When Firstman's gig on Carson Daly ended earlier this year, something happened: all these songs started arriving. Firstman had already left the Hollywood scene behind and moved to little surfing enclave south of LA called El Porto. Now, newly free from the industry and ready to start the next chapter of his life, Firstman sat down and wrote an album's worth of material.

The songs - which will be released in a forthcoming album called "El Porto" that will be released on Rock Ridge Records in January - are sparse and comfortable, with a rough-hewn relaxed tone that sounds an awful lot like an artist coming into his own. "I think this era right now will serve as a more prominent cornerstone that even the earlier music, because the earlier music is harder to define," Firstman said. "This music, it's easier to recognize the traditional qualities, and it's easier to recognize even the sincerity. I feel like this is where it is all beginning, and it will all kind of orbit around this center, this nucleus."

The songs on "El Porto" aren't country. But they are indeed songs that somehow take you to the country. They've got space and ease and generosity. They are simple songs, simply sung. It's music that Big Daddy would have recognized, all warmth and wood and melody and flow. It's the sound of somebody coming home: the songs of a man who has rambled far and wide and has come full circle back to where he started, a bit older, a little wiser, with a deeper appreciation for the simple things in life.
1. Marlene And Her Sisters
2. House
3. The One That Makes You Happy
4. Mr. Winston
5. The Candle Maker
6. Only For A While
7. Crowded Town
8. 700 lb. Piano
9. Today
10. On A String

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