Singer/songwriter Quinn Erwin was at a crossroads. Having recently relocated to Nashville, he found himself surrounded by a series of losses in his own life and in the lives of those close to him. Compelled by a desire to comfort the mourning, Erwin suddenly found himself embarking on a new direction musically – one inspired by the notion that death is a homecoming, rather than a reason for grief.

“I couldn't recall if I had ever heard any songs about death that were triumphant and celebratory,” he explains. “So I made it my mission to write one.”

That initial inspiration became a verse. The verse became a song. The song would eventually take Erwin in an unexpected direction entirely, launching the creation of a band.

Afterlife Parade was born.

As a solo artist, Quinn Erwin has been writing and performing for the past 12 years. He released his first EP A New Day in January 2009 followed by the full length A Million Miles Away in May 2010. Most recently, he was the Grand Prize Winner of the 2010 Jansport Battle of the Bands and played at The Forecastle Festival in Louisville, KY alongside The Flaming Lips, The Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon, and She & Him. He was also named IMVU Artist of the Month in August 2010.

Released on January 31, 2011 and produced by Jeremy McCoy (bass player for The Fray), Afterlife Parade’s debut EP Death is the first in a two-part concept album of sorts. The songs focus on fate, the end of the world, the death of an ideal, and the comfort from the dying to the loved ones they leave behind. The companion EP Rebirth is due to be released in April 2011.

“Death, as an EP, is deep, dark and atmospheric,” Erwin says. “Rebirth is the exact opposite – it’s upbeat, percussive and a bit electronic.”

A fitting metaphor for an artist with many dimensions himself.