Shinedown’s Zach Myers Surprise Releases Album He Wrote 15 Years Ago at 23

Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers has just surprise released Schizophrenic Love Songs Part 1, an album he wrote 15 years ago at the age of 23 with the band The Fairwell.

In a tweet where Myers shared the long-anticipated album, he wrote, "This is an album I made 15 years ago. After I joined Shinedown 15 years ago I just never got around to putting it out. A month didn’t go by where someone didn’t asked me when it was coming out… Well, here’s an album I made when I was 23 years old…"

The Fairwell was the guitarist's focus after dissolving the Zach Myers Band and after much hype and and feeling things out with demos and EPs, their eventual debut was recorded, but never released.

Myers offered a full rundown of the history behind this finally unearthed record, which can be viewed below (via BraveWords). Further down the page is the album art and track listing for Schizophrenic Love Songs Part 1 along with a full album Spotify stream.

I started The Fairwell in 2001 after we broke up The Zach Myers Band, due to record label issues and a myriad of other things.

We had a made a few EPs / Demos, and by 2006, we had gone through the last lineup change that pretty much solidified Chris Allen and I were really the only two main members of the band, along with live members Zack Smith and Zach Kirk (a lot of Zachs).

I had been writing a ton between 2001 and 2006. I joined Shinedown around 2004 / 2005 as a touring guitar player with the original lineup… after a few long tours Brent (Smith, vocalist) and I talked one night and decided in 2006 that we should part ways.

The truth is. Neither of us wanted to not be playing together. But for the health of the original band, which was already massively on the decline sanity wise, we decided it was for the best.

At this time I called my friend Skidd Mills and decided Chris and I would go into 747 Studios and make The Fairwell album. We spent every day for months in the studio with Skidd. And really became a team in there… all these songs I had written about… love (being an emo), loss, relationships (good and bad), break ups… losing my cousin Justin to suicide… all of these things were in these songs. We finished and loved it… and planned on releasing it in 2007.

After only about three months separated from Shinedown… Brent and I talked on the phone one night and he asked if I’d come play with SD again, most likely on a permanent level… I was actually a bit hesitant to go back to do just past drama… and I was honestly considering taking an audition for Taking Back Sunday.

I ended up going to what felt like home… and all these years later Shinedown still feels like home But 2020 made me reflective on this record I made with Chris and Skidd 14 years ago.
And I realized as much as I’ve grown as a writer and a singer (I’m not much of either on this album)… I don’t think a month went by in those 14 years where someone didn’t ask me if I’d ever release it.

Well… without telling anyone… (including the band members), it comes out January 8th. It’s called Schizophrenic Love Songs because that’s what it sounds like. It’s been named that since 2006. These are songs I wrote when I was very young. And I was angry… I didn’t have the life I had now. But I still look back on them fondly.

Please be gentle listening…
ZM

Myers last released new music in October when his collaborative project with Shinedown singer Brent Smith, dubbed Smith & Myers, dropped Smith & Myers Vol. 2 on Oct. 9. The album also included a cover of Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" which you can listen to here.

In early November, Shinedown launched their 'SD' clothing apparel line which is a "futuristic take on concert merchandising."

The following month, Smith called out Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for lying when he reassured children Santa Claus was safe by informing them he had vaccinated the Christmastime gift-giver for COVID-19 himself. The singer took a hard stance against disseminating lies during a pandemic.

The Fairwell, Schizophrenic Love Songs Part 1 — Full Album Stream

01. "Beauty Of Falling Down"
02. "Hold On Tight"
03. "Untitled"
04. "Save My Life"
05. "This Goodbye"
06. "Diary"
07. "Your Last Song"
08. "The Worst Of You"
09. "Start All Over"
10. "Keep On Moving"