Goodbye Girl Friday

Filled with smart, literate lyrics and engaging, well-crafted pop-rock tunes, Goodbye Girl Friday's new album, Silver and Gold, is a bit of a departure from the group's earlier, jazzier works (although in all fairness, the band's prior release, Mr. and Mrs., offered more than a hint of the new direction).

Led by songwriter-frontman David Sherman, Goodbye Girl Friday was born out of the ashes of an earlier group, called Edison With The Weather. In 2002 Goodbye Girl Friday released its debut album, Mr. and Mrs., which garnered strong critical praise and a fair amount of radio play, and earned them a variety of showcase opportunities at various music industry events, including SXSW.

Now the Brooklyn-based band  -- which also includes bassist Dan Grennes and drummer Andy Sanesi -- believes its new album, Silver and Gold, will serve as a springboard for even bigger things, including an ambitious tour, strong radio promotion and possibly even the attention of a label with strong distribution. Filled with piano-driven melodies, instrumentation that includes electric and pedal-steel guitar and sitar, and insightful, poignant lyrics that explore the various facets of the human condition, Silver and Gold stands as a testament to Sherman's maturation as a songwriter and the band's power to convey the song's melodic and emotional impact.

A few days prior to Goodbye Girl Friday's CD release party (NYC'sArlene's Grocery on May 21, 2004 at 9 p.m.) David Sherman spoke to StarPolish editorial director James K. Willcox about the new album, the evolution of the band's musical direction, and its plans for the immediate future.

STARPOLISH: You and bass player Dan Grennes met when you were both at Berklee in Boston. How did attending Berklee -- and that school's curriculum -- affect the music you're doing, particularly with the school's strong reputation for jazz?

SHERMAN: The jazz influence was definitely hard to escape, and it puts you into astrange, kind of non-commercial category of music when you combine jazz with rock or pop music.  That's why for a while people would say, "Hey, you guys sound like Steely Dan"! because that's pretty much the only band with those influences that broke through on a mainstream level.

STARPOLISH: You then moved to Nashville, which can be an extremely competitive music town. What was your experience there, and what made you decide to move to New York City?

SHERMAN: My lyric writing guru at Berklee was Pat Pattison (he also taught GillianWelch and John Mayer), and he does this great yearly trip taking the kids from the college down to Nashville. Dan and I went on the trip in '93, and it was totally booming down there.  Everyone was saying how they were going to make room for other styles of music, so we went for it.  It seemed like the place to go--very livable with big industry...kind of like an amazing grad school with a cheap price tag.  We moved down in '94 and worked at $8 an hour jobs; our rent was $200 a piece.  We hooked up with the Berklee contigent there, which at the time included Gillian and Dave Rawlings and Kami Lyle (formerly on MCA). We played the Bluebird Cafe quite a few times and found a weekly gig on 2nd Avenue. We came up with this obtuse name Edison with the Weather (derived from two songs in our usual set list). Since we had this jazz influence it was pretty easy for us to get noticed, but in the end, there was only so far we could go.  It's a country music town through and through.  A guy who was shopping our music said we had some interest from Arista and Blue Thumb in NYC, so we decided to use that as acatalyst to get out of town.

Goodbye Girl Friday

STARPOLISH: For a while the earlier iteration of the group, which was called Edison With the Weather, included Ben Butler, a hot Australian guitar player. Could you talk about his departure, and your subsequent decision to continue as a trio? Why did the band's name change to Goodbye Girl Friday? Could you also talk a bit about how not having a guitar player changed your writing and playing?

SHERMAN: Is he hot?? (laughing)  Yeah, Ben's a great player, and he was really helpful with the arrangements in our first EWTW CD, Off the Cuff.  We were definitely more in the jazz/rock/fusion category back then, and he was perfect for that sound.  One day he called and said he wasn't able to do the gig anymore.  It was pretty shocking at the time because I thought we were pretty close to getting some kind of record deal.  In the end I think it benefited me as a writer because I couldn't rely on him to carry the music through his amazing solos.  So we went from jam band/fusion band to singer/songwriter/pop-rock band. One day I brought in a bunch of new songs (which would be our first GGF album, Mr. and Mrs.), and we decided that the simple trio format with no fret buzz worked the best for these songs. We also thought we should change the band name and start fresh.  It created a lot of renewed energy. Goodbye Girl Friday is the combination of two band names from a list we had compiled:  Goodbye Blue Monday and My Girl Friday. To me the name means saying goodbye to a past era... combining the old with the new.

