{"product_id":"0888295016643-these-are-good-songs-cdr","title":"These Are Good Songs","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePRODUKTBESCHREIBUNGEN \u003cbr\u003e I have been working hard at singing songs and playing guitar for a long time. Some of my earliest memories take me back to my fathers apartment, in Milford Ma. The whole family would come over, all my aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers, and their latest girlfriends, and they'd sit around the couches with their dented up acoustic guitars singing old Hank Williams songs. I'll never forget those songs. I decided, about when I was strong enough to pick up a guitar, that I'd never put it down. That's lead me to a lot of places and a lot of people. I remember the day I met Micky Schmitd, while I was walking down the road to a friends house. He was sitting out in his yard with an acoustic guitar playing songs I never heard. I never made it to my friends house that day. Instead, I went straight home, with a bass guitar that Micky had leant me, and a little pig nose amp, and I practiced. I had to, I was in the band. I played in Mick's band in his living room for years, and it was an interesting, although unconventional way to grow up. When I could drive, I started attending the local open mikes. I met up with Francine Maggiorie (Voice), Jodi Fitzpatrick (Bass), and my high school friend Matt Nichols (Percussion). We decided to start a band, and we called it \"Mental Evolution\". Our goal was to write unique and intelligent music. Progressive Folk, some might call it. We specialized in odd timing and key changes. But like all good things, that also came to an end. And then, at age 23 or so I started taking my own art, and my own style seriously. I had learned through my travels at the open mikes about some local artists. The one that I identified with most strongly was Peter Mulvey. I studied Peter Mulvey, and tried to reverse engineer his work. I started tuning my guitar differently, and running my acoustic guitar through a BOSS EQ pedal to give it that 'hit you in the chest' bass. Peter shaped my style more than any other individual, and in a way that I am completely happy with. I started performing heavily around the Boston Folk Circuit. It was there, at TCAN in Natick, that I met Mr. Steve Rapson (Author of 'The Art of the Solo Performer'). Steve helped me understand how the music business works, he brought me to his home and produced my debut and sophomore releases. He showed me how to gracefully enter and exit a stage, how to book my next gig, and most importantly, how to treat other artists. Shortly after, I met up with John Gerard and Adrienne Fawkes. We worked together on a project called \"Thomas\". It was short lived, but it taught me how to work with other songwriters. How to sing harmony, and how to arrange a song. We made great music. But the single most important truth that I've realized came from my vocal coach Mark Baxter. I remember the first time I met him, he listened to my CD. and he asked me one question: \"The songs that you're singing. do they move you?\" Now all these years later, we're at the release of my 3rd CD entitled \"These are good songs\". They are good songs, and they move me. They make me think about things differently. They're simple, and raw and honest, and an accurate representation of what the songs mean to me. Because really. when the material is that true. performance is just natural.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41016175493217,"sku":"0888295016643","price":8.4,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_1748460_872739_jpg.jpg?v=1724073621","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/0888295016643-these-are-good-songs-cdr","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}