Jason Falkner, Dan Wilson, the Replacements, Soul Asylum, Beatles, Mike Viola, Fountains of Wayne, Beach Boys, Lisa Loeb, Roger Joseph Manning Jr., Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann, Bleu, Michael Penn, XTC, Jellyfish, all sorts of classical music--Bach, Brahms, Schoenberg, and Carter being some of my favorites--Miles Davis, Jim Hall, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, among many, many others.
Sounds Like
It is difficult for me to say with any objectivity, but others have compared my music to Matthew Sweet, Elvis Costello, and Jason Falkner. Send me a message if you have any other opinions about this
New York based singer/songwriter Jeff Litman has taken a long, learned route back to the basics. Born in Minneapolis, he was a serious guitarist by age ten -- quickly mastering the Bon Jovi and Motley Crue songbooks, then in later years, the Metallica, Guns’n’Roses, and Nirvana repertoires. By high school, he had turned his attention toward the melody-driven pop of Jellyfish, the Jayhawks, Elvis Costello and Jason Falkner. His tendency to musical immersion led him to Indiana University’s renowned jazz program, from which he graduated in 2002. There, coursework and his own curiosity steered him to classical giants from Bach to Schoenberg, along with contemporary composers like Elliot Carter and Pierre Boulez. He became a classical guitarist.
In 2004, he began study at the Manhattan School of Music and graduated two years later with a master’s in classical guitar performance. By the time he entered doctoral study at the City University of New York in 2007, Litman was well on his way to a life in classical music. But the sounds and loves of his youth proved too seductive and, after a bit of musical soul searching, he remembered why he took up guitar in the first place: he wanted to rock.
After reaching that conclusion, Litman dropped out of graduate school and began feverishly writing and recording songs for his debut album, both at his home studio in New York and with producer/engineer Andy Thompson in Minneapolis. The result is Postscript, a sophisticated collection of indie-pop gems that vividly document the aftermath of a failed relationship. Drawing on his diverse musical background and personal experiences, Litman writes songs with infectious melodies, unique harmonies, rich arrangements, and deeply affecting lyrics. While Litman played most of the instruments on the album, he is joined by a few talented friends —including singer Kelly Jones, trumpeter Diego Merino, flutist Meghan Miller, and cellist Emily Dufour— who help bring the fullness of his arrangements to life.
Postscript is now available at online retailers including CDBaby, Itunes, and emusic.
we heard you rocked ipo....love your writing and sound...our debut cd will be released early 2010...hope you like what you hear....lotsa loud my friends!!...
Great hanging with you as well, got a listen to the 30 sec snippets of your songs on itunes!.. gotta listen more as well. Sounds great though, talk next week.
Thanks for the kind words. I must say I very much like your songs (particularly the upbeat ones like Maine and Anna) and the arrangements are clever. Don't worry who you might sound like. You sound like Jeff Litman.
Come back to Hawaii soon. We've got your interview up as a podcast for those who didn't get a chance to hear it a few months back. It can be played from the embedded player on the website itself or downloaded as a podcast from the link above the player. It's about ten stories down on the front page of the website. Here's the web address:
Hey Jeff! I really like the song "Maine"... good stuff. You should definitely try to make it to our Trash Bar show. I'm trying to drag Meghan and Derek out for it too... I think it can happen with a little persuasion.
I actually just went and saw Metallica. Had floor tickets and made it all the way to the front...Down played too. What can I say? I'm a sucker for Phil. Got a guitar pick from Kirk. And a big smile from Lars.
Yo! Next thursday night is the Rockwood show with Zipf. 6pm. We need to be there by 5:30pm to load in. How is your Tues. looking for a practice? Also, If your up for doing a three nighter I would like to get the whole band for the 15th show in Jersey...what do you say?
