"I wanted to create a CD where the sum of parts is greater than the whole," he says, then pauses and laughs. "Wait, did I say that right? I can't even tell if I'm getting my words in the right order right now."
If Boone seems a little frayed around the edges lately, it's entirely understandable. When we spoke on the phone last week, he was cloudy from a couple of sleepless nights. The sleeplessness surely had something to do with the gazillion items on Boone's to-do list, in preparation for what is shaping up to be the most ambitious homegrown CD Release Concert that this town has seen, at least since the days of John Floridis and the Big Ensemble.
"The whole process that's brought this CD and this event together has been painful and a big struggle at times," says the 26-year old Boone, "but at the same time we've had these extremely beautiful moments and experiences that have made it all worthwhile."
Over the past month, Boone has lined up numerous local business sponsors, a backing band made up of more than a dozen local musicians, volunteer poster-hangers, and a professional sound and stage crew - all to support an event that promises not a single dime to Boone himself. Instead, proceeds from the concert go to Mountain Home Montana, a six-bedroom home and support organization for teenage mothers and their children.
It's a fittingly huge event for a CD that ventures far and wide beyond the expected boundaries of modern folk music. With help from an army of local musicians and racks of digital effects to enwrap his songs in ever-surprising sonic textures, Boone has produced an album that evokes the forward-looking spirit of folk-influenced artists such as David Gray, Coldplay, and Wilco.
Boone calls "A Tale of Gold" his "true debut." That may seem ironic, given the fact that he has already recorded and released nine full-length records in the past eight years.
But Boone is right, in a certain sense: "A Tale of Gold" is the first album to show the 26-year-old musician at full maturity as a singer, songwriter and arranger. It is a fantastic album stacked with immediately memorable hooks, creeper songs that grow on you with every listen, soul-baring lyrics, and hardly a moment of filler.
Right from the squelchy, dreamy, effects-laden intro track, Boone makes it clear that this album won't be much like his most recent effort, 2006's "Hard Enough to Bend." That album - a concept record about growing up in Seeley Lake - was extremely stripped down and unplugged, with Boone's unprocessed voice and acoustic guitar leading the way through a series of gray-sky songs that at times revealed deep bitterness.
This record takes the opposite tack. With help from some 19 local musicians - including a brass trio, a flutist, and even a harpist - Boone transformed a collection of essentially simple songs into a grandiloquent musical journey, one that he sees as carrying out an overarching message of hope.
"It sounds kind of trite but this is an album about true love," says Boone. "It starts out with songs that focus on connotations of innocence and youthfulness and the things that we believe as children, then goes through losing that innocence and trying to find our way back to that purity of belief in love."
That arc may not be readily apparent on first (or third) listen; but what will be immediately obvious is the bounty of catchy melodies and epic arrangements.
"Laughing for Jesus" veers from piano-driven ballad to sing-along folk anthem, blending religious overtones with a sunny, rocking beat. "Falling Into You" carries out like one of the finer Coldplay songs you've heard; it's the most derivative song on the record, with Boone shifting into falsetto during the choruses, but that's excusable when the result is so beautiful.
"Above the Rain" simmers through its first two choruses before blossoming into a breathtaking climax, with Boone's voice soaring above shimmering clouds of strings and backing vocals: "I take it back, I've never been upon an airplane / I've never looked down upon you / I've never been above the rain / But I've tasted pain every day."
Those larger-than-life songs are balanced by just the right dose of introspective tracks, such as the gorgeous "Butterfly," a sparsely arranged and atmospheric ballad of longing: "Because all my life I've been waiting for you to grow your wings / And fly away to me / And all this life I've been waiting to just grow my wings / And fly away with you."
It's a telling point that the least successful track on the record is a re-recording of one of Boone's previous best songs, "Mama Said." The song certainly fits into the album's thematic arc, serving as a nostalgic pivot-point in the album's journey from innocence to faith. But by burying the catchy chorus in a jaunty horn melody, the original version's balance between swinging verses and rhythmically biting choruses is obscured.
There are a few other hiccups along the way, mostly in terms of overly fussy arrangements: Too many variations on a standard drum sound, slight overuse of the telephone vocal effect.
But those facts shouldn't obscure the fundamental rightness of this record. It is a near-masterpiece, and stands among the finest folk records of this year, from artists local or otherwise.
As for Boone, he says he's not nervous about taking the stage at the cavernous Wilma Theater - the largest venue he's played to date. He has been too busy putting together the massive backing band and arranging a collaboration with dancer Anya Cloud to worry about what's happening this weekend.
"My biggest hope is that, when the concert actually happens, it'll reflect what life is meant to be about: Bringing people together, trying to help each other in the community and work together," he says.
"At this point, that'll either happen or not," he adds. "I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, and that's how it'll be until I step up to the microphone."
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