Check out the September/October 2009 issue of Relevant Magazine (the one with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on the cover). Flip the cover page, and voila, a mighty big ad for Chrome.

Many hatfuls of thanks to Larry of Hoboken, NJ for making this happen. The man buys me primo ad space in a major magazine – two pages, full color no less – then treats me to dinner and a beer while he’s in town on release day. I, in turn, hand him a $2 copy of Chrome in return. A weak trade, if you ask me. Gifts are hard to accept, especially when you know you can’t afford an equal or adequate one in return.

Okay, release day is officially here – hallelujah! – and that can only mean one thing: a free song download for all you last-minute browsers, onlookers, gawkers and window-foggers. I’m offering the title song to you for free for a limited time, just like a McRib. This is a huge step for me because I’m a cheapskate, and I normally frown upon the giving away of music. But that’s my problem, not yours. Either way, for a limited time – two days? two weeks? I haven’t decided yet – you can have “Chrome” (the song) for nary a penny. After that, I hope you’ll go buy the album in its entirety. You can purchase it here.

“Chrome“:
This song is about an abandoned bicycle I saw in Washington DC. Its owner never returned to reclaim it, and what once was surely a brilliant spectacle is now a rusted heap, two missing tires, a stolen seat, and chained to a bike rack beneath the whims of weather. I thought of us, in all our delightful and despicable humanity, in those times when life kicks and beats the hell out of us, in our most lamentable psalmist’s state, and we wonder aloud to God, “Where are you?”, “Why have you abandoned me?”, “Are you ever coming back?”. We long to one day be made new, to shine with the brilliance we once knew so well. If you’ve ever felt like a Schwinn, this song’s for you.

“Chrome” (by Eric Peters)

At 12AM, on 8/25/09, we welcomed a bright, new, shiny Chrome into the world. We breathed a sigh of relief, we ooh’d and ahh’d, we barely slept, we gave thanks.

May you bring many hours of pleasant company to those who hear you, who read you (*NOTE to buyers: look closely for the liner notes/lyrics in the CD packaging!), may you bring beauty to this world, may your sales reach record sales (to quote Randall Goodgame), and may you not be the last of your species. Be gentle, be mild, be gracious. Remember the saint you are.

Also, for those of you who are interested, I’m currently writing a podcast for the Rabbit Room that will detail the entire album, its theme(s), shed a little light on each individual song, perhaps uncover some of the overall abstractions (what? who ME?). I imagine it as a companion piece to the overall album. I’ll let you know when the podcast is available.

Lastly, Part II of the Saving The Set List interview is up today, as well. Thanks again to Daryl for taking the time.

Daryl of Saving The Set List was gracious enough to invite me to take part in an interview in anticipation of the release of Chrome. Part I is today, Part II is tomorrow — Chrome release day!

Here’s a snippet of the interview:

StSL – Your new album, “Chrome”, comes out tomorrow! Talk a bit about your experience making this album and what it means to you.

EP – It was a long and sometimes grueling process. Because my budget was tiny by most industry standards, Ben Shive (producer) had to fit me in between other work projects he had throughout the year. We started pre-production in June 2008 at my house, and mastered the final mixes 409 days later. I originally presented 14-15 songs to Ben, and we eventually whittled that down to 11 that were the strongest (hopefully) and, in the case of this record, truest to the storyline I am trying to tell.

Read the full interview here: Saving The Set List

It’s not too late to pre-order your copy today. Or order copies in bulk at discounted prices. $10 pre-order prices are good only through tomorrow 8/25/09. Order here.