Cookie Cutter

Throughout his career, Jim Bianco has drawn inspiration from, what some might consider, untraditional sources. Whether it was an elevator operator in Tokyo, a stalker in Hollywood, a wedding in Tennessee, or a sinner in church, his songs have twisted their way out of his head and into the hearts of the people who have heard them. His music, though unconventional, has garnered attention from the likes of NPR's Mountain Stage, NBC's Craig Ferguson, HBO's True Blood, and the Getty Museum, to name a few. With his new record quot;Cookie Cutterquot;, he has once again focused his attention and inspiration on, what might be, a peculiar subject: YOU. Yes, you. He wants to know one thing, specifically: If someone were to write a song about you, what would it be about? Think about it for a second. You listen to music everyday, you hear songs, thousands of them, and you love them. None of them are about you. Not a single one. They might relate to you, but they're about someone else. Who, exactly, are they about? What makes their life worth singing about? What about them is worthy of a song? Do they have something special that you don't? Maybe. Let's take a look back at the events of your life so far: First, let's consider all the milestones. Let's think about all the peaks, the valleys, the sweet victories, the bitter losses, the people you love, the people you hate, the people who unwittingly shaped you, the inspirations, the disasters, the expectations and the disappointments. Now, let's summon all the events that have made a lifelong impression on you; the death of your first pet, when you lost your virginity, when you got your first car, when you crashed your first car, when you moved away from home, your first real job, that summer vacation, that first love, the first heartbreak that followed, that best friend who you no longer see, that unexpected death of someone close, that trip you took. Etcetera. This is only something that you can do. No one else knows everything about you. Ok, so, now that you've stockpiled all these moments, let's take a step back. Consider this: Is there any aspect of your life and history that could be song-worthy? Is there something in that pile that could be squeezed into a couple versus and a chorus? On quot;Cookie Cutterquot;, Jim Bianco has answered that question, and his answer is a resounding: YES. For the project, Jim asked 17 different people the same 69 questions and, drawing inspiration from their answers, he wrote a song for each of them. Like life itself, the record ranges from the extremely serious to the extremely ridiculous. The theme of the songs runs the gamut, too, from reunited lovers, runaway pets and first kisses to brain cancer survivors, Jesus Christ, and, (everyone's favorite), death. Bianco explains of the process: quot;What I was actively avoiding was writing a song that went 'Oh, Billy Thompson, Cleveland is your town, and when you go to work at the insurance company you love to eat Italian food.' That would be pointless, for Billy Thomson especially. As I gathered the information, I either had to aim a little deeper, a little more personal or, in other cases, when people expressed something very personal, I had to wrangle it and make it more universal. I also had to prioritize. It was tough to make decisions, I mean, is your second divorce more or less poetic than that chick in high school who crushed your heart? Does the birth of your first child trump the untimely death of your friend? So many things in l