“Sometimes,” Corey Crowder says with a laugh when referring to his music, “I think I would have fit in better if I’d come up thirty years ago.” There’s irony in that statement. With over five million plays of the songs on his MySpace page, major television placements, and a major label r

“Sometimes,” Corey Crowder says with a laugh when referring to his music, “I think I would have fit in better if I’d come up thirty years ago.” There’s irony in that statement. With over five million plays of the songs on his MySpace page, major television placements, and a major label record under his belt, Corey, at age 26, is virtually a model of how to commence a musical career, 21st century style. Commentators have described his music variously as americana, alternative country, folk, or even funky storytelling. By any name, it recalls roots rock and soul sounds of the sixties and seventies—updated for today.

“That’s the music I was raised on,” explains the singer-songwriter who grew up in a small town between Atlanta and Athens, GA. “Creedence and Bill Withers...Hank Williams and Bob Dylan. When I first started playing I was sort of running from that—a kid just trying to be different. I was into metal for awhile, and when I was first in college, I really tried to get into indie rock—but I quickly went back to the music I grew up on and always loved, for all the emotion and feeling behind it. It’s soul music.”

After high school, Corey followed his high school sweetheart (now his wife) to Greenville, SC. It was there he set about producing his two homemade collections of songs that turned out to have a remarkably broad appeal. Corey first reached national attention when his self-penned song, “Here’s Looking at You Kid,” was spotted on his MySpace page by producers of the MTV reality series The Real World. More of Crowder’s early tunes appeared on such TV shows as Bad Girls, The Biggest Loser, and One Ocean View. After being featured on CW’s One Tree Hill, last season, his popularity grew to an all-time high and his MySpace listens and visits skyrocketed into the millions.

That legacy of soul asserts itself mightily in the deep and engaging music from this gifted performer and writer. From the earliest days singing his own songs solo in local clubs at 18, to touring across the continental U.S. has all led him to where he is today. After releasing an album on Tooth and Nail Records, Crowder is back to the basics by releasing an independent follow up to 2008’s “Gold & The Sand”. The new album, titled “Lost & Found”, is set for a December 4th, 2009 release. Crowder not only produced, mixed, and mastered the record but he also played nearly every instrument. This is sure to be his strongest release to date.

The songs on Lost & Found have subtle shades of meaning that are developed through complex word choice and surprising twists and turns in his storylines. Corey’s time as a contract writer for EMI in Nashville has given him the experience and tools he has needed to truly advance his lyrical abilities. This kind of musical development is not always about technicalities or improved skills; it’s also about personal growth – an ongoing theme in Corey’s lyrics.

“I’m finding,” Corey says, “ that your mid-twenties are really when you learn a lot about yourself, and ask the big questions. I really needed to write some songs about things I’ve never tackled before.”

He's certainly done that with the timeless and continually appealing songs on Lost & Found, and he does it with music that is delivered in a style that is as rooted as it is contemporary.