Bleu's Page

- Bleu - How is a perfect pop song born? Paul McCartney channeled melodies in his dreams. Paul Simon hammered out rhythms with a tennis ball. And Los Angeles-based pop music maestro Bleu first made up songs to lull himself to sleep as a child. The eight-year-old Bleu couldn’t play an instrument yet, so his early pop nuggets were pure melody. Literally. Even now that he’s an accomplished musician and writer, Bleu has never strayed far from the idea that the right melody can make a song. And he’s gone on to create lush, larger-than-life soundscapes as a songwriter, musician, and producer, no matter the budget or equipment.

Bleu has showed off his knack for melodious, soul-infused power pop since he emerged on the Boston music scene in 1999. While living in Boston, Bleu released a holiday benefit record, “A Bing Bang Holidang,” his self-produced debut, “Headroom,” and his 2003 Columbia/Aware Records debut “Redhead,” which landed on many year-end “Best Of” lists, such as NPR’s top 10 albums of the year. During the making of “Redhead,” Bleu had his first introduction to one of his musical heroes, Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish. The two collaborated and worked on multiple tracks for the record, including a co-write on the featured track “Could Be Worse.”

As much as Bleu is known for his own genre-jumping sound and inspired delivery, he is also renowned for his jack-of-all-trades approach to music and inspired collaborations with other artists. His longtime love of E.L.O. led to the 2006 release, “Alpacas Orgling,” by his side project L.E.O. This brought Bleu and Andy Sturmer back together on “Goodbye Innocence,” for which Sturmer delivered his first lead vocal performance since his days with Jellyfish. L.E.O. also found Bleu working with east-coast friends Mike Viola and Tony Goddess (Papas Fritas), as well as Steve Gorman (The Black Crowes), Jason Scheff (Chicago), Hanson, and others, to make an album of original songs that pays tribute to the legacy of Jeff Lynne.

Among Bleu’s many collaborations are his current band, The Major Labels, featuring Mike Viola and Boston engineer/producer Ducky Carlisle, and his hair metal-tinged rock outfit, LoudLion, featuring Taylor Locke from Rooney and Allison Robertson of The Donnas, among others. Both bands will release their debut CDs in 2009.

It will be a busy year for Bleu, as he is releasing his third solo album, “A Watched Pot,” on Artist Garage through Fontana Distribution in July. This release features his strongest solo material to-date, showcasing his true sense and purpose as a musician and performer. “A Watched Pot” features multiple tracks recorded by other artists for their own albums, including Hanson’s “Go,” and Evan Taubenfeld’s version of “Boy Meets Girl.” The songs on this record find Bleu approaching love and loss with his signature humor, heart and melodic deftness.

This year will also find Bleu playing his first tour dates in Australia, touring the east and west coasts in support of his solo release, and racking up cuts as a songwriter with known and developing artists, including Evan Taubenfeld (Warner), Ace Enders and A Million Different People (Vagrant), Kate Voegele (Universal), Selena Gomez (Disney), Chris Mann (SONY).

As a live performer, Bleu’s kinetic, soul revival-styled shows have led him to tour and share stages with the likes of John Mayer, Ryan Adams, Switchfoot, Howie Day, Rooney, Mike Viola and Puffy AmiYumi. He regularly tours major cities including Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Nashville and has hopped the Pacific to play Japan multiple times. Bleu aims to entertain his audience, and then some, when he’s holding down a stage with 30 backing singers in his volunteer Get Up Choir, or performing his intimate duo or solo shows.

But for Bleu, whether he’s wowing his fans in clubs across the country, or helping other artists to sound their best, not much has changed since he was that eight-year-old child singing himself to sleep at night; a good song -- with a great melody -- is still the key to everything.