Steph Larsen Photography

BOSTON, MA [September 21, 2026] - Sean Coleman distinctly recalls the feeling of listening to the radio while growing up. In the car or at home, the stations, shows, and DJs he'd tune in to presented a spectrum of sounds and styles with one significant connective tissue: The songs, no matter how disparate in genre or subculture, all spoke to people's lives, offering a throughline of a shared humanity.

Decades later, at a time when any sort of common ground appears shaky at best, the longtime Massachusetts musician is hoping to recapture the sensation radio once gave us through The Sean Coleman Project's collaborative and eclectic debut album, Apropos of Nothing, set for release on Friday, October 23.

A lively tone was set late in the summer with lead single "You've Got To Choose," a bluesy barroom romp of gritty Americana featuring the vocals of The Voice and America's Got Talent contestant Mia Boostrom, and a second single in "Might Just Be My Day," an uplifting dose of empowering pop-rock led by the vocals of keyboardist Brad Goff, arrives as a final aural appetizer on Friday, September 25.

Apropos of Nothing is a throwback album in the traditional sense. But it has a cause rooted in modern life, and a core of empathy and understanding just when we all need it most.

"The album is about listening to each other -- our stories, our fears, our hopes -- and responding with an open heart," Coleman says. "We live in a very polarized era, where everything, no matter how great or small, has become a tribal marker that serves to include some people and exclude others. I want no part of that. I'm trying to make music that will bring people together, regardless of where they're coming from."

Bringing folks together is exactly what Coleman, a Boston-based songwriter, producer, singer, and guitarist who quietly honed his craft in classic rock cover band The Bleeding Hearts over the past few decades, achieved in assembling the record.

With additional contributions from GA-20's Cody Nilsen, Elisa Smith, The Bleeding Hearts' Bill Danylik, Rich Hinman from Sara Bareilles' band, Andrew Gravel from the Gravel Project, Sam Crawford, and Mike Levesque (see below for the full credit sheet), and produced by Sean McLaughlin at his 37' Productions studio in Rockland, Apropos of Nothing plays out like our earliest memories of discovering music, whether flipping through the radio dial when formats allowed for unencumbered variety, like in Coleman's case, or stumbling upon a family member's vast record collection. Which also happened.

Coleman, providing guitars and vocals while surrounded by his collaborators, explores a colorful gamut of styles across the album, where a core of classic rock, blues, and Americana splinters out to gospel, soul, folk, jazz, and country. And the album is called Apropos of Nothing for a reason.

"There's no overarching theme that's been superimposed over the music," Coleman notes. "Instead, it hangs together like a freewheeling conversation between old friends. One topic leads to another, an old inside joke yields a new revelation, a salient question sparks a thoughtful debate. That's what I've tried to capture here. I believe music is our ongoing conversation with those who have come before us and those who will come after us about the things that matter most. This album is my small attempt at entering into that conversation."

And Coleman, despite his quiet, laidback personal demeanor, is speaking very loudly through music. Though Apropos of Nothing is the debut effort from the Sean Coleman Project, the seeds of the band were planted during the pandemic, when Coleman began writing original music for the first time in his career. He and The Bleeding Hearts were enlisted by a personal friend, Ginnie Breen, to record a concept album for her non-verbal autistic daughter, disability rights activist Elizabeth Bonker, who communicates through typing.

Coleman and his bandmates wrote the music and Bonker penned the lyrics, and together they'd show what it was like to go through life trying to break free from the silent cage of autism. The album, 2022's I Am In Here, generated a quarter-million streams on SPOTIFY and featured a guest appearance by Tom Morello ("Silent Cage").

"The whole project set my imagination on fire," Coleman admits. "After working so closely with Elizabeth to help her tell her story, I realized I had my own stories that I'd like to tell as well."

Crafting that album gave Coleman the songwriting itch, so he took his work to a musicians' songwriting workshop hosted by producer and musicologist Rick Beato and deliberately developed the core sound ("It helped my progress immeasurably," he says). The honest feedback helped steer the ship, but Coleman's core vision of crafting an album that wasn't limited by genre opened up a lyrical voice to reflect his own upbringing and relationship to music that remained dutifully intact.

What emerged in Apropos of Nothing was a record influenced by the '60 and '70s, but not merely in the traditional sense. There's a feeling behind this first batch of tunes where sentiment is as powerful as any chord, beat, or lyric.

"When I was growing up in the '70s, you could turn on AM radio and hear incredibly disparate artists," Coleman recalls. "Steve Wonder, Willie Nelson, Steely Dan, Curtis Mayfield, Linda Ronstadt, the Allman Brothers -- they all had hit records at the same time, and you could hear their songs played back to back. There wasn't that strict sense of putting each genre in its own silo, so that only fans of that style would be exposed to it. The only common thread among them was that they were making music that spoke to people's lives."

Coleman is eager to admit that his modest upbringing all those years ago was defined by music, with his parents' record collection - boasting everything from showtunes to The Beatles, Miriam Makeba to Pete Seeger, The Beach Boys to B.B. King - helped foster a musical diversity in his tastes. It would allow him to go to countless live shows and concerts, experiencing the likes of everyone from Vladimir Horowitz to Miles Davis and The Clash to The Carolina Chocolate Drops.

