Mr. Muddle's Befuddled Universe

Today's Playlist: 6 APR 2006

Cody Navarro: ``Cada Vez''

Springtime gives us a fresh start... EVERY TIME winter breaks our spirit.

Click N Play

Today I'm playing Cody Navarro's song ``Cada Vez'', which we expect to be included on the CD Cody hopes to release in 2006.

Technorati Tags: music, people

Today's Playlist: 5 APR 2006

Stacy Jagger: ``Livin' Bread Woman''

Springtime, like sprouts seeking the sun... we each seek our own path.

Click N Play

Today I'm playing Stacy Jagger's song ``Livin' Bread Woman'' from her Faded Memories CD.

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Two Breaking Records: One Soultree

Hire musicians with personality!

Wednesday 5 April 2006:
Quality music from members of this befuddled universe.

Click N Play

A Texas band called Soultree calls their music a ``cocktail of Funk and Folk''. Recently, Soultree released two CDs. One was played in their normal funk/folk style: Souled In A Plain Brown Wrapper. The other CD was a remix of six tunes: Soultree Remixed in a Red Rose Wrapper.

Susan Crandall's honey-sweet voice is the main ingredient to the ``soul'' in Soultree. My enthusiasm for her singing is what originally attracted me to this band, and Soultree songs such as ``Beautiful'' and ``Wanna Be'' will always be in my playlist. And I'll always be a big Susan Crandall fan!

In the Soultree press kit it states that Soultree has worked long and hard developing a unique sound. In the early days they were a husband and wife duo, now they're a regional band with a solid reputation, and a strong fan base. Susan's singing and David Crandall's driving bass, her husband, are at the heart of that sound. You also have Tommy Thomas on guitar. Dan Hale on drums. And Dacado VeGA on keyboard. I have to mention that I enjoy the guitar work of Tommy Thomas. It adds just the right leavening to the mix.

The remix CD is a little slower paced, and heavier on the bass than what you might be accustomed to, but I think that's the way they like it in Texas. Given Soultree's popularity that must be the case.

Soultree has two big local shows coming up this next month. They are playing live at Tower Records in Dallas on Thursday March 30th and then they have an even bigger live show in Dallas on April 15th at the Virgin Megastore.  Soultree is consistently on the top selling local artist list for Tower Records. Susan Crandrall stated recently, ``This is our second appearance at both chains in a couple of months.  They love to promote us and give us space on the endcaps in the store with listening stations and all the perks like we are Major Label stars.  We have been on the top 30- selling artist wall at Virgin Megastores...and we did not have to give them payola.''

I suggest you discover if Soultree's Funk and Folk sound tickles you. You can do that by using the Click N Play MP3 player above.

More music soon!

Photo Credit:
Robb Debbenport
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``The Second Coming of Jeff Laine'' Concert

Jeff Laine Concert Saturday, April 15, 2006

The second coming of Jeff Laine...
just in time for Easter.

Jeff Laine with ``drowsy'' David McKelvy (the Harmonica genius) and John Cartwritght (upright bass)  One night.  One show.  Saturday Night, April 15. 2006 9:00 p.m. $5.00 -  Riverbottom Bar  Grill 4201 West Olive Avenue (Right across the street from Warner Bros'. Studio), Burbank, CA 91505 (818) 846-2604.   We will be playing music from Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Richard Tompson, Leonard Cohen, and we'll sneak in some Jeff Laine tunes as well.  All and all a night of music that you wont hear on your radio: and this time I promise to tell the story of the Shanghai Jacket (*the one I'm wearing in the picture).  Cheap drinks, pool tables and a clientele that will never be featured in GQ magazine - no attitude, no dress code and not much parking so give yourself an extra couple minutes to hunt down a space.  Of course if you are taking the Limo that wont be a problem.

Hope to C U There
Jeff Laine
www.jefflaine.com

Today's Playlist: 4 APR 2006

Spring, a time for planning...
                  a time for rethinking.

Click N Play

Today I'm playing Katrina Parker's song ``Thinking It Over'' from her Only Dreaming CD.

