June 2026 (New York, NY)

Shortly after becoming a father in 1993, John Sullivan began writing original rock songs as a way to escape the brutal, non-creative work he was doing on Wall Street. Three decades later as the piano-driven vocalist and founder of Sullyman The Third (or ST3), his New York-based band has released on South Tenth Records a new concept album entitled Condo Florida to ‘answer and revise’ several themes covered on The Eagles’ 1976 landmark Hotel California album (which will also be celebrating its own 50th anniversary) that should resonate with baby boomer audiences.

“In these uncertain times about the future, everyone likes to reach for a connection to their past and present,” said the singer/songwriter/pianist Sullivan from his home recording studio in Long Island. “And nothing works better for a new album than a musician who can connect to the same age bracket of fans by using history.”

It was in 2024 when demos for Sullyman The Third’s ten-song album had begun when Sullivan saw a random clip of the first interactive Eagles concert at the Sphere in Las Vegas that same year. After picking up a vinyl copy of Hotel California to listen more closely to their influential album, Sullivan had an idea – as a fellow boomer, might there be a way to respond a half-century later?

“I had read about (Eagles co-founder) Don Henley explaining about America celebrating its 1976 Bicentennial while issues like post-Watergate, the environment, scars from the end of Vietnam and what had happened to the American Dream remained,” said Sullivan. “And in 2026 on our country’s Semiquincentennial, the same concerns remain except many retiring baby boomers are heading to Florida. I see them there because my son lives there. So that’s sort of how the Condo Florida concept album idea came together. We’re addressing the Hotel California stories but with our own viewpoints in the forefront.”

A grandfather of two at age 62, Sullivan decided in 2018 after 25 years of fronting three rock bands and two stints as a duo act to slow down a bit and form a solo act using the name Sullyman The Third. Quickly, he started out by cutting a four-song EP featuring former Billy Joel saxophonist Richie Cannata and current Yardbirds guitarist Godfrey Townsend.  

After COVID hit two years later, everything went quiet and Sullivan missed having musical companionship. He quickly ended the solo act and re-enlisted drummer Steve Glover and bassist Gregg Steele from past projects along with college friend and guitarist George Kurth to turn ST3 into a four-piece band in 2021. Opting to only record but not actively tour, Sullivan asked his longtime friend and rock legend Pete Townshend of The Who for some advice on how his new band could improve its visibility in the fast-changing AI visual musical landscape.

“Pete (Townshend) had two suggestions – graphic novels or short films,” said Sullivan. “I didn’t quite understand how to make the graphic novel platform work for us. So we made short music comedy films because our iPhones were in HD, the four of us are wise guys and our music would be the soundtrack for each movie by default.”

Partnering up with a talented film editor named Matt Murphy (who would later become the co-producer with Sullivan on Condo Florida), Sullyman The Third released three films from 2022 to 2024 that won a dozen film festival awards with Sullivan directing himself and his bandmates.

As 2025 began, however, the quartet settled back into pre-production work on Condo Florida. Sullivan explored familiar themes the Eagles once had, such as relationship problems with the ballad ‘Should You Love Again Without Me’ and the punchy ‘Less Ain’t Ever More’ that focuses on environmental concerns. But there was room for modern-day songs about topics that did not exist in 1976, such as online dating in ‘I Ain’t Virtual To Thee’ and the Elton John/Billy Joel-influenced title track ‘Condo Florida’ that deals with life’s transitions.

“Not enough new albums connect to a large audience like us boomers,” said Sullivan. “Maybe we don’t go out as in the past but that doesn’t mean we have stopped listening to music. Our songs have those stories and arrangements the AARP crowd that we’re also a part of should identify with and enjoy.”

Although much of the band’s tracking and mixing was done in New York at the Mix Palace by Murphy, it was Sullivan who landed a special opportunity to fly to London last August (along with his wife Mary Pat) and cut much of the lead vocal and acoustic guitar tracks at Grand Cru, which is a recording studio Pete Townshend owns that operates inside a converted barge docked near the Tower Bridge.

‘Walking into this floating studio felt like a Willy Wonka fantasy experience,” said Sullivan, who worked closely with Grand Cru’s studio engineer Michael Nyandoro while Sullivan took full advantage of Townshend’s busy rehearsals with singer Roger Daltrey for The Who’s farewell 2025 global tour. “My teenage rock idol was letting me record my songs using his gear so the results I got were beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”

With two videos recently shot at Next Phase Sound Studios that are ready for the YouTube global universe, Sullivan feels the baby boomer generation can embrace Condo Florida because they all grew up listening to classic rock. “I have tons of people my age and older that seek out new music all the time but most of it is aimed at a younger generation,” said Sullivan. “So we made something more for us and the ‘over 55’ crowd at just the right time.”

Condo Florida can be found on all major digital platforms.