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After two years of soul searching and honing his craft, Cameron has just self-released Cameron Meshell, his much anticipated debut solo CD and first official recording since the disbanding of his former group, Forever Like Red. Cameron Meshell is a sonically vibrant effort featuring nine new, original songs from a “phenomenally talented” vocalist/songwriter whose music has been said to “give you goose bumps and stick in your head for hours.” Cameron took the complete DIY approach to recording his first solo album: not only singing and playing all of the instruments on each track himself, but also engineering and producing the CD with no outside help. “When my previous band was finished,” Cameron offers, “I said, ‘I think I can do better on my own. I want to go back to where I first started, which was writing singer/songwriter pop songs.” Cameron Meshell embodies the sound of the artist finding his way back to himself.

A native of Shreveport, LA, Cameron Meshell is a naturally gifted musician who plays multiple instruments at a professional level, first taking up the drum kit at age nine. “That’s when I really discovered music,” Cameron recalls fondly. “I grew up with a metal head older brother who was a drummer, so I learned to play drums and then moved on to the guitar, bass and piano.” As a teenager, Cameron also developed a deep love for the music of the British rock band Queen, including an admiration for its iconic lead vocalist. “I didn’t start singing until I was about seventeen,” he admits, “but I knew when I first heard Queen that I wanted to sing like Freddie Mercury. It’s completely random that I would be able to cultivate that ability, but early on, playing music and singing was something I loved to do. I graduated from high school and attended college briefly; but music really was my education. As a career, I didn’t want to do anything else.”

In 2003, Cameron moved from Shreveport to Los Angeles, California. There, through a series of fortunate “right place, right time” events, he signed a publishing deal with Chrysalis Music Group. At the time, Chrysalis was one of the few publishers committed to actually developing artists, which afforded Cameron the opportunity to record an album of his original songs. Entering the studio with producer Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Sunny Day Real Estate) and a group of hired musicians, Cameron faced a creative crossroads. “I wanted to rock, but I also wanted integrity as a singer/songwriter. When we went in to record the album it was still being promoted as ‘Cameron Meshell,’ but I wanted to be something a little different. I convinced myself that the album needed to be recorded within the framework of a band.” Christened Forever Like Red, after the title of one of Cameron’s songs, the group signed to Chrysalis’ UK imprint, Echo, and relocated to London.

Forever Like Red’s only CD, Distance, was released in 2007. Distance garnered significant positive press – including a Four Star review in London’s Sunday Times. The track “Dream On” was featured on the popular UK television drama, Hollyoaks, and a year of touring the UK and Europe earned the band a solid following of devoted fans. But ultimately, the album failed to meet the sales figures that a record label equates with commercial success. Cameron disbanded Forever Like Red and, wiser for the experience and undeterred, he returned to the States, settling again in his hometown to truly follow his heart’s musical path.

It may have been a few years in the making, but the completion and release of Cameron Meshell already feels like a career benchmark for this young artist. Permeating every track of this ambitious CD is Meshell’s endlessly expressive, soulful voice that’s so favorably comparable with his two primary artistic influences, Jeff Buckley and Freddie Mercury. From the upbeat, pop love ballad “Beautiful Girl” to the blues-tinged “Sunlight to The Rain” and the bittersweet violin accents layered through “You Only Needed Some Time,” Cameron Meshell will satisfy any music fan’s craving for memorable, hook-laden melodies. Asked to name a favorite track, Cameron cites “Lullaby,” a song he wrote spontaneously during a live performance years ago. “Before people knew my songs,” Cameron explains, “I would sometimes just feel inspired to make stuff up while performing, and that would become a song. That’s how ‘Lullaby’ happened. The lyrics make absolutely no sense, but I know what I'm talking about with each lyric and line in the song. If you heard me play that song live seven years ago, or five years ago, I sing the same words that just came out as I first performed that song. I even recorded it live for the CD.” Another song that was waiting to be discovered by the right audience is the single-worthy “Make Me Believe” – highlighted by Cameron’s mellifluous vocals and an adhesive, descending-note melody – which was remixed by Cameron from a recording leftover from the Brad Wood sessions. “‘Make Me Believe’ was the only song from that time that people hadn’t heard,” he explains. “I’m really happy that the song found a home on this album.”

As the record came together, Cameron also found great satisfaction in the recording process itself. “It takes time,” he offers. “Recording is an art with many variables. I put on Engineer Ears and then Songwriter Ears, and used them at the same time, listening to all of these different sounds and hoping I was getting it right. I didn’t think it would be like this; where I'm forced to do this album on my own,” he laughs. “But it’s what I love to do, and I knew that I needed to put a record out and start touring.”

With Cameron Meshell out on iTunes as of late November, Cameron is only looking ahead. “I haven’t done it like this before,” he says. “It’s important to take what I've learned from doing this for so long, and to actually put it into play. I’ll be booking tours in the New Year and playing whatever shows I can to get my music out to people and build up a following,” he concludes. “I’m just really excited about what the future holds.”