STARPOLISH: You opt for retro keyboards -- a '60s Wurlitzer, '50s organ.Many new keyboard-based digital workstations, such as the Triton Studio, have fairly decent vintage keyboard samples. Is there a big difference using the originals?

SHERMAN:  I am a piano player, so I like wires and hammers and key sensitivity.Basically, the Rhodes is a bit too heavy and the Wurli is lighter and has a punchier sound that's better for rock, in my opinion.  For the recording, I think it was more original to go with the electric vs. the acoustic. I did use real piano on two tunes for Silver or Gold ("Are You Serious" and "Silver or Gold"), but it's more for color than, "Hey, this is my axe!"  As far as simulators go, I like the imperfect beasts.  There is a big difference to me, especially in the mid-range, and the old ones go better with the music I write.

STARPOLISH:The new album, Silver or Gold, features additional instrumentation, such as electric and pedal steel guitars and sitars. As you embark on your tour, will your road band include a guitar player? Do you feel you have to be able to recreate the sound of the album when you play live?

SHERMAN: I think we'll incorporate the guitar with Chris Tarrow (the co-producer of the album) at local gigs, but go with the trio on the road. The additional instrumentation is more for ambience and color. Unfortunately, I can't always afford to pay for the extra players. 

STARPOLISH:You describe your upcoming tour as your most "ambitious" one todate. What does the tour entail? You are also promoting the album to radio -- how important is radio these days to the type of music you play?

SHERMAN: We're actually still planning our tour and it's contingent upon our radio promotion. We're doing our second AAA radio promotion with a great radio guy named Peter Hay. The thing about AAA is they take an interest in new indie artists--i.e. you don't have to be on a major to get some airplay. Since a lot of the program directors know us from our first release, we can build on those relationships, and they can help get us bookings in their cities. We did it sporadically last time around, but this time I'm hopingthere will be more opportunities to tour. For example, I'm currently setting up a CD release show at The Point in Philadelphia in July or August which will hopefully get us airplay on WXPN--a huge AAA station.   "Ambitious" means we aspire to develop a larger than regional following outside of New York City through promoting Silver or Gold.

STARPOLISH: Your earlier albums were frequently described as "jazz-rock," but itseems that the new album could better be described as "pop-rock." Do you agree, and has there been a noticeable shift in the songwriting?

SHERMAN: Yes, I've definitely made a conscious decision to cut out a lot of the jazzchords and odd meters. I'm focused more on melody now, and the melodic phrasing I use could be considered jazzy but no more so than Chris Martin's or Thom Yorke's phrasing.

STARPOLISH: Given the current state of the music industry, do you feel there's amainstream market for smart, literate pop-rock? What are your expectations for the album?

SHERMAN: I'm just going to get it out there as best I can and hopefully, there willbe a place for it. As an indie artist, I think it's essential to have a publicist and promoter who believe in you and are as driven as you are to get the project to the next level.

Goodbye Girl Friday

STARPOLISH: You are self-releasing Silver or Gold -- how do you view workingwith independent and major labels?

SHERMAN: I would only want to work with an independent label with major distribution at this point.  If you want to sell albums you have to be affiliated with a major distributor to be effective, because they get the best visibility in the record stores world-wide. If I can get something going strong regionally, I think I could either get a label for some support or get investors to start my own and hook up with a major distributor.

STARPOLISH: How important is the Internet to what you're doing?

SHERMAN:It's the only way right now to get our albums around the world, so it's essential.  We are also considering working with Internet gig and event promoters that have subscribers who want to know about up-and-coming bands and shows. Of course, the Internet creates many interesting opportunities and options for indie bands.  The key is trying to make it work with your budget and staying away from those evil plastic cards.