50°

"It's more of a commercial-oriented pop-rock album," he said. "Nineteen-eighties influences were big for me. I was into bands like Kiss and Rush and Ratt and Motley Crue.

"Then the 1990s came along, and I got into Dave Matthews and Matchbox 20 and Train and bands like that. It took me so long to put it together. I had a zillion songs and I had to pick and choose which ones were more of a priority."

Crabtree, a bass player for the last 10 years and a guitarist before that, has been playing with Andy Engstrom since they were 15. They've performed all over Los Angeles, Colorado and Seattle. Crabtree played guitar for a Juneau band called Jamestown in the early- to mid-1990s. He jumped to bass when Automatic Daddy formed in the mid-1990s. He also played in Special Guest, the one-show band that opened for Everclear at Centennial Hall in 2003.

"I'd been working with Andy and writing stuff for years, and when I heard the first Volitar CD come out (in 2002), it was time for me to do the same thing," Crabtree said.

Crabtree recorded the scratch tracks for most of the vocal and guitar parts on his four-track and eight-track.

Engstrom added drums and percussion to flesh out the rough ideas. The official recording was done at Gold Street Studios. Tim Hulse sings on one song. Tully Devine plays bass on three songs. Tag Eckles added piano and keyboard, and Joe Emerson contributed some lead guitar.

"It's where I'm at right now," Crabtree said. "That's why I chose the name, 'This is Me.' It's where I'm at musically, and it's where I'm at emotionally."