“Songs, songs, songs, songs.”

That was Mike Gordon’s mantra as he worked on The Green Sparrow, the former Phish bassist’s vibrant new solo album. Its ten songs are succinct and accessible, but they’re also the unmistakable creations of Gordon’s playfully idiosyncratic musical mind.

A rewarding year and a half of work went into The Green Sparrow. Gordon’s creative journey found him delving deeply into songwriting, trying his hand at keyboards and other instruments, and experimenting with different programming and production techniques. His efforts yielded a bumper crop of songs. He winnowed down sixty of them to seventeen contenders for inclusion on The Green Sparrow. In economical, Weezer-like fashion, he kept cutting until he had ten that sounded like they were born to be together. “One of my goals was to have an up-sounding bunch of music,” Gordon says. “I wanted the music to be sophisticated yet accessible. I also wanted the lyrics to be personally meaningful, to make sure I was getting out what was in my heart.”

The end result is an eclectic album boasting Gordon’s skillful assimilation of free-form rock & roll, calypso, pop and funk that showcases a unexpected side to Gordon’s songwriting.

Gordon's backing band includes longtime collaborator Scott Murawski on guitar, Vermonters Craig Myers on percussion and Tom Cleary on keyboards, and Brooklyn drummer Todd Isler.