To Roustabout! frequenters, Charles Ramsey is lead guitarist and trombonist for local band The Bullet Parade

But now, Ramsey is trying something new.

The Flourtown native recently released an album of songs written entirely by himself that he recorded with an ensemble, called Something New.

"I sort of play a different role with this project than I do in The Bullet Parade," Ramsey said. "I've been a vocalist, but never the lead vocalist, so now I am exploring a different side of my musical abilities."

Ramsey admits he was nervous about producing his own project, but he said writing his own music and assembling musicians to play on the album was both scary and exciting. He added that the process was the inspiration for the album name.

"Going through all the steps, something each step of the way was a new challenge, so that's why I thought Something New was the perfect title for the album," he said.

He also said the sound of Something New is different from that of The Bullet Parade; while The Bullet Parade is a collaborative effort between members, Ramsey wanted this project to sound exactly as he preferred.

"It's a thrill to collaborate and add my own parts, and everyone puts in, but on this project, this is a chance for me to do the songs I've written myself and record with a different ensemble on every track," he said. "It's kind of all over the place, I didn't think too much about it fitting into one sound."

Ramsey said the album has been a long time coming, and added that most of Something New's songs have been written in the past three years. He originally recorded a six-song CD that he looked upon as a practice and used that experience to help him record Something New.

"I think for a first album by a local musician it is very, very good," said Greg Gabbard, owner of City Lights Records, 316 E. College Ave., one of the local stores that carries Ramsey's album.

"There are multiple instruments, vocal harmonies, complex arrangements; I'm pretty amazed," he said.

Gabbard described Ramsey's album as "indie-pop" because it utilizes various pop styles throughout the album.

Ramsey said he hopes to assemble an ensemble to perform his new material around State College, since he plans on being here for the rest of the summer.

Ramsey cites Neil Hannon, a.k.a. The Divine Comedy, as his biggest influence, and said Hannon puts together "really gorgeous, lush" arrangements.

"He has a sense of the craft of songwriting and used a lot of interesting harmonics and melodies," he said.

For Ramsey, music has always been a part of life; his undergraduate degree from Penn State student was in music, and he earned a master's degree in music theory and history.

Ramsey currently teaches online courses in critical writing and integrative arts and said the flexible online teaching hours have allowed him time to write and perform.

"I may want to teach somewhere down the road," he said. "But I love to be a songwriter and a performer because I get the most joy out of that."