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Today's Playlist: 3 APR 2006

Spring, a time for beginnings...
                         a time for Goodbyes

Click N Play

Today I'm playing Vicky Emerson's song ``Goodbye San Francisco'' from her Reach CD.

>>More>>>

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Breaking Record: Victoria & Zeta Five

Monday, 27 MAR 2006:
Quality music from a member of this befuddled universe.

Click N Play

Victoria has secrets! And she's not talking!

Victoria Hammill won't tell anyone how she gets her violin to sing, dance, whine, talk, and massage your soul.

Dang, if Victoria doesn't get connected to lightening every single time she touches bow to string.

You have to experience Victoria's violin. To miss out on this experience would be like missing Jimmy on guitar or Miles on trumpet. I know enough about language to know that you can only say ``unique'' once. So let there be no confusion when I say, Victoria is a unique violinist. (Be sure to Click N Play on the MP3 player above. Listen to the Stevie Ray Vaughn song ``Say What!''; plus the original Zeta Five songs ``It's A Lazy Morning Rain'' and ``Wild Turkeys''.)

Victoria Hammill fronts a bluesy group called Victoria & Zeta Five. Victoria & Zeta Five play songs from a broad spectrum of genres, but they all tend to come out with a bluesy/jazzy interpretation.

Victoria & Zeta Five will be releasing their latest CD, ``To Be Announced'', in April 2006. The CD can be purchased at the Zeta Five site <http://www.zetafive.com/merchandise.htm>, as well as from CD Baby. MP3's are already available from the Zeta Five site.

Most the songs on ``To Be Announced'' are foot stompers. They're all tasty tunes that are finger-licking good! If these tunes were Southern fried chicken, you'd need extra napkins.

It's a difficult choice, but perhaps my favorite in the bunch is a cover of the Stevie Ray Vaughn song ``Say What!''.

As with all good bands, Zeta Five is a team effort. Zeta Five doesn't quite have enough regular and guest players to man a football team, but they certainly could put together a B-ball squad. In addition to Victoria Hammill doing lead violin and lead and backup vocals, they have EDward T Hammill, Victoria's husband, (rhythm guitar), John Raska (drums), William Scruggs (bass), and Markus Rodriguez (lead guitar). Guest players on the CD include Waldo Weathers (saxophone), Larry Van Loon (Hammond B3), Jack Hartford (bass), Sue Birch (bass & backup vocals), Julieanne Denton (backup vocals), Shannon ``De Bayou'' Williford (harp), and James ``Nick'' Nixon (rhythm guitar, lead & backup vocals). (Victoria  & EDward T Hammill, John Raska, William Scruggs, Markus Rodriguez, Sue  Birch, and Julieanne Denton sing the group vocal in ``Say  What!''.)

I'm sure Zeta Five could handle any song you might throw their way, and ``To Be Announced'' shows the breadth of their range. And every song gets cooked with those secret Zeta Five Spices. They come out crisp and succulent, so bring those napkins.

Now Victoria won't give away her secrets, but I'll tell you something that's no bull: If you want a physical and emotional workout, put the Zeta Five CD ``To Be Announced'' in your player. One second you'll be foot-stomping like an old granddaddy, the next you'll be crying like a baby, and that's no secret.

In a week or so, Victoria and the gang will be doing an audio Coffee with Tim. It will to be fun, so stay tuned!

Don't tell anyone, but when Zeta Five has their Coffee with Tim, I'll announce that I'm giving ``To Be Announced'' a rating of 5 plus a ScramJet Violin. Hush, now. Don't tell Victoria! She can't be the only one with secrets.

More music soon!

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Remember This Ember Season

Remember this face:

 
Remember this song:    ``Desert Stones'' 

Click n Play   

Remember these names:

• This Ember Season
• Lia (Ana Lia Perez)
• this befuddled universe

TO BE CONTINUED:
More music soon!

