The intro to Lately began as an outro from an outtake of “Two of a Kind.” If you play “Intro” and “Two of a Kind” back-to-back you’ll hear the end of one take and the beginning of a new one. It was a lot of fun and summed up what we felt the record was about, so hope you enjoy it.

The chorus of this song fell onto the page one day while we were working on something else. It became more of a focus as we developed the song, and we went with an arrangement that was less conventional then anything we had done before. The double verse in the beginning never comes back. The B section before the chorus has lyrics, but the second time is instrumental. There are only two choruses. In most “singles” there can be as many as four or five. Anyway…we like it. Hope you do as well. —TW

I could never decide whether the chorus of this song should be different every time lyrically, more like what somebody like Bob Dylan would do. One of the alternates was “brand new shoes” instead of “three night stand.” I was late for dinner one night, because I was singing the chorus over and over to myself while I plugged my phone in, waiting for it to come on so I could call myself and leave a message singing the chorus, so i wouldn’t forget. —TW

“Stay” was one of my favorite songs to record in the studio. This was the first record I have ever played bass on, so it was a bit of a baptism by fire. Teddy had this funky 12 string guitar lying around so I started messing around with it. We had just watched a documentary on the music of Phillip Glass the night before, so we were feeling particularly inspired. Tim’s instructions were “make it sound like bursting bubbles.” I did about 20 takes until apparently it did. —ED

While we were on tour with NeedtoBreathe a little while ago, we hit a deer and our van broke down. They promised us they could have it fixed by the end of the day so we sent Tim ahead with the guys and Chip and I stayed back to wait for the van. It ended up taking 6 days to fix and thus we were stranded in a little town in California called Yreka.  While we were there we wrote and demoed a handful of songs to pass the time. One of them was called “Still Can’t Get Enough.” This is what the original demo  sounded like. —ED

“Win without me”...... I think that may be the most male lyric I’ve ever written. The things men and women need from each other are so different. But when you add them all up, they include just about everything, and there are a few things that both sides can agree on…... you would hope. —TW

Written during a thunderstorm in Nashville, on a beach chair just inside two open doors, while the rain came down. The chords in the chorus give me the same feeling the old HBO theme song did from the 80s. If you go to a movie in the summertime in Grant Park in New York City, they still play the theme song, and occasionally people standing up and dance to it. —TW

This is the only song I’ve ever written on the spot, without any edits. This one takes me to the beach, and it’s not a song that many bands would record these days, unfortunately. This one and “Tell me Your Name,” are the two that I’m most proud to have my name on. They are experimental, and they make me feel something. “Lollapalooza” asks the question, and “Tell me Your Name” demands the answer.
—TW

The lyrics were originally, “don’t let Columbus confuse you,” because it was written after a bittersweet night in that city. Chip misheard me and thought the lyrics were “the numbness.” Eric and Chip both liked that one better, so we went with it. It’s funny how some lyrics write themselves, and other lyrics rewrite themselves. I’m often disappointed when I think a lyric is one thing and it turns out to be another. Sometimes I like the lyric I thought it was, so much that I keep it for myself. —TW

When I first got out of college I saved up some money from teaching guitar lessons and bought a beautiful blonde Gibson 175 guitar. After a few years of being in a band I had to sell it. I was pretty bummed about it, but before I left my apartment I sat down with her one last time. This was her send off.  —ED

Many times in my life I’ve written songs about losing, prior to the loss. It’s as if your ideas prepare you for what hasn’t happened yet. My father died at 62, after a treacherous two year battle with stage 4 cancer. I wrote this song the summer before he died. I’ve never worked harder at choosing each word so carefully. —TW

Tim and I were in the middle of a pretty intense writing session and decided to separate to different rooms to work on new ideas. The plan was to meet back up an hour later to work on what we each started. I was pretty tired so I thought I’d lay down for 5 minutes before I began. An hour later Tim woke me up and asked what I came up with. Having absolutely nothing, I told Tim I would meet him in the studio in a minute and show him. The first thing I came up with was the verse and chorus to what would become Shame. He seemed to like it so we ran with it. Tim recorded it on his phone, I mumbled, Tim played drums. This was take 2. —ED

“Two of a Kind” is the first song that we started working on specifically for Lately. This is a version that we did with Chip at Alpine Red Studio. It also features Mike Stavitz on drums. This version will appear in the upcoming film 16-Love. —ED

This song is the reason we started writing another album. We parted ways with a record label and lost a valued member of the band in a very short time. There is no song in the Alternate Routes that is more of a true collaboration between myself and Eric. It began with an idea I had, spun by Eric, I modified the chorus, then changed my mind, Eric and i worked on the bridge together, and we liked it so much, all of the sudden we remembered why we had started. It’s a cool song because you don’t need to find any answers necessarily to continue asking the question, and looking for clues. I like that the chorus is a question and not an answer. —TW

I am glad the record ends with “Is It True.” It is a sentiment that I am proud of. Whenever you face adversity of any kind in life, it is easy to get lost. To forget who you are and what you stand for. It also amazes me how easy it is to fall into and emulate the very things very things that you are struggling against. For me, “Is It True” is simply the hope that good, whatever that means for you, is better than the alternative. —ED