Gary Klebe of the pioneering Power Pop band Shoes has announced his debut solo LP, Out Loud, to be released on April 10, 2026, via Black Vinyl Records. In contrast to his work with Shoes, this record is more than just Klebe’s first solo album, it’s a one-man operation, written alone and tracked almost entirely without outside help.
Klebe has also released first single “Not Tough Enough,” which combines an “upbeat sonic landscape with self-deprecating lyrics” which “reflect on the unexpected challenges he faces in a tumultuous new relationship.”
On the new single, Klebe shares:
A once over-confident guy who thought he knew it all has finally met his match and is now facing a thorough ass-kicking. Accustomed to gaining and holding the upper hand, for the first time, he is at the mercy of a woman who has other ideas. The feeling of helplessness is a new experience and not one he is enjoying. A lesson is being learned, the tables are turned and payback is a bitch.
Serving as his own engineer, Producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Klebe recorded Out Loud on nights and weekends, following his work on the most recent album by Shoes. Drums were tracked in Nashville with John Richardson (Gin Blossoms, Badfinger, Tommy Keene, Shoes), but the rest of Out Loud came together in Klebe’s basement studio, largely recorded with his favorite stompboxes and vintage gear from his vast collection.
While making music without his longtime collaborators was unfamiliar for Klebe, the finished product does show some of his parallel musical journey in Shoes. That’s particularly true in Out Loud’s vocal harmonies, which find Klebe multi-tracking his own voice into stacked layers of sound, a technique he learned in working with British producer Mike Stone (Queen, Journey, Foreigner) during his time in Shoes.
Shoes is still making music, over 50 years since their inception. They’ve gone through many phases and iterations. There is still more new Shoes music to come, but for now, Klebe has made an album that “bridges the past and the present with the newfound vulnerability that comes with going at it alone.”
