September 16, 2023
It's been a quiet summer since June's Tour of Italy. The tour was absolutely fabulous (check the video page for “somewhere like italy”, the last encore from the last gig) … I got to see the south of Italy for the first time … both the scenery and the food were amazing …
So now it's coming up on autumn and things are beginning to happen … first up is another vist to Bruce Swan and Louise Baker's “Music My Mother Would Not Like” streaming program on Tuesday, September 19th where I will be sharing the program with two of my favorite humans and songwriters, Jono Manson & Rj Cowdery
(it's free but you need to register … click on the photo for a link to the registration site)
Next up is the release in Italy of a brand new single, a re-working of my song “in my home” from the Appaloosa Record's album “Shahida” … I re-recorded the song using musicians from here, Italy & Uzbekistan … it features a spoken/sung part by my young friend, a refugee from Ukraine named Vladi Vasylenko, who sings in both Russian and Ukrainian about his lost home … the album, Shahida, is a 3 CD set featuring a majority of the Appaloosa Record's roster, each artist contributing a song … Shahida is the name of the player from Pakistan's national hockey team who died in the shipwreck off the coast of Steccato di Cutro, Italy. 94 other people lost their lives with her. 35 of them were children … the album is to benefit refugee women … go to Appaloosa Records to purchase and help … click on the photo to listen
Next up, on September 27th, will be the release of the first “official video” from the How To Shine album … it is my first time working with a brilliant independant Italian film maker, Lu Margero' … the world premiere of the video will be on the Americana Highways website.
This same weekend I will be attending the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance in Austin where I will playing a set at official alternate showcase along with other showcases. here is the schedule:
THURSDAY - Alternate Official Showcase (Official Alternate?)
10:30 Elm Room
FRIDAY - Song Circle Houston (w/ Heather Pierson)
10:30 Room TBA
SATURDAY - People’s Republic of Austin
12:10 Room TBA
Western Music Association/NM
1:30 Room TBA
Following that, i will be heading up to Taos, NM where I have rented an AirBnB cabin in the woods for a one man songwriting retreat to continue work on writing the next album
Early November will find me playing shows in Colorado … details to come
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June 3, 2023
10 days into a FABULOUS tour in Italy!
i will post more later
For now, here is my performance of Fabrizio De Andre’s “the fisherman” at the Townes Van Zandt International Festival with Paolo Ercoli, Claudia Buzzetti, Radoslav Lorković & Riccardo Maccabruni … and a hell of an audience joining in
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May 17, 2023
Closer getting closer!
Excited and more than a little nervous to be back on the road in Italy …first longish tour in three years ... Here are some of the dates and locations ... all the dates are with my Italian partner in crime, Paolo Ercoli ... looking forward to sharing a couple of nights with the always amazing Radoslav Lorković
May 3, 2023
It won't be long now!
Three weeks from today I am off to Italy for a tour with my good friend Paolo Ercoli (with some dates including the fabulous Radoslav Lokovic)
I can not wait to see my beautiful Italy!!!
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April 25, 2023
RIP Harry Belafonte
And thanks to my late Aunt Mary who was a longtime member of the Columbia Record Club … she loved folk music and Broadway musicals … turned me onto Harry and Pete and West Side Story … and here I am 65 years later with a heart still filled with song.
Fly on, Harry
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April 22, 2023
NEW ALBUM, NEW WEBSITE, NEW NEWS!
Yippee, it's record release day!!!
My new album, How To Shine, is being released on the Italian label Appaloosa Records. I am so very proud of this one; I think it may be my best work yet. Once again I was blessed to have fantastic collaborators on this project … Jono Manson is once again, for the 10th time in 20 years, sitting in the producer's chair doing his, as usual, stellar job. We had a great band of musicians who I will list at the end of this post. There are nine originals, several of them written with two of my very favorite co-writers, Jeff Talmadge and Annie Wenz. There are also two cover tunes, one by the fabulous Greg Trooper, This I'd Do and a second, an English translation of a song by the late, legendary Italian songwriter Fabrizio De Andre, The Fisherman or Il Pescatore.
Physical copies of the album are winging their way from Italy and are available for purchase at my website (www.jaimemichaels.com). To stream the album, just click on this picture to link to a site where you can stream/download from all the major services.
