Michelle Branch Plans Solo Country Debut

The Wreckers photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

June 18, 2008 — Michelle Branch made a very successful shift from pop music to country when "Leave The Pieces" went to No. 1 for her duo, the Wreckers, which paired her with Jessica Harp.

The two have, in fact, left some broken pieces behind them. The duo split to do solo albums, and Michelle’s should be out by the end of the year. Her CD is currently titled Everything Comes And Goes, and she told Billboard that it’s "kind of a breakup album," since she not only parted company with Jessica but also with her former management team.

Dwight Yoakam makes a guest appearance on the project, in a song called "Long Goodbye," which helps solidify Michelle’s transformation as a country artist.

The album is "more singer-songwriter than, I would say, country, but I think the term ‘country’ is all relative now," Michelle observed. "I think this is a natural step. It really feels like the right place to be."

In the meantime, she holds out the possibility that the Wreckers may reunite at some point in the future, once they’ve spread their wings artistically a bit.

"Jessica had never had a chance to do her solo record, so I understand where she’s coming from," Michelle noted. "I’d been there and saw that it was kind of overrated; it’s much more fun to play in a band with your friends. But she’s really just wanting to stand on her own two feet and prove herself on her own and not be that other chick in the Wreckers with Michelle. That wasn’t going to get any better if we kept making records and sweeping it under the rug."