gossard much needed encouragement to make the record. \n"Having Ed (Vedder, Pearl Jam's singer) go, 'wow, this stuff is good, I want to sing these' made me feel like I could do this," Gossard says.\nBut the process wasn't that easy. For Gossard, a person who has concentrated his long career on writing music -- not lyrics -- the transition into being a songwriter was a difficult one. He says his friends and fellow band mates played a pivotal role in his development. \n"Being exposed to other people's song writing: Eddie, Andy Wood (Mother Love Bone), Jeff (Ament, Pearl Jam's bassist), Shawn Smith (Brad), Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and seeing how these people write, definitely influenced me," Gossard says. "Especially Neil Young and the stuff we did together." \nThat influence isn't lost on his fans, either. Senior John Kurzawinski says he has noted the development of Gossard's music. \n"I think he's progressed as a musician in terms of his confidence," Kurzawinski says. "He's demonstrating more and more over the past few years his ability to write thoughtful and deep lyrics."\nAfter a 1999 recording session with Ty Williams of the Temptations and reviewing material from the 1997 demo, Gossard sent the best of the material to fellow friend and musician Pete Droge for input. Droge, blown away by the material, helped Gossard to put the finishing touches on the record, which was the encouragement Gossard needed to go ahead and take the necessary steps to put his solo album in motion. For his part, Droge wound up producing the record.\nThe biggest obstacle Gossard faced was finding distribution for the record. \n"I didn't think Epic was going to put this record out," Gossard contends. "But for me, I wanted to make it available. They had the rights, though, and fortunately they wanted to put it out." \nFor the first single, Epic chose "Unhand Me," a song featuring Ty Williams on vocals, and not Gossard. While some artists might have been insulted by this move, Gossard was not. For him, it was more about the record being released than who sang on its first single. \n"Ty sings the song way better than me," Gossard admits. "The radio department said it was the best song to put out, and I was like, 'Okay.'" \nThe irony of "Unhand Me" being the first single was not lost on Gossard either. \n"I was letting go of control, like the lyrics of the song," he says. "It started with me singing the song first, then Ty redid the vocals. It was great, and I was like, 'OK, it works.'" \nBayleaf is a stark contrast to Stone Gossard's typical music. Gone are the often-found heavy riffs and easy flowing guitar solos. The album features a lot of ballads, something uncommon on Pearl Jam records. \n"If we make a Pearl Jam record, I'll be responsible for three or four songs," Gossard explains. "There are a lot of songs out there that don't fit Pearl Jam, because we make room for everyone. The intimate ones aren't right for Pearl Jam." \nAs a result of his control and creativity, Gossard's album feels more intimate than other Pearl Jam records. Being as involved as he was in the project, the album, for Gossard, "has an imprint stronger than anything I've done in a while." \nJunior Justin Tucker says he noticed Gossard's prominent influence on the Bayleaf album. \n"With the past few Pearl Jam records, the band's leadership has shifted more towards Eddie and away from Stone," Tucker says. "Really not since VS has Stone had such control and input over an album."\nWhile there are no current plans to tour, the possibility has yet to be completely ruled out. Gossard feels that "the timing will eventually come. If people are excited and the album sells, then I'll go out." \nBut he doesn't want the expectations of having to prove himself a constant to weigh upon him. Combined with his inabilities to, as he says, "make a show work as a singer," a tour is unlikely until more free time becomes available to him.\nDespite the success of Bayleaf, Gossard isn't about to turn his back on his other musical projects. Brad, a band he began in 1992 with Shawn Smith and Regan Hagar, is nearly finished with its currently untitled third album, and a search for a label to distribute it will begin in late 2001 or early 2002. As for Pearl Jam, the band performed at Young's annual Bridge School Benefit Concert Oct. 20 and 21 at Shoreline Ampitheater in California, as well as at the weeklong Groundwork 2001 benefit series in Seattle. Following that, plans are to reconvene in early 2002 to begin work on a possible new album.