Long began compiling the poems for his book “Losing My Brotherhood” while he was touring late last year in support of his first studio album, A Winter Tale. Filled with poems examining themes every person encounters, including love, desire and disappointment, the title of the book reflects Long’s feelings about moving from London to New York in 2010.
“I left my family and my friends, and I just went and didn’t really say good-bye to anyone,” Long said in a statement. “‘Losing My Brotherhood’ refers to a specific group of three close friends who I lived with in London for four years and shared everything with, and who I don’t get a chance to see anymore. We were like brothers, but I know that time is now over. It’s a tribute, really.”
One of Long’s friends in the group is artist and musician Ben Edge, who created several pen-and-ink illustrations for the book.
“We always wanted to work on something together,” Long said. “I sent him the poems, and he drew the illustrations free hand.”
If you’re wondering how a songwriter manages to separate the words he hears in his head and transform them into two distinct art forms – poetry and songwriting – evidently Brown doesn’t consider that a problem, saying “they are two separate things” and that “Losing My Brotherhood” “is a very personal thing.”
Meanwhile, Long is about to wrap up a string of dates appearing with Steve Winwood, playing Vienna, Va., at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap May 29 and Glenside, Pa., at the Keswick Theatre May 30. The troubadour’s upcoming album, produced in Los Angeles by Ted Hutt (Flogging Molly, The Gaslight Anthem, Old Crow Medicine Show), arrives in the fall.
Long expects to announce dates for the summer as well as a fall run supporting the new album. Click here for his official website and here Pollstar’s 2010 interview with the artist.