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Canon in D
What A Long Year It Was from Gregory Douglass' new holiday EP "Merry"

In June 2011, Gregory Douglass will release his eighth full-length studio album entitled LUCID. Two years after the sweeping acclaim of his last album, BATTLER -- an album conceived during a brooding winter of the HBO Series Six Feet Under and an ample amount of red wine -- Douglass will unleash LUCID, a concept album written with imaginative purpose and explicit vision. LUCID is a journey through the intense, often disturbing, dreams of Gregory Douglass. A devout fan of dream interpretation, Douglass was intent on setting his dreams to music: “‘Lucid’ is the first song I wrote about my dreams, which then quickly inspired a slew of additional dream-themed songs. It became a perfect opportunity to realize my longtime wish to create a concept album. In my personal experiences, dreams have been a vital part of self-awareness, so I essentially wanted to set ‘a night in the dreams of Gregory Douglass’ to music.”

After collaborating with Righteous Babe Record artist Anais Mitchell and soul diva Grace Potter on his last album, Douglass set out on a solo mission with LUCID: to master Ableton Live, a software program that helps to bring the richly layered, electronic sounds of artists like Imogen Heap and Death Cab For Cutie to life. Douglass's evocative, alternative sound has long been compared to a spectrum of artists from Jeff Buckley to Tori Amos to Stevie Wonder. Now, with LUCID, he will join the ranks of esteemed artists like Florence + the Machine and David Gray who mesh compelling pop songwriting with electronic conviction.

Gregory's thoughts on Merry released November 2009:
"It's a bit out of character for me to pursue a holiday EP as I'm not a particularly religious person but these are songs that I fall in love with again this time every year... I like to call it a "holiday collection for the rest of us" as I'm always personally looking for moody music as an alternative to the same old "Jingle Bells"... I made sure to approach things in true Gregory Douglass fashion – as haunting and depressing as can be. I thought "Merry" would be a suitable title since it's essentially as merry as I get musically. Four of the five songs are covers but there is one original song called "What A Long Year It Was," which is the happiest of them all – go figure : )"

1. Last Christmas (Originally by Wham!)
2. What A Long Year It Was (Gregory Douglass Original)
3. Walking In The Air (Originally from "The Snow Man")
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Traditional)
5. O Holy Night (Traditional)

What Gregory had to say regarding Battler:

"It’s been three long years of anything new in the studio and I have been taking my time intentionally. I’ve invested about 10 years at this point of following the Ani DiFranco DIY-method â€“ releasing one independent album after another and constantly touring the country to remind people that you’re still there doing your thing. I’ve found that some people have had a hard time keeping up and frankly, I wanted to give people a chance to miss me a little ; ) Meanwhile, I wanted to try giving myself significantly more lead-time in preparing for the next big album release so I finished recording the entire album six months before it’s release date."

"After a disappointing fall tour in late-2007, I drew myself in for a long, dark Vermont winter and had a love affair with red wine and the HBO series “Six Feet Under,” which resulted in all of the songs on “Battler.” 10 years in the music industry can wear on a person a bit so I also was due for some much needed downtime in 2008. I did as little touring as I could get away with and focused heavily on the album along side my long-time friend, fellow singer/songwriter and producer of the album, Syd. I received a tremendous amount of financial support from friends and fans for this album, allowing me to bring more promotional prospects to the table like Press Here Publicity in NYC, Ariel Cyber PR in NYC and Bluebird Radio Promotions."

"I invited a few famous, fellow-Vermonters to sing with me on a few songs, like Grace Potter (Grace Potter & The Nocturnals/ Hollywood Records) on “Ordinary Man” and Anais Mitchell (Righteous Babe Records) on “Sadly.” I also took a giant leap into gay controversy with the song “Cathedrals” and it’s supporting music video portraying a closeted Priest (that’s me) and his sexual addiction. The video also features my booking agent and partner in life, Glen Nadeau, as the guy I make out with in a dark alley… Sorry mom!!"

BATTLER TRACK LISTING:

1. Broken Through
2. Cathedrals
3. Devotion
4. Day Of The Battler
5. No Apology
6. Stay
7. Madeline
8. Sadly
9. This Is My Life
10. Lifeline
11. Harlequin
12. Ordinary Man

ALBUM CREDITS:

All songs written by Gregory Douglass
Produced by Syd with Gregory Douglass
Recorded & engineered by Syd & Gregory Douglass
at Emote Records, Burlington, VT
Recorded, engineered & mixed by Lane Gibson Sr
at Charles Eller Studios, Charlotte, VT
Mastered by Jonathan Wyner at
M works, Boston, MA
Design by Syd & Gregory Douglass
Photography by Michael Heeney, Burlington, VT
& Alex Rumsey, Chicago, IL
Â© 2009 Emote Man Music, BMI
All Rights Reserved

Thanks to the support of Syd, Dylan Allen, Matt Bogdanow, Monique Citro,
Robin Chambers, Anna Patton, Anais Mitchell, Grace Potter, Lisa Piccirillo,
Glory Reinstein, Allison Davis, Glen Nadeau, Sean Akers, Mary Haverstick,
Michelle Mercure, Perry Turcott & LOGO TV, Wallyâ€™s World of Entertainment,
Gwendolyn Douglass, Paul Douglass, Buck McKinney, Stephen Schulman & SASI PR, Rick Beers, Patty Spare, Rose Lucas and Jody Petersen for their friendship, love & inspiration. Thanks to all the street team members, independent artists & friends, promoters & venues and fans; you are my survival! Special thanks to A9 Studios, Charles Eller Studios, M Works Studios, Michael Heeney, Alex Rumsey & Syd for their contributions to this album.