CONSIDER THE DOORMAN. A solitary figure perched at the entrance to the bar, checking IDs, collecting ten-dollar bills. Alone, but in contact with all who pass through, watching the proceedings from the periphery. Songwriter John Kalman works as a doorman at a popular Cleveland rock club, and it’s easy to imagine the job as inspiration for “Memorial Statue” and other songs on his new album a drive,awake songs that speak of solitude found at the edge of the action. Departing from the propulsive rock of his previous outfit, Founding Fathers (in which he served as stoic frontman to the frenzy surrounding him), Kalman has made a personal and ruminative record that explores memory, regret, and dazed reverie. Over a decade of home recordings— made to satisfy the mix-tape demands of enthusiastic and encouraging friends— led Kalman to bring his solo work to the stage, and to studio sessions with celebrated engineer Brian Straw. a drive, awake is a drinking album, better suited to a kitchen table at 2 a.m. than to a populated tavern. Oblivion figures throughout, whether in the peyote visions of “Green Red Blue” (set against Morricone strings and tremolo guitars), drunken train rides (the space-cowboy strummer “Take It Easy”), or, in “Pour a Drink,” last-call staggers: fresh air makes you think about how bad you’ve got it how much you drink and how much you doubt it. Alone with his thoughts, our hero dissects mistakes, comes to terms with broken connections, and exhumes smoke- and perfume-scented ghosts. Kalman avoids whiskey-soaked clichés, instead favoring appealing cosmic notions (i’d like if we could be / the solution of life meandering) and aphorisms distilled from years spent working around down-to-earth philosophers and wits. Straw’s inventive arrangements complement Kalman’s confident guitar playing and honest, gravelly vocals. Balancing out the lonely vibe is the obvious camaraderie between Kalman and a talented cast of Cleveland instrumentalists who bring additional lyricism to this album. a drive, awake marks Kalman’s arrival as a songwriter to admire.