Debut album from Michael Landgarten

For more than three decades, Michael Landgarten has built a songwriting catalogue that explores life’s enduring questions. His work has consistently examines the overlap between everyday experience and the larger themes that shape human existence from love, identity and loss to purpose and the search for meaning. His songs are wrapped in recognisable moments but seldom remain there, using personal stories as gateways into something more reflective and widely relatable.

That thoughtful outlook has been present throughout Michael’s career, resulting in the release of his solo album Back To You in September 2025. Now, he begins a new chapter with The Long Highway, the debut full-length album from Michael Landgarten and The Converts and while the band’s name may be new, the relationships behind it have been decades in the making.

The Converts bring together musicians whose shared history stretches back more than thirty years through friendships and creative collaborations across New England’s musical community. Joining Michael is guitarist Jay Fortin of Scissorfight, bassist and vocalist Marc McElroy of Elroy and Tiger Saw and drummer and vocalist Robbie Kneeland of High Range. Drawing from backgrounds that flow across rock, indie, bluegrass and Americana, the group comes at the creation process without rigid stylistic boundaries, allowing each influence to surface naturally within the music.

That collective experience becomes one of the defining pillars of The Long Highway and the recording process reflects that same philosophy. Much of the album was captured live inside Robbie Kneeland’s rustic barn studio in York, Maine, where performances were documented by engineer Rick Watson as they occurred. Many of the recordings required only a handful of takes before arriving at the versions heard on the finished record, giving the album an intimate sense of warmth throughout.

Opening with “Falling In and Out,” the album starts with the strums of acoustic guitar and taps of drums as the twang of clean electric guitar notes ring out above pulsing bass tones. Led by smooth vocal leads carrying storytelling lyrics, the band serves up a classic country rock jam that puts their songwriting flair and musicianship talent on full display. Within the album sit two songs that capture the breadth and meaningful context of Michael’s writing.

The title track, “The Long Highway,” follows a man confronting mortality and fate set against the backdrop of an approaching encounter with ICE while the song gradually expands into a meditation on acceptance, transcendence and the realities that exist beneath everyday life. Influenced by the spiritual searching associated with Leonard Cohen alongside the earthy musical spirit of Los Lobos, the song finds moments of peace even in uncertain circumstances, wrapped up in a mellow country outing brimming with delightful melodies and lightly gritty tone, offering a truly timeless musical experience.

“The Flow” takes a different path toward similar questions; inspired by a transformative journey through Spain, the song begins with the experience of discovering an unexpected sense of freedom and that initial feeling slowly progresses into something more reflective as Michael considers how memory and emotional attachment often pull people away from the present. Propelled by a bouncy rhythm, shuffling drums, intricate guitar runs and expressive vocals combine to deliver a charming outing that’s catchy, grooving and thematically thoughtful throughout.

Other highlights on the record include songs like “Your Car” which leans into a delicate scene of hushed vocals, mellow rhythm and breezy guitar flickers, framing Michael’s songwriting in an intimate setting. “All Day Long” flows with grooving percussion and slick guitar flourishes capped by a swaggering vocal performance to serve up a rock-inflected moment cut with moody vibes and bluesy aesthetic. Closing the album with “If I Went to See Her Now,” the band concludes the album with a playful jam full of upbeat energy, pulsing rhythm and instantly memorable vocal leads, offering a superb finale to the magnificent debut album from Michael Landgarten and The Converts.

Listen to The Long Highway below