With the upcoming release of Casey Stratton's 6th studio album DIVIDE we find Casey on a new path. There is a new found sense of purpose and focus driving the songs. From the album's opening track The Hardest Part to the first single Opaline to the closing I Promise Love we hear Casey contemplating his usual self explorations and relationships gone wrong. This time, however, Casey also explores the state of the world however chaotic it may be. It was important to me not to have a soapbox kind of record. I wanted to comment on the conditions we are faced with in this world and how I have been affected being an American in this time, but I didn't want to be preachy. It's not about that. It's just reflection.Formerly a Sony Music recording artist, Casey left the label in December of 2004 in order to pursue his own label venture. I just didn't feel I could truly make the records I wanted to make in a major label environment. I wasn't happy there. There were too many compromises I wasn't comfortable making. So many artists claim they want to go indie when really they just got dropped. I wanted out. I couldn't wait. I asked to be let out of class early! he chuckles. Now I feel a sense of freedom I have been craving for 11 years. The twelve tracks that form DIVIDE show Casey moving into this new territory. Casey Stratton has packed a lot of music into a relatively young life. With a father who played in a popular Michigan band, the singer, songwriter and musician remembers begging to sing as a child during the band's rehearsals. Violin lessons began at the age of 8, followed quickly by the cello at 10, the piano at 11, and the guitar at 16. The training was rigorous and disciplined, laying the foundation for a career in classical music. It was through the piano that Stratton discovered a passion writing songs and singing them. After graduating from Michigan's Interlochen Arts Academy, with training in voice and composition, the budding artist left Michigan for Los Angeles. His Sony release Standing at the Edge along with Independent efforts and performances have already resulted in a cult following, and he has received glowing reviews in magazines like People and Billboard to name a few. Stratton's influences are as diverse as his training. The pop influences register more immediately -- Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, Björk, Paula Cole and Joni Mitchell. Musically, though, Stratton also takes inspiration from various forms of the arts. Musically, he finds inspiration in classical composers: notably Debussy, Ravel, Copland and Barber. Lyrics draw on the example of the contemporary singer\u002Fsongwriter tradition, as well as a wide range of literature, from T. S. Eliot to Joseph Campbell. In fact many of the tracks on DIVIDE were inspired by reading Joseph Campbell's body of work. I enjoy the idea of myth; that we play these roles in our lives and that those roles and scenarios are engrained in our biology. I also enjoy the idea of the light and the shadow. This symbolism is found in every religion and we all relate and connect to it. As a songwriter I have always tried to connect with what is human, but also what we tend to hide from others. I think many of the people who relate to my music like the fact that I am saying the things you think at 5 am but are afraid to talk about openly. I made a decision way back that I would confront the hard stuff. Over the past few years I have delved into some philosophy and heavier reading, and that has definitely impacted this project. Casey says of DIVIDE.Casey's live performances leave audiences breathless as they watch his intense emotional outpouring and commanding stage presence. He wasn't always comfortable in the role. It took me a long time to be comfortable in my own skin when I sang my own songs, Casey Stratton recalls. When I first started playing them live, my feet would shake on the pedals of the piano. I felt so transparent, like everyone knew what I was thinking and feeling. The courage to take the plunge came from my influences -- Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell. I thought, 'Well, they're doing it.' And the more I did it -- the more I forced myself to explore my own songs before an audience -- the more empowering it became. Between 16 and 20, I think I encountered my highest learning curve. The more I played, the easier it got for me. I discovered that singing my songs, about the things I have experienced, however painful, was healing. It brings me peace.