From the lyrical depth of his songs to his soon-to-be-released album’s title, Mon is the most honest he’s ever been on his new project. “As a songwriter, you want to write good, catchy, fun tunes—or whatever will make people listen—and I kind of said ‘F**k it’ on this one and wrote exactly what I wanted to say,” says Mon.

Unlike some balladeers, Mon writes almost entirely from experience. “The more and more I write songs, the more and more honest it becomes,” Mon says. “This album approaches darkness more than I ever have, but it’s well expressed and balanced.”

The resulting tunes are a glimpse into the psyche of this soulful singer, found in the Western-twinged roots-rock extravaganza that is the new Turn Coats—Mon’s best effort yet. The CD releases March 2011

The album’s raw energy is seasoned with experience, yet is youthfully experimental. This duality shows in his appearance, too. Wearing a tweed blazer and bushy beard, he could pose as a community-college sociology professor, but his eyes have the intensity of a brash, youthful rocker, like he was when he first started.

After 12 years and four studio albums, Mon demonstrates his talents with wide-ranging songs and singing styles on the new CD, recorded and engineered in his Orem basement by Chad Weis (tour manager and front-of-house engineer for the likes of Mason Jennings, Martin Sexton and Ben Kweller). Mon’s backed by the Starlight Gospel, but their name is deceiving; led by musical prodigy Eric Ellsworth, they’re desert-dwelling rockers, not a church choir.

~~~ Cory Mon has shared the stage with the likes of JJ Grey & Mofro, Todd Snider, Tim Reynolds, Galactic, Derek Trucks, Mavis Staples, Tom Freund, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Matt Nathanson, Sean Hayes, Joshua James, Mike Farris ~~~

***CORY MON*** 2010 Telluride Blues & Brews Festival Acoustic Competition Winner