On his debut full-length pop album, "Underage Thinking" (Cred/Columbia), out March 21, Geiger sings, plays guitar, piano, bass and drums. He wrote or co-wrote 11 of its 12 tracks.

It was Geiger's appearance on the VH1 reality show "In Search of the New Partridge Family" that led him to producer/songwriter Billy Mann, who signed Geiger to his Cred imprint and brought him to Columbia.

Geiger also had a recurring role on the now-canceled CBS show "Love Monkey," for which his first album single, "For You I Will (Confidence)," served as the theme song.

During the past year and a half, Geiger also has been busy with an opening-act stint on Hilary Duff's Still Most Wanted arena tour and supporting gigs for artists including Gavin DeGraw, Jesse McCartney, Kelly Clarkson and the Click 5.

All this, and he still wants to expand his career.

"Half of the reason I'm in music is performing and writing songs, but I'm also into the recording side. I totally want to produce," Geiger says. "I am also open to doing more acting."

"With Teddy, it's only a matter of when with every facet of his career," Mann says.

EARLY START

When Geiger started to record his first album, he already had years of experience behind him. He was writing and arranging his first tunes on guitar and piano by the time he was 8, and he began performing at teen venues in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y., by high school.

The songs on "Underage Thinking" are inspired by issues about life and romance with which all adolescents grapple.

"Most of the songs on the album I wrote recently, though there are some that are very old," Geiger says. " 'Try Too Hard' I wrote when I was 10 or 11. All different things inspired these songs. I also had a relationship with a girl for a while, and that gave me a couple of songs."

The album blends an obvious pop sensibility with melodic arrangements and strong guitar hooks.

"'Gentleman' is probably my favorite song, partly because it was toward the end of making the album," Geiger says. "At the beginning, I let the guys just work, and I saw what they came up with for the arrangements. As time went on, I would say, 'Let's try this or that.' The more I was involved, the more my sound got into the music."

First single "For You I Will (Confidence)" is No. 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 33 on the Pop 100.

The track has streamed 364,000 times at AOL through March 5, according to data provided by the company.

In January, Geiger was chosen as one of AOL's "Breakers," a quarterly program that highlights new artists, and he has been prominently featured on AOL's welcome page and on its teen Web pages.

During the week of the album's release, Geiger will play his hometown and will appear on "TRL," "CBS Saturday Morning" and "Late Show With David Letterman." In addition, he will be featured as the sole spokesman for Levi's new iPod-wired jeans fall campaign.

Geiger already is looking ahead despite his full calendar, which is expected to include a slate of all-ages concerts throughout spring.

"I've written about 30 songs since we finished the album," Geiger says. "I promised myself I wouldn't start thinking about the second album, but on March 21, I start thinking about it."

Reuters/Billboard

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