‘Chicago Med’ Alum Colin Donnell Mixes ‘Chaos + Cocktails’ With Brian Usifer (VIDEO)

COVID-19 has been a drag and taken a lot from us, for sure. But amid the awfulness and uncertainty, a few good things have come out of these unprecedented quaran-times. The Bachelorette was able to figure out a way to film a season in a bubble. People have dinner with their kids more. The Dodgers won a World Series. And Colin Donnell finally recorded some damn music!

Colin Donnell

As most of his fans know, the Arrowverse and Chicago Med alum started out on the stage. But instead of leaning into the show-tune-y type of music he tackled in Jersey Boys, the national tour of Mamma Mia and the Anything Goes revival that earned him a Drama Desk nomination, Donnell has switched it up. He partnered with Brian Ucifer, the musical director for Frozen on Broadway (which starred Donnell’s wife, Patti Murin!), for Chaos + Cocktails, a collection of seven Americana-tinged tracks that feel more singer-songwriter folksy, with addictive pop hooks. And it all started with an Instagram post (not the one below).

 

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For a long time I’ve written music for myself and kept it put away. Thanks to a random conversation with great friend and amazing collaborator @brianusifer (who I haven’t seen since that conversation in February 🤯) I couldn’t be more excited to have this album out in the world for y’all to listen to. I hope you guys enjoy it❤️. • Introducing @thenineteentwenty’s first album ‘Chaos+Cocktails’ • Mixed: @derik_lee Mastered: @abbeyroadstudios Album Image: @crocpixels Album Artwork: @mccormick_michael • Special thanks to all the friends I forced to listen to every lo-fi iteration of each song 😂 • And a huge thank you to my love @pattimurin for being so encouraging and pushing me to see this through. • #newmusic #newmusicfriday #newalbum #songwriter #indie #music #spotify #itunes #kindawannapuke

A post shared by Colin Donnell (@colindonnell) on Sep 25, 2020 at 6:21am PDT

The pair, under the name The Nineteen Twenty (a cocktail itself of COVID-19 and the year of mess that is 2020), recorded the entire album remotely without ever collaborating in the same studio. At the same time, Donnell and Murin were expecting their first child, a daughter named Cecily who made her world debut in July, while Usifer awaited word of when or if Broadway theaters would reopen. Still, they managed to make some magic from miles and miles apart. Chaos + Cocktails is available on Apple Music and is a perfect soundtrack to create that autumnal vibe whether you’re drinking an Old Fashioned or simply apple cider. Here, the guys discuss how they pulled it off, the upside of TV production shutdowns, and what’s next.