Gene Ween Gets Crazy New Name, Releases Solo Album

Gene Ween is getting set to release his first solo album, Marvelous Clouds -- a collection that interprets 13 songs from prolific but now all-but-forgotten American songwriter Rod McKuen. For some reason, though, Gener has adopted the ridiculous solo moniker "Aaron Freeman" for the project. I mean, if you have a name as awesome as "Gene Ween" -- a name, need I remind you, that rhymes and that contains two words that ain't too shabby all on their own, "Gene" and "Ween" -- why do you go and adopt some pretentious show-biz name like "Aaron Freeman"? I'm not going to try to tell the guy how to live his life, but if he expects to sell records, make friends and meet women with a mug like his then he needs to follow the Ringo Starr-Elvis Costello-Bob Dylan model and stick with his real name. It's what his mom and dad, Maureen and Eugene, would want and it's certainly working for Deaner. Anyway, Slate's culture blog, "Brow Beat," has posted an interview with "Freeman" in which he discusses the new album, McKuen, going solo, and getting sober -- yes, he addresses the on-stage melt down in Vancouver last year. Marvelous Clouds is out May 8, and while you're over at Slate reading the interview you can also stream the album's first track, "As I Love My Own." Check it out here.