Pete Yorn telling stories on new album

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Singer-songwriter

Due August 15 via Columbia Records, "Nightcrawler" is the follow-up to his 2003 sophomore album, "Day I Forgot." His debut, "Musicforthemorningafter," was released in 2001.

"This way I've covered morning, day and night. It's like an end of an era," Yorn told Billboard.com. "It's a storytelling record with a lot of characters, people that are around me. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, of course."

The 31-year-old New Jersey native recruited several producers for the album, including industry veteran Michael Beinhorn, Butch Walker and Don Fleming.

Foo Fighters principal Dave Grohl contributes drums on "For Us," while the Dixie Chicks aided on "The Man" and "It Don't Mean Nothin'." Yorn can also be heard guesting on the Chicks' new album, "Taking the Long Way."

And while it has been three years since his last album and his last national tour, Yorn says it's important to take his time with each release.

"Every time I put something out, I need time to re-group," he says. "Every song I write has its own life and term of development. I'm not the type of writer to set aside certain hours each day to write. It just takes time to come."

Yorn will be previewing new material on the road beginning June 22 at Soho in Santa Barbara, Calif. The acoustic tour, dubbed "You and Me," will be a primarily solo affair, though Yorn intimates there may be some special guests "waiting in the wings" if he chooses to have them "help out" on some songs.

"Before I got signed, I used to play only by myself living in L.A.," he says. "This is a way to get back to my roots. I want to be a surprise, but the real fans will recognize who they are."

Yorn will be selling a six-song EP, "Western," exclusively at the shows, though he may release it more widely at some point in the future.

"I've been in this lonesome cowboy phase for a while," he reports. "I've been really inspired by guys like Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. has a twang to it and is a real departure for me 'Nightcrawler' is most definitely the rock record."

Reuters/Billboard

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