J. L. Herrmann has been playing music for nearly 30 years and has written over a hundred songs. His style is called"Acoustic Folk Rock ~n~ Blues", but with his powerful vocals and interesting chord progressions, his music is sometime reminiscent of the Eagles early days, with some Beatles thrown in for good measure.J.L.'s new album,"11", released on 11/11/11, uses the mad skills of his son, Thomas Herrmann, to produce a studio work that keeps your attention all the way through the massive 18 tracks. Using tight forms like the Beatles, fat vocals like the Eagles, and sometimes wall of sound layered guitars and fiddles like Boston, J.L. and Thomas Herrmann have put together a project with a stellar sound. From the rocking work of"Leave The Lights On" to the delicate orchestration of"Fall" the album"11" takes you on a sonic journey of continuous surprises. The story arch of the album is that of a marriage. It starts with the self explanatory true story of"Love At First Sight", moving through the first born changes of"Tommy", devolving into the musical question"Are We Ever Gonna Love Again?", the separation wishes of"Take My Breathe Away" and"How Can I Miss You" to the transformation songs of"Breakthrough","Choose Your Battles", and moving on with"Grab What You Can". Along the way are tributes to J.L.'s father in"Big Fish", a wish list for a"Dream Girl" featuring fat three part harmony backing vocals, a cancer song in"Be Strong Live Long", and the epic introspective"Showers In My Soul".Your money spent on this album will be money well spent. It will provide entertainment that you can return to again and again as you move through life and all it's joys and challenges. You will be able to find songs here for your own journey through life.All songs composed by Jim (JL) Herrmann except “Big Fish” by Jim Herrmann and Anne Lamoy and “Be Strong Live Long” by Jim Herrmann and Linda ErdayProduced by Jim HerrmannEngineered by Jim Herrmann and Thomas HerrmannRecorded at IT Sounds Great StudiosPhotography and graphics by Linda ErdayThis album contains the story of a journey through life, good times and bad times, and the emotions that go with the journey. Below are some notes about each song from the artist:Songs:Love At First SightTrue story of the meeting of the mother of my children. Sometimes a chance meeting can lead to a decades-long adventure. Tom on drums, Thomas on lead guitars and fiddle.Be With YouBeing present to the one you are with, and focused on them, leads to good times. Ryan on drums and Thomas on Lead guitar.TommyWritten on the day my first child was born about the changes and emotions, and now all the music for this song is created by that same child, now a young man. I wrote it and sing it, but Thomas does all the music.Kiwi BluesThomas challenged me to write a song about kiwi, the fruit, so I read the Wikipedia article, and wrote this song that tells you more than you ever wanted to know about kiwi. All true. Ryan on drums, Johnny on lead guitar, and Gary doing some percussion.Big FishSong for my Dad, who never wanted to be a little fish in a big pond. Thomas on drums, Doug on lead and slide guitar, and Johnny on lap steel. Written with Anne Lamoy.Leave The Lights OnIs it a love song, or a stalker song? Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference. Ryan on drums, Thomas on guitars, and Rick with the low vocal harmony.FallFall is a word with a lot of meanings. With Matthew’s acoustic guitar, Thomas’ orchestration, and a touch of Gary’s percussion, and all that’s left is for me to sing.Are We Ever Gonna Love Again?As relationships start to disintegrate, this an important musical question. Tom on the drums, Thomas on the lead guitar, and BJ providing some backing vocals.You Used To Take My Breath AwayThis is based on a joke I heard on the radio. It makes for a fun song. Thomas plays drums and lead guitar on this one, Gary plays percussion, and John Mitchell does some backing vocal.Showers In My SoulIt’s important to be with unhappy sometimes to better appreciate being happy. Tom plays drums, Thomas plays lead guitar, and the thunder and rain is from RHumphries via freesound.org and the creative commons license.Dream GirlIf I was making a list for my ideal woman, this song would be a really good start. Tom plays drums and I do everything else.How Can I Miss You?Sometimes you just want it to be done and over with. Just go away. Ryan plays drums, Thomas plays lead guitar.You Don't Own MeRelationship song, or a song about work? You decide. First two verses sang through clenched teeth. Ryan plays drums, Johnny plays lead guitar, and Rick lays down the low harmony vocal.BreakthroughA song to my brother Larry, killed in 1984, written during my Landmark Forum as a personal breakthrough. Larry, I forgot to tell you, I love you. Tom plays drums, Doug plays lead,Thomas adds a second rhythm guitar, and Gary plays some percussion.Choose Your BattlesSometimes the battle chooses us, but so often we fight over really stupid stuff. Tom plays drums, and Thomas plays lead guitar and fiddle.Be Strong Live LongA cancer song. I’m not a survivor, I just had a medical condition that had to be managed. Thomas plays the fiddle, and I do everything else. Written with Linda Erday.Find A New Way To BYou can change where you live, but that won’t change who you are being. Point A to Point B is usually not a straight line. Tom plays drums, Thomas plays lead guitar, and Gary adds some percussion.Grab What You CanLet the good times roll! Ryan plays drums, Johnny plays lead guitar, Gary plays percussion and harmonica, the backing crowd is John, Rick (the human bass line), BJ, Johnny, Gary, and David.Musicians:Jim Herrmann - Lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitars, bass, Loperamide shakerThomas Herrmann - Lead guitars, drums, violins, orchestration, backing vocals, Loperamide shaker, all instruments and inspiration on “Tommy”Tom Moore - DrumsRyan Grogan - DrumsGary Miller - Percussion, harmonica, backing vocalsJohnny Ricker - Lead guitar, slide guitar, lapsteel, backing vocalDoug Schmidt - Lead guitar, slide guitarMatthew McKinney - Acoustic guitar on “Fall”Rick Malsick - Backing vocalsB.J. McArthur - Backing vocalsJohn Mitchell - Backing vocalsDavid Hakan - Backing vocalsWeb site athttp://musicalprogress.org/11