OUR STORY
On March 24th, 2024 moments after Philadelphia-born star Kevin Hart received his tribute at the Kennedy Center Honors, guitarist prodigy Clayton Sears finished his band gig (led by Grammy winning band leader, Adam Blackstone), packed up his gear and rushed back towards Philly.
While Sears was heading home, Shawn Stockman the four-time Grammy winner and founding member of the biggest selling R&B group in music history, BOYZIIMEN (only weeks away from continuing their tour including two sold-out Wembley Arena shows) grabbed his acoustic guitar and boarded a red-eye flight from LAX to Philly.
On the morning of the 25th, Grammy-nominated industry vet Billy Mann, long-time collaborator with another Philadelphia-native, P!nk, and hitmaker who’s sold over 120 Million albums with a who’s who of collaborators from David Guetta to Burt Bacharach to John Legend, powered down the studio in his Connecticut retreat, grabbed his Martin D-28 and drove South towards his old stomping grounds.
How many people can go back and really reconnect with childhood friends? How many people want to? The music industry is pretty small and Sears, who spent much of high school floating gig to gig and elevating teenage Mann’s original songs with next level musicianship, would often run into Stockman in the alleyways of the music business. Sears’ client list includes Jay Z , Lauryn Hill, Joe Jonas, Britney Spears, Common, Rihanna and toured with Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D., so the respect was always there. Meanwhile, Mann ascended in the industry as both executive and creative where he would run into Shawn in LA recording studios and in backstage green rooms. Consider the BoyzIIMen classic MotownPhilly lyric, “Back in school we used to dream about this every day, could it really happen, or do dreams just fade away…” because hope and humility struck a chord with all of the school’s early alumni including Mann and Sears.
On the heels of what was the longest teacher’s union strike in American history, the late 1980s Philadelphia School District decided to catch its spiritual breath by launching the experimental CAPA, the City of Brotherly Love’s attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the FAME movie phenomenon to inject some self-esteem. Countless stars like Leslie Odom, Jr., The Roots, BoyzIIMen, Christian McBride, Joey DeFrancesco and so many have since walked through their doors. But in high school, Stockman remembers, “Every one of us didn’t just sing, we could SING!” and among his memories was upper classman and fellow 2nd Tenor, Mann, a few seats over from him and one of the few white guys in the vocal program under CAPA’s Vocal Director, the late Mr. David King.
“There was a comradery at CAPA,” Mann reminisces. “So many kids traveled even two hours to South Philly to come to school, because our passion for music was outside of the norm but we found our people there.”
Multi-instrumentalist, Sears, remembers floating from jazz band to orchestra to playing in bands with Mann after school. “There was definitely something in the water because our music squad then is still the premiere squad now. Jazz band then was with Grammy winners today like Christian McBride and Joey DeFrancesco, Questlove and Kurt Rosenwinkel. I mean, what were we doin’?” laughs Sears.
While all three excelled in their own industry solar systems, they kept light touch contact with one another through mutual friends and social media, celebrating each other’s accomplishments. And one day Mann put together that it wasn’t just that all three musicians went to the same alma mater but that all three were fathers of sons on the autism spectrum. Stockman and his wife formed a charity called Micah’s Foundation in honor of their son, Micah. Sears and his wife homeschooled their son, Dylan, to balance both the care and the guitarists’ sometimes aggressive touring schedule. Inspired by his two neurodivergent sons, Mann became a reluctant political activist for the most profoundly impacted families, including helping then Senator Obama’s team crystalize the framework of their autism policy. He later became an Autism Speaks national board member for over a decade and his wife was the co-founder/CEO of Wolf+Friends, a special needs community app which was acquired in 2021. The three didn’t just share CAPA history; but as ASD Dads they shared a common experience but one that doesn’t always have an easy or trusted outlet.
Over the years Mann noticed how Stockman increasingly included playing guitar into the BoyzIIMen performances—the only instrumentalist in the vocal group—and was recently reunited with Sears by two other Philly musicians, after losing touch.
“I just had a feeling that the three of us could create something together that is meaningful to us and do it for us.” Mann said. He received an enthusiastic text from Stockman that read: “I just wanna vibe with you and put some ideas together organically…” As the one still residing in the Philly area, Sears offered to host the other two at his Gradwell recording studio facility in Haddon Heights, NJ (aka “East Philly”) and that’s when the 2024 recording dates were locked in.
In the studio, a veritable eruption of creativity has unfurled, crafting a rich mosaic of acoustic strumming, rhythmic grooves, and harmonious narratives. Their sound, a mix of two South Philly schools—Jim Croce and the more TSOP leanings, now strides confidently in musical Birkenstocks, interlacing the tender vocal dalliances of Simon & Garfunkel with the soulful undercurrent of the Isley Brothers, all while the lyrics narrate their current chapter as long-time comrades liberated to express, thanks to their long-ago secured laurels of success. Like so many artists migrating towards independence, they are the record company, the architects of the recording process, and the curators of every song and verse. The track "Generation Us," a nod to their departed mothers, delivers poignant observations like “the ironic revelation is the Tik Tok generation” with clarity, not sermonizing. "Press Save" harks back to simpler times, evoking images of shared moments on a well-worn couch in Fishtown. Songs such as “Where Love Goes, Justice Follows,” “South Philly Sunset,” and “Oceans Of Love” tend more towards soulful melodies, while tracks like “Only You Can Save Me” and “Mistakes” infuse the album with an energetic, sing-along drive more reflective of Mumford & Sons than The O’Jays.
Under the band name, CHOSEN FAMILY, the neo-Americana trio are set to release the album, “Generation Us” later this year and follow up with a tour of the same name in 2025. While the live experience will be primarily for will likely be an adult audience, every performance will be safe and inclusive for special needs families and individuals.