Everlasting the Way

Following the breakup of math rockers <a href="spotify:artist:5pSqmI85JYRSjUtpFsdoon">June of 44</a> in 2000, guitarist Sean Meadows embarked on two new ventures: a group called <a href="spotify:artist:31Ayfj703a0dFTp0bR8O5a">the Letter E</a> and a new solo project he dubbed Everlasting the Way. Its roots dated back to 1998, when Meadows took a road trip from New York to L.A. in order to score a short film for a friend at USC; once there, he also recorded a few solo tracks with the leftover studio time. It was the first time he'd worked alone, following stints in Chattanooga's <a href="spotify:artist:7vMez37pdNlNJEAXTQS0Vt">Boondoggle</a>, the Louisville-based groups <a href="spotify:artist:5pSqmI85JYRSjUtpFsdoon">June of 44</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1H4kwhv8EYIzHv6KO3SVFO">the Sonora Pine</a>, and as bassist in Washington, D.C.'s <a href="spotify:artist:2aeccL0hsJAfsP56dRdrBI">Lungfish</a>. Bitten by the solo bug, Meadows worked sporadically on material for the next two years, during which time he traveled extensively, crisscrossing North America and spending time in Italy as well. While in Italy, he recorded several tracks at two different sessions, one of which featured <a href="spotify:artist:5pSqmI85JYRSjUtpFsdoon">June of 44</a> mate Fred Erskine. Upon returning to the U.S., he went to Baltimore and enlisted several more musicians -- including <a href="spotify:artist:31Ayfj703a0dFTp0bR8O5a">Letter E</a> bassist Enis Sefersah and <a href="spotify:artist:5CyHG5PEZioE9sMaSNUj4b">Golden</a> drummer Jon Theodore -- to complete work on the tracks that would become his first solo album. In the meantime, Meadows gathered four solo guitar pieces for the first Everlasting the Way release, a self-titled single for the Magic Eye label. In 2000, Everlasting the Way's first album appeared on Monitor Records, under the title Long-Stretch-Motorcycle-Hymn-Highway. True to the circumstances of its creation, many reviewers pegged the results as loose, free, and relatively unstructured. Meadows eventually returned to <a href="spotify:artist:2aeccL0hsJAfsP56dRdrBI">Lungfish</a>, putting Everlasting the Way on the back burner. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi