Pursuing a career in film and music is an unusual route for a former quarterback to take, but that’s exactly what former Michigan QB David Cone has done.

“Fortunately, I grew up in a household that valued a renaissance way of life,” said Cone, who played for the Wolverines from 2006-2009. “When I discovered a talent for football, I pursued it. I love songs, so I write them. I enjoy films, so I make them. I want to exhaust life in such a way that when I looked back, I’ve left no stone unturned.”

Now back in his home state of Georgia, Cone splits his time between Atlanta and Nashville and just released his debut album, Welcome Home.

Cone said his musical influences are varied, ranging from Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, and Jim Croce to John Mayer and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The seven-song Welcome Home opens with “So Close,” a Sublime-sounding, bittersweet track about a couple that nearly manages to make it work but can’t quite get things right. The album's title track is much slower, with sparse guitars and rhythm. “They’re taking me home / Where I belong / To answer for the life I left behind,” sings Cone, describing traveling home to Georgia after seeing the entirety of the California coastline.

“It’s funny, I’ve never been a huge fan of deriving album titles from individual tracks,” says Cone. “It seems to highlight a single song above the rest. But ‘Welcome Home’ encapsulated the album in totality for me.”

On “She’s So California,” Cone tricks listeners into thinking it might be another simple, sparse track but gets blues-y with the guitar after the first verse and even features pseudo-raps as a middle verse.

Cone is thrilled to have his music available to the public because, he said, “I spent so much time writing these last few years that there was little time for recording. Now that [Welcome Home] is complete, we’re going to promote the record hard with big shows throughout the summer and begin work on the next one later this year.”

His record-release show sold out the famed Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta in January, but there are no current plans for a concert in Ann Arbor, But Cone speaks fondly of his time in town.

“It’s always a joy when I’m able to return,” he said. He admits that most of his time here was spent studying or at football practice but, “I will say that Blue Leprechaun, Brown Jug, and Rick’s provided many memorable nights and much of my beverage intake!”

Elizabeth Pearce is a Library Technician at the Ann Arbor District Library.

For more information, visit davidconemusic.com.