Technorati Tags: music, people

Brant Satala has Coffee with Tim

14 JAN 2007 Update: A Befuddled reader has pointed out that, as of 14 JAN 2007, there are links in the interview below to both Brant Satala's website and his Myspace page that no longer function. I have chosen to leave the interview ``as is'', and not change any information contained in the interview, until I am contacted by Brant Satala, or someone who represents him. Readers can still hear and purchase Brant's music at CD Baby, and other fine online establishments. Tim's Befuddled Universe is grateful for our loyal readers. You keep us going! — Tim

Welcome to the very first ``Coffee with Tim''.

My guest is Brant Satala from Michigan; that is, southwest Michigan.

Southwest Michigan is my home land. When I talk to Brant, I can pull the Babelfish out of my ear, and relax. It's nice to be with someone who speak's my Mother tongue.

My interview with Brant was handed via email. Our correspondence began on 9 FEB 2006 and ended on 20 MAR 2006.

Brant lists his primary genre as singer/songwriter and his secondary genre as folk rock. You can email Brant at brantsatala@verizon.net. And his website is brantsatala.com.

Brant Satala writes inspired folk rock, and he gets better every time he goes into the studio. Brant states his ambition is to ``Get songs on movie  soundtracks/tv (preferably movies by Richard Curtis); Tour clean intimate  venues across US/Europe with 4 or 5-piece band.''

Be sure to Click N Play   on the MP3 player immediately below. You'll want the pleasure of Brant's music while you read the interview.

Well, the coffee is being served, so let's get started.

Click N Play  to hear Brant Satala sing ``Totem'', ``This Little Town'', and ``Undermine''.

Hello, Brant. Welcome to this befuddled universe.

How do you take your coffee?

Breakfast blend, Starbucks or 8 O'clock whole bean, self-grounded, cover inside bottom of empty coffee cup with French Vanilla (half the sugar) creamer, then add coffee.  Mmmmmm mmmm!  I live for that stuff!

If I wanted all that extra stuff, I'd have a root beer float.

I was raised on Hills Bros. Coffee—my mother's brand. Little did I know I was destined  to come to the land of Hills Bros. (the San Francisco Bay Area).

I'm most definitely not a gourmet, but I do take coffee very, very seriously. It's a religious thing with me. Coffee is a sacrament. It must not be debased with sugar and cream. Coffee must be black and served very hot.

I have three rules about coffee:

1. Coffee should be made from two ingredients: ground coffee beans and hot water.
2. Coffee should be served hot
3. The proper way to sweeten coffee is with a jelly roll.

To summarize: Don't mess with my coffee!

I heard the real reason Dick Cheney shot that guy in the face was because he bought Cheney hazel nut flavored coffee.

If someone serves me hazel nut coffee, they better hope I don't have a shotgun handy!

So, Brant, you're currently living in Pentwater, Michigan. 

Perhaps we should start by having you explain where Pentwater is, then telling how and why you ended up there.

Pentwater is an old logging town situated on the west coast of Michigan, just about in the middle of the lower peninsula shoreline.  Much of the wood that rebuilt Chicago after the fire came out of Pentwater.  Pentwater is an old Native American colloquialism for "Pent up water", referring to Pentwater Lake.

My wife and I moved our family to Pentwater in 2001 from Grand Rapids (GR).  My wife's parents live here, and we (my wife and I) had always said we were going to retire here.  So, we reached a point when we needed break from life in the city and it's rude progress, and moved up here.  We were not happy with the schools that our kids were in at the time.  Their answer to active children was to call it ADD, and treat it with drugs so they will sit still in their seats, and thus the school will get a better rating, and subsequently more state funding. 

The school in Pentwater is small, the teachers are great, and our children are thriving here.  Kids can be kids in Pentwater.  My kids spend most summer days in the creek that runs through our yard, catching turtles and frogs and other wildlife.

I am not only a musician, but aspire to be a fiction writer.  Pentwater is the kind of place where one can get much writing done (granted that one is already independently wealthy).

I too have aspired to be independently wealthy. I settled for a workaholic wife.

Is writing just a desire to work with other ``mediums'',  or is there something you want to express that is inexpressible through short musical pieces?

There's much more to express in fiction writing. Songwriting is like poetry to me. Condensed and often metaphorical.  Fiction writing opens up a whole new world, where there are almost no limits, and a writer can get away with a lot more than a songwriter.

