NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Beginning with a youthful momentum, transitioning from the piano-based pop-punk band Something Corporate to the alternative sounds of Jack's Mannequin , Andrew McMahon had a very busy 2005. Jack's Mannequin released their debut record Everything in Transit in August and the band was set to debut strong. Several of the songs from the album were featured in the WB hit show One Tree Hill , ensuring a built in fanbase.  IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE. But Andrew McMahon started feeling extremely tired at the time of launching Jack's Mannequin, more so than he had been as a touring musician with his previous ban. And it turned out that his  wan complexion wasn't from exhaustion. McMahon was forced to cancel Jack Mannequin's fall tour dates following their August release of Everything in Transit because McMahon had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. But thanks to the singer's sister Kate, Andrew was able to receive stem cell treatment and was cured of his

Following the traumatic experience of surviving cancer between  Jack's Mannequin 's first album ( Everything in Transit ) and second album ( The Glass Passenger ) , lead singer  Andrew McMahon  decided to write about the  people  and  things  that he appreciated the most. The singer talks about deciding on the name for the project quite early in the album's production process in the podcast  Meet the Musician .  People and Things  topped  the Alternative albums chart, but the lead single, " My Thoughts Racing ," only peaked at #43 on the  Rock Digital Sales chart . The album was released in October of 2011, but by February of 2012, McMahon started publicly discussing dropping the band's name. "I foresee an end to the usage of that name. I don’t know that it’s doing for me what it used to," he told  Lehigh Valley Music . To McMahon, he wanted to start fresh. Healthy, married, and becoming a father, the concept of Jack that McMahon had created in his e

It's no surprise that Andrew McMahon lists Billy Joel as one of his biggest influences. Though separated by nearly decade from when Joel released his final record of original songs in 1993 and when McMahon's piano-based pop punk band Something Corporate debuted in 1998. But McMahon's Billy Joel influences seem to come alive on McMahon's second act, Jack's Mannequin , and their third record  People and Things .  AMELIA JEAN, YOU WENT AND MARRIED A SOLIDER. Jack's Mannequin's People and Things is full of storytelling. According to an interview with  Meet the Musician , People and Things is the record on which McMahon processes his survival from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Although his previous record, The Glass Passenger , deals with survival, particularly on songs like " Swim ," People and Things deals with the aftermath--the thoughts on the road trips McMahon took across America. However, McMahon wrote several of the songs that ended up on Peo

Following the traumatic experience of surviving cancer between Jack's Mannequin 's first album ( Everything in Transit ) and second album ( The Glass Passenger ) , lead singer Andrew McMahon  decided to write about the people and things that he appreciated the most. The singer talks about deciding on the name for the project quite early in the album's production process in the podcast Meet the Musician . People and Things  topped  the Alternative albums chart, but the lead single, " My Thoughts Racing ," only peaked at #43 on the Rock Digital Sales chart . The album was released in October of 2011, but by February of 2012, McMahon started publicly discussing dropping the band's name. "I foresee an end to the usage of that name. I don’t know that it’s doing for me what it used to," he told Lehigh Valley Music . To McMahon, he wanted to start fresh. Healthy, married, and becoming a father, the concept of Jack that McMahon had created in his early 20s w

  Andrew McMahon  has led three successful musical projects over the span of 22 years, starting with the pop-punk band, Something Corporate , the piano-driven band Jack's Mannequin , and his solo project, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness . I first got to know Jack's Mannequin in college during a class trip for my Intro to Caving class, a class you take when you need a P.E. credit to fit into your 16 hours of literature, education, and history classes, but it becomes more intrusive because you have to schedule caving trips. The class made me never want to crawl through another cave again, but I still listen to Jack's Mannequin's The Glass Passenger  fondly. I dug into their first album, Everything in Transit, but my favorite is their final record, People and Things , in which McMahon's lyricism and the piano/guitar melodies are the strongest.  I FOUND A TIDAL WAVE BEGGING TO TEAR DOWN THE DAWN. The Glass Passenger was written and released after McMahon's recovery