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The title song on Benmont Tench's new album, The Melancholy Season - his second solo record after four decades at the keyboards in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - began as a poem, inspired by the autumn chill of a Southern California evening under the constellation Orion.

"We put a lot of thought into this record," Tench says, but he gratefully credits the help that came along the way. Jackson Browne "was really gracious with his studio," Groove Masters, where the album was mixed. It was Glyn Johns' idea to start “I Will Not Follow You Down” with nothing but a beat on a drum after Tench performed the song for him a few years ago. "When I finished, he said, 'If I was producing it, I would start with a drum doing what you were doing with your foot.'"

And Tench "couldn't be happier" about finding a home for The Melancholy Season at Dark Horse Records, "an emotionally resonant label for me" through Petty's close friendship with George Harrison. "I met George maybe three times. But I have that connection through Dhani to his dad, through Tom to George. And they have George's music, Cat Stevens, Joe Strummer–these are writers. To be in that company, it's perfect."

The Melancholy Season is upon us. But on this record, in these songs, there is plenty of room for joy–and a lot to celebrate.

https://www.benmonttench.com/