Have you had a chance to test your ``chops'' as a fiction writer? Have you gotten to the point where you feel you have a personal ``voice''; or is all that still just a dream? Do you see  yourself writing short or long works of fiction? You could always do short  fiction: music reviews, Op Ed pieces. Or perhaps, longer works such as the National Budget.

I have a BA with a creative writing emphasis.  I WAS going to try to be a writing prof at a college.  I may still try to do so.  I haven't really been published yet.  However, I am well into writing a large fantasy epic novel.  As the saying goes: ``Outlining is not writing; saying you're planning on writing is not writing; doing research is not writing.  Writing is writing.''  I've tried to adhere to that.  I have successfully written around eight chapters, or more.  However, it's hard for me to sit at a desk and write when I know I should be doing something to bring in some income.  Thank GOD music does that for me.  However, then music gets in the way of writing time.  It's a vicious circle, as usual.

I have another whole story idea for a young adult book/story as well.  I wish I could tell you more about it, but it's such a great setting/plot idea that if I tell it, someone will steal it for sure.

I write under the pen name Robert Alexander Love.  My first name is Robert, and my Grandfather's mother's maiden name was Love.  Alexander—ah, it just sounds good in between.  I am progressively posting my fantasy novel on-line through a link from my music website.  The postings are not first drafts and are still a little rough.

I look forward to finishing the new CD I'm working on right now so that I can get back into working on the story again.  But for now, the new CD is priority.

Is Pentwater an ``artist'' community? Are there  other musicians to hang with, or do you pretty much have to be your own  muse?

Pentwater is an ``artist'' community in the summer. There are a couple of art galleries here, and a couple of art  fairs on the Village Green in the summer.
There really aren't any other musicians to ``hang out'' with. However, I take my musings from nature, philosophy, and spirituality.

Given where you live, I assume you’re forced into a do it yourself situation in terms of producing,  engineering, and recording your own music. Could you describe your home  studio?


Most of my home studio is up inside my head. I think that's where it needs to be for anyone who wants to be  successful at engineering and recording. You have to have a good handle  on your frequencies and be able to tell 3kh from 300Hz, for example. Once you know that, the rest is easy.

Currently, I don't have racks and  racks of equipment.  I've made sure to acquire quality equipment,  instead of quantity. I would like to keep a few trade secrets, however, I  will say I use ProTools by digidesign, and I love it.

As far as being a ``do it yourself''—most of  the time. I do work with other musicians who cut instrumental tracks for  me occasionally. My friend Pete Kehoe, from Petoskey—an amazingly  talented musician—has become my ``Edge'', and graciously does most of the  electric guitar work these days, as well as the more complicated  piano/keyboard parts.  Running Out of Numbers, however, was completely a ``do it yourself'', but that's because I wanted it to be that way —to prove to myself I could do it.

So how is the new CD going?

The new CD is going great.

Stylistically, it's showing great continuity.  I've been very inspired by another artist lately, Iron and Wine (Samuel Beam) who do amazing things with minimal instrumentation.  I've tried to adopt that philosophy for this new album, to be entitled The Riparian Girl. 

The arrangements are mostly acoustic guitar and vocals. 

With this new CD, the overall feel (so far) is the mood of a warm late-summer evening, when the ground is radiating the heat from the sun back into the air, and the humidity carries smells of foliage and earth.  The songs seem to metaphorically relate to that transitional period from light to dark in the gloaming.   

It has a theme which is the setting of a riparian environment at the pinnacle of summer, and the pursuit of a few fairy tale-like moments with which to spend (from different emotional perspectives) with one's lover along the lush banks of a river. However, I don't think the entire album will stick to this theme.

Let's move onto my traditional questions of what your early  family life was like (what did parents do, how did you interact with them,  number of siblings, how many military schools did you get thrown out of,  etc.), and how did you become interested in music?


I had an awesome childhood, for the most part.  I had a big yard, and a  cemetery across the street, which, back then had empty areas where it was woods and what we called dunes.  We'd go back there and play with our GI Joes, or play army, and build tree houses.

