Harvest time is coming for singer songwriter Timothy Monger’s second solo record.

The frontman of the popular Michigan band the Great Lakes Myth Society moved about 25 miles south of Ann Arbor four years ago to live in the tiny town of Britton where his girlfriend’s family has a farm. Working in a 10-by-10 bedroom, he’s been putting tracks together for his second record.

On a recent night when he’d been at work at his full-time day job at a violin manufacturer in Ann Arbor, he’d come home, finished dinner and at 8 p.m. hoped to get another crack at vocals for two final songs before the night was over.

“Working at home has been liberating and kind of tough too,” he said. “I feel like I am going into battle. I’m going to reluctantly trudge off to my room. I told my girlfriend ‘I’m going to try these songs again. I’ve done the vocals 20, 30 times for each of them and still not right.’ It can be a little bit of a slog.”

Using his Pro Tools recording system, he’s brought in other musicians when needed, but recorded as much as he could on his own. A multi-instrumentalist, Monger plays guitar, accordion, ukulele and banjo.

“I am doing it on a laptop with one decent mike, one not-so-good mike and all my wits,” he said. “In the end, you have to rely on that. Beautiful, amazing records have been done on far less gear than I have. There’s really no excuse, it’s all about the inspiration and the material and the performances.”

For his first solo record in 2004, Summer Cherry Ghosts, the theme was, summer. The DIY project left him worn out and strapped for cash. Also, by the time the record came out he’d become so involved with the Great Lakes Myth Society, there was little time for the first solo project.

“I pressed 1,000 copies,” he said. “I did a release show and I think I did two tour dates. I think I did New York and Burlington Vermont, oddly enough. And that was the extent of my touring for that album… It never got off the ground.”

But it did get him noticed. All Music Guide writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine said,“there's apparent affection in each song, whether it's for songs heard on the radio or lost romances, so it's appropriate that he's given all nine tunes intricately detailed, loving arrangements with echoes of British Invasion, '60s sunshine pop, Donovan, XTC, melancholic folk-rock, psychedelic pop, confessional '70s singer/songwriter, and pastoral pop.”

Where that first record was called lush, pretty and melodic, the second is “a bit more acoustic,” Monger explained.

“I have always wanted to make a folk album or at least a sparse acoustic album, but once I start, I just keep getting ideas and just keep adding to things,” he said. “Everything eventually ends up in my brand of pop music, I guess. It is a little more sparse than the last album and acoustic-based. Altogether, it is a little bit moodier album.”

He’s hoping for an early 2011 release for the record. When he plays the upcoming shows at Mac’s Bar in East Lansing and Rubbles in Mt. Pleasant, he’ll be appearing with Timothy Monger State Park a band including Scott DeRoche, bass, melodica and vocals; Christian Anderson, guitar and vocals; Matt Collar, Trumpet and John Fossum, drums and vocals.

His fans are looking forward to his mid-Michigan appearances. Frequently he plays Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Detroit. Listening to Monger perform is like sitting down for a night of storytelling, said one Mt. Pleasant promoter and also a fan of Monger’s.

“I like the down-on-the-farm feel to his songs, or that you’re somewhere camping in the UP in the summertime, or that you’re anywhere, really, in Michigan,” said Corey Densmore, organizer of the Grand Rapids-based Midwest Fest where Monger has played solo the past two years and played the first year with his band The Great Lakes Myth Society. “You get the Michigan feel from his music and the Great Lakes Myth Society, as well.”

Densmore said Mt. Pleasant area fans are always eager to hear from Monger, who attended Central Michigan University for a year before dropping out to take a full-time job at the legendary Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor.

“He’s just a very charismatic person,” Densmore said. “He has good stories to tell and I always learn something in talking with him. He’s very well-versed in Michigan’s history. He’s very relatable on stage. He gets the crowd into it. It’s more of a storytelling than a concert.”

Photo: Kristie Brablec