In The Pipeline:

“In between my brother’s death and my sister-in-law’s murder, right in the middle of the recording, thieves broke into my house and stole most of my best gear: my Telecaster, my desktop, my synth and most of the recording stuff. Gone. The recording files had been backed up, but I had to borrow gear and buy a new interface. I was flat broke, and I needed that gear to be able to work. It was pretty devastating. But I knew I had to keep going and finish this album.”

The album Adam Marsland was recording when these tragedies struck in succession was “Go West,” and when he hits the stage at Gallagher’s on Monday night, you’ll no doubt hear the emotion from these events in the music. But you’ll also hear humor, irony and a sardonic sense of awareness in a world that’s becoming increasingly tougher on the touring musician.

“It’s tough on the body,” he laughs when describing his touring schedule to me. “The night after Huntington Beach, it’s back east to Pennsylvania. But this is what I do. No complaints.”

Recently described in Spin magazine as “a high-energy cross between Brian Wilson, Paul Stanley and Elton John,” Marsland’s pop adventurism has earned him a solid base of loyal fans.

“But there’s always room for more of them,” he chuckles.

The good-natured troubadour, originally from upstate New York, is a natural conversationalist and observer of life. That attitude and approach is what seems to make “Go West” what it is: a sprawling, winding, adventurous double album full of catchy, poignant pop-classics-to-be.

“Albums, to me, are like children, and you’re responsible for them,” Marsland said. “Some grow up to be mechanics, and you don’t have to worry about them. Others are special, and you have to send them to medical school. ‘Go West’ is one of those. The best part of it is, we didn’t spend years and years trying to make a masterpiece. The band and I just sat down and did it step-by-step, half-spontaneous and half-planned, and it came out great. Some of the tracks I did more on my own, and others were more with the band [including soul legend Evie Sands, who does a memorable, funky vocal turn on ‘Two Children in a Bed’].”

How would Marsland describe the music specifically?

“It’s pop, but these are songs about sexual abuse, mental illness, moral ambiguity and people’s interior lives. There’s this prejudice that a pop song isn’t capable of depth. Screw that. I’ve lived enough to write about these things, and I think they resonate better with a good melody. I’m going to do it. I got to try a disco song, a funk song ... the double album format let me experiment a little, and having a larger story to tell kept it all in focus. It’s the most I’ve ever enjoyed doing an album. The music just came out.”

During our conversation, Marsland lamented about the distracted nature of today’s society (“You’re singing a song while people are checking e-mails, for crying out loud”), but he still finds himself at home on the road, playing for live audiences, even though it gets harder and harder to mount tours due to a tougher financial environment. Still, he relishes the chance to play his music live.

The busy singer/songwriter/session player even found time to do something totally different while on the road recently. He wrote an entire album in the van and recorded all 14 songs from start to finish with his touring band in one eight-hour session at a studio outside Cleveland with noted metal producer Bill Korecky. Titled “Hello Cleveland,” it’s a collection of sharp, satirical pop songs that reflect Marsland’s take on the pop culture universe.

Marsland has many musical tricks up his sleeve, as I’m sure he’ll reveal at Gallagher’s. I hope some of you can be there to support him.

Gallagher’s is at 300 Pacific Coast Hwy. For more information, call (714) 536-2422 or visit www.gallagherspub.com.

Attention high school writers: I’m creating the inaugural In The Pipeline writing competition. It works like this: Each week with this column, I try and find a story here in the Huntington Beach area about a person, place, event, etc. that (hopefully) reveals something the reader did not know before.

That’s what I want you to do, in 600 words or less. Write a nonfiction story that reveals something special about the city.

Use photography and interviews and develop your story as your own column — because the winner will have their piece run in this column space, as well as being profiled by me. You’ll also get to appear on the KOCE-TV show “Real Orange” to talk about your piece.

More details to follow, but if you’re a Huntington Beach/Fountain Valley high school student, you’re eligible. The deadline for entries is April 16. Please write me with any questions you might have. Good luck!

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 17 books, including the new “Huntington Beach Then & Now.” You can write him at chris@chrisepting.com .