Howie Day

What do you need to do to get a one-man band transported from the dank pubs of Bangor, Maine to a recording studio in Boston?

"I don’t know," says singer-songwriter Howie Day. There’s no shtick. He swears he’s just doing his thing, but he plays alone and that’s a gimmick in itself.

"I just go out every night and try to connect with an audience as much as I can and try to be as intense as I can and that’s really all I can do," he says.

At 15, Day started off doing gigs in Maine and Boston 300 days a year. Day would record songs with producer Mike Denneen (Aimee Mann, Letters To Cleo) three and four at a time, then hit the road again to build up his bank account. Then back he’d go, to record some more, and a year and a half later his album, Australia, was born.

Day’s relentless touring has definitely paid off. Since then he’s won two 2001 Boston Music Awards for Best Debut Album and Singer-Songwriter. He’s had his cover of The Beatles’ "Help" on the I Am Sam soundtrack, won Boston’s 2002 Music Award for Best Male Singer-Songwriter and been signed to Epic.

"That record is what got us the label, and the fact that we sold 30,000 records independently," he says. As much as he loves his debut album, it’s time to move on. Day’s been relying on his live shows to keep his fans baited. Now playing for six years, Day says "the record is three years old, where the live show is able to evolve. The record is a snapshot of a moment in time. The live show is three years ahead of that."

Day says the next album will be better. "The first time I had no idea what I was doing," he says. "The lyrics will be better and three years advanced, like the live shows." /

After his tour with Tori Amos, he’ll start work on the new record. He’s already doing some of his new material on the road, like the goose bump-evoking "Brace Yourself" and "Madrigal."

"I’m pretty confident people will like it and that’s what I’m gonna go for," says Day.

—Karli Vezina