Dave Coffin

Maine native and Boston based singer/songwriter, Dave Coffin, is all heart and soul. See him live, and you'll understand.

But after you do, it may come as a surprise that he started his music career as the lead singer for a hardcore group. "I definitely didn't know how to sing back then, and as I taught myself how to breathe and how to control my tone, the abrasive nature of that music started to appeal less to me." These days, Dave's music is mellow, but if you listen hard enough you can still hear those harder roots in the emotional quality of the meaning behind his songs, and the heartfelt performance.

For the past year, Dave has been working around the clock on a collection of 11 songs, soon to be released on a brand new album. "I decided to title the album after the song 'The King Is Dead.' It seems to resonate pretty strongly with my fans, and it's a great album closer." At live shows, Dave says the song is about the French Revolution, but it's eerily adaptable to modern day social issues.

The album has transformed from songs Dave wrote primarily in his basement on his Taylor guitar, to a perfect representation of his vision for them. "The album came out better than I could have imagined. The contributions made from my band and all the guests on the album are amazing and really make it the album that it is." Band mates Chuck Anastasiou, Kevin O'Brien, and Dave Jamrog all contributed on a huge scale to the project. Guests such as Al Kooper (former organ player for Bob Dylan), Ryan Zoidis (sax player for Soulive), and Duke Levine (renowned Boston-based guitarist) weighed in on the songs, and their value is obvious. Other guests include Jason Crigler, Pat McCann, Jane Park, Jeff Louie and orchestra arranging by Kerry Muzzey.

The scope of a project like this would imply big money, but the album was executed on a ridiculously low budget. "It's gotta be one of the most inexpensively created albums ever. 11 totally produced songs for under $5000...I can't even believe I pulled it off."

"The King Is Dead" will be released in the spring of 2010. Visit davecoffin.com for more info on the album, show dates, and more.