Second Cup Café: The Thorns

Individually, the members of the Thorns have had a great deal of their own success as singer/songwriters.

Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Pete Droge have all had commercial hits and critically acclaimed albums. But, they had an urge to try something different.

They blended their voices into a collaboration that is drawing comparisons to the likes of Crosby, Stills & Nash.

The Thorns dropped by The Saturday Early Show to sing songs from their debut album, which is simply called "The Thorns."

The group was signed to a major-label record deal five days after writing its first song, "I Can't Remember." And the members wrote almost their entire debut album in three weeks. The album debuted at No. 62 — a high berth for the cult following they have.

Before becoming a band, the three didn't know each other well. They, however, had mutual friends, peers and managers. Sweet, Mullins and Droge — all independent music makers — decided working together could produce some interesting results.

Sweet had a few minor radio hits, including "Girlfriend" and "Sick of Myself," and watched one album go gold. Mullins scored platinum with 1998's "Soul's Core" on the strength of the ubiquitous "Lullabye." And Droge's 1994 single "If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)," was a hit.

The three say it took a bit of time for the collaboration to work. But once they compromised their musical ideas, The Thorns were in perfect harmony, which they say will touch a lot of people.