But to allow The Sean Coleman Project to reach its potential, he knew he had to surround himself with those who would not only understand his vision, but also take it to greater sonic heights. It started with guitarist Bill Danylik, who has shared the stage and studio with Coleman for the past three decades. "Bill is such an intelligent guitarist who always puts the song first," Coleman praises. "I knew I'd need him for his soloing ability as well as his ability to keep me honest as a songwriter."

Then came McLaughlin, recipient of multiple Producer of the Year nods from the New England Music Awards, who holds down the bass on the record: "He created a supportive environment and amazing sound on that album, so I knew I'd need him as producer. He's also an excellent bass player, so I was able to get a twofer on that front."

Coleman continues: "Assembling the rest of the core band was a tall order, because my musical influences really cover the waterfront -- rock, country, blues, jazz, Americana -- and I needed to have people who were equally comfortable in all of those genres. In that regard, all roads led to Sean McLaughlin. He was able to connect me with a remarkable group of musicians who gelled as well with each other as they did with me and with the songs."

That included vocalists Boostrom, who has "an uncanny ability to get to the heart of each song and take the listener on an emotional journey", and Boston country singer Elisa Smith, "who really brought some Nashville sparkle to the country-flavored songs."

The project was then rounded out by GA-20 guitarist Cody Nilsen ("A monster guitarist as well as an amazing pedal steel player; you can throw anything at him -- rock, blues, country, jazz -- and he finds just the right parts"); keyboardist and vocalist Brad Goff ("One of the most versatile musicians I've worked with; piano, organ, guitar, banjo, vocals -- he does it all, and with incredible musicianship"); and drummer Mike Leveque, who has played with everyone from David Bowie to Natalie Imbruglia ("He plays like a songwriter, not like a timekeeper, always adding little flairs that enhance the song").

While the rowdy August single "You've Got To Choose," about a woman who finds out her man has been unfaithful and offers an unlikely ultimatum, offered an intriguing bluesy invitation to the band, new single "Might Just Be My Day" illustrates its eclectic ethos by shifting to vibrant, big-room country rock and roll with enough optimism to cure our national depression. Featuring dual vocals by Goff and Boostrom, it was inspired by a cross-country road trip Coleman and Danylik took in a Mustang convertible to see the Joni Jam, featuring Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile, Sarah McLachlan, at the Gorge in Quincy, Washington.

"Along the way, we met so many interesting people with such compelling stories - all of whom seemed to be on the precipice of a significant life change, but afraid to take the next step," Coleman recalls. "So I wrote the song about encouraging those people to experience the joy that comes from taking that step: Not waiting for good things to find you, but going out to find them on our own."

Across Apropos of Nothing, the variety in sound plays out like a greatest hits collection. "Who I Am" is an uptempo rock and roll song of faith, about a man who has turned his life around, but still bears the guilt of a past he's not proud of. Coleman wrote the song for his father before he passed away: "He had many regrets over the way he behaved as a husband and a father when he was a young man. It was very healing for me to be an agent of grace in his life."

The sultry and lounge-inspired "We're Not Speaking Anymore," with a contemporary and timeless feel, is a classic torch song with a Norah Jones feel about a woman who thought she had passed the stage in life when she had to go through romantic breakups. The R&B-inflicted "I Can Only Be Me" is the story of a woman who finally finds the strength to break free from a relationship that has robbed her of her sense of her own identity, and "A Glimpse of Heaven" is an acoustic guitar duet inspired by Coleman's wife's brave battle to overcome a stroke.

Country ballad "Who We're Going to Be," which features beautiful pedal steel guitar work by Rich Hinman from Sara Bareilles' band, is about a soldier who's come home from war with a severe case of PTSD that he's not dealing with. "The song tries to give voice to his wife, who is fighting her own battle to try to get her man to get help," Coleman adds. "For many people, this song could be life-changing."

Elsewhere, the spiritual and soaring "Pray For Me" centers around the type of person who is a giver, and struggles with asking for help themselves, and Coleman connected with the message so deeply that he recorded two versions of it, one an uptempo country-rock number and the other a piano ballad, where the lyrics and message take center stage.

"Jumping at the Chance" pivots into classic jump blues written in a 1940s big band style, and flexes the entire band's skills: "From piano to guitar to trumpet to drums -- everyone gets a solo. It's a barn burner. The horn players were having such a good time, you can hear them laughing in the background at the end of the song if you listen closely. This song should become a staple at weddings in years to come."

And then there's "The Mourning Dove," a slice of Americana driven by piano, string arrangement by Daniel Tavani, and Boostrom's achingly beautiful vocal. It also takes Coleman back to his father's death, and this time, he penned it for his mother. "It resonates for anyone experiencing any type of loss, not just death," he admits. "Many tears were shed in the studio when that song was recorded. It's an honesty that can't be summoned or contrived by trying to chase a certain sound -- it's about letting the sound find you."

The sound that has followed Coleman since he was growing up in New Jersey all those years ago has followed him around through adulthood. And though Apropos of Nothing has a release date of 2026 stamped on it, it's really the result of a life lived with music as the soundtrack, from the highs and the lows and the successes and failures, all the things that define our lives and provide a connection to others experiencing similar things. It's all part of that conversation.

"This album is not just the fruit of two years' worth of writing, arranging, playing, planning and recording -- it's the fruit of a lifetime spent playing, listening to and loving music," Coleman concludes. "I set out to make an album that would connect with people. Songs that would get them out of their seats to dance with joy, and songs that could help them reflect on their deepest sorrows, and know they're not alone."

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