May the 1st will see the release of “Second Time Around“, the new album from MIKE TRAMP. And while the ex-White Lion and Freak of Nature frontman is no rookie to releases in his own name, this time he does so with a special feeling.
Mike Oldfield is a bit of an enigma. On the one hand is the artist who almost single-handedly ushered in the genre of new age music with his epic masterpiece Tubular Bells, and then followed that with several albums, Hergest Ridge, Ommadawn, and even Tubular Bells II and III, all with tracks that invariable meandered for half an hour or more through various musical ideas and soundscapes – and no doubt would have gone on a lot longer had it not been for the constraints of vinyl and the restrictions on the length of musical compositions that would physically fit on two sides of a piece of plastic with micro grooves…
The new disc from multi-Blues Music Award-winner Mike Zito, 'Life Is Hard' was recorded in September at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California, with Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith producing (and guesting on guitars). 'Life Is Hard' is a complete work of art for me," says Mike Zito about the new disc. "I believe this is the best album I've ever made in my life. My wife Laura and I planned this idea of pouring my heart out in music after her death from cancer. Joe, Josh and the incredible musicians were fully aware of the task at hand. They brought a lot of emotion to the music. I am so proud of this album and I know Laura would be proud as well."
The new disc from multi-Blues Music Award-winner Mike Zito, 'Life Is Hard' was recorded in September at Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California, with Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith producing (and guesting on guitars). 'Life Is Hard' is a complete work of art for me," says Mike Zito about the new disc. "I believe this is the best album I've ever made in my life. My wife Laura and I planned this idea of pouring my heart out in music after her death from cancer. Joe, Josh and the incredible musicians were fully aware of the task at hand. They brought a lot of emotion to the music. I am so proud of this album and I know Laura would be proud as well."
Mike Harrison is the first solo album by Spooky Tooth principal lead singer Mike Harrison, released on Island Records in 1971.
Mike Mattison is a roots singer and songwriter best-known for his work in the Derek Trucks Band, Scrapomatic, and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. With both DTB and TTB he won a Grammy for Best Blues Album. The TTB has also won five Blues Music Awards from the Blues Music Foundation and two Canadian Maple Blues Awards.
Zito's 16th album is descriptively titled Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry. This release finds him broadening his boundaries still further even as it marks a return to his roots. The album consists of 20 Chuck Berry classics performed by Zito and an impressive array of 21 guest guitarists, among them Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Richard Fortus, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia, Anders Osborne, and, significantly, Chuck's grandson, Charlie Berry III.