I  grew up in a house build in the late 60's.  My parents were, and still  are, awesome, loving, and very supportive people.  I was, and am,  still very lucky.  I don't know that any other part of my life will ever top my childhood, except watching my own kids enjoy theirs.  I still have dreams about that house.  In  fact I wrote and recorded a song about it called ``House on Christie  Street''. 

Once in a great while, usually while working on music, I  feel like I have the eyes that I did when I was a kid.  Do you remember  the way everything used to be so vivid?—the sunsets, the autumns, bugs, paint on the garage door, the smell of dinner cooking, the sound of the old  sump pump in the basement, the wonderful yellow that they used to paint Tonka trucks and tractors with, the different colors of sand and dirt in the  sandbox?  (One of my favorite lines from a John Mayer song ``That's my plastic in the dirt''—refering to those old toys in the sandbox that are like artifacts from a bygone age).  Did your mother buy you a bag of Brachs chocolate stars  (almost) every time she took you to Sears?  I would gladly relive the  stomach aches from eating too many, just to have five minutes in that time and  space again.

Everyone probably knew I was going to do something with  music, even back then. My dad had an aluminum row boat that he kept in; the back yard by the fence.  In the off season, he'd put it upside down  on the trailer.  All I needed was a stick for a microphone, and the whole  row of backyards got to hear me singing on the stage of the upside down  rowboat.

I  also remember the more sporty kids in 2nd grade making fun of my nearly  shoulder-length straight hair, and my puka bead necklace.  Little did  they know that I'd grow up to have hair that just won't grow anymore, and  what's left of it has turned curly.  I'm glad I grew it long when I  could!

I  have one younger brother.  We've always been close, but we also used to  scrap a lot, when we were kids.

I  became interested in music, officially, when I started to learn chords on my  dads JC Penny acoustic guitar.  Thanks to Mel Bay, I learned more than three chords. For years I would pick up the guitar once in a while and  play. Then in 4th grade (in Strongsville, a suburb of Cleveland), I  started on the trumpet (cornet actually).  I played that all the way  through high school.  That is where I really learned about composition, and  music theory. 

In college, I put the screws to the guitar, and started  to learn a LOT more, especially on the electric. But, for me, it  always came back to the purity of the acoustic. I have always been  someone who, when he finds something he is crazy about, has to learn how  to do it myself.  Writing music was at the top of the list—and still is.


It seems every time I email you about something,  you’re just about to leave for Lake Hellenbak or Mount Sump. How much time do  you spend on the road? Can you afford the gas? How do you occupy your mind while driving? (I've nearly fallen asleep on the Ohio Turnpike more times than I can count, but then I can't count that high.)


I sort of live in the middle of nowhere. It's a drive to any location. Can I afford gas? Barely. I have a '92 Ford Explorer which gets about 14mpg... it's close to $50 to get to Petoskey and back.

Funny you should ask about how I occupy my mind. Apart from dreaming about my lovely wife...

I listen to NPR/BBC. I told my friend that, an F&B manager at the Inn at Bay Harbor, and he couldn't believe that I—an artistic person who usually has nothing to do with ``business'' would listen to NPR. I'm pretty much a news junky—and that's another way I occupy myself while on the road—talking back to the radio about another curious decision our legislators have made.

This isn’t the place for political discussions, but the political views of fans can become an issue in the music business, and  I’m a little curious about that. Do you leave your political views behind, when you exit your Ford Explorer, and face your  audience?

In my opinion, there IS a place for politics for FAMOUS musicians.

Anyone with a conscience, or opinion of right from wrong, would probably feel they have a responsibility to help people.  Most often with musicians, that's what it comes down to: using their influence to help people who otherwise are swept under the carpet.  I am continually amazed at how Bono can relentlessly push for aid in Africa, and other important causes, and still remain cool.  In fact I've thought about that a lot and have a theory.

I have been part of several fundraisers, mostly in the education area. I feel it's important, and truth be told, the campaigns ended up helping a lot. 

However, I think there is a threshold that one must cross to be considered cool and still have a serious impact on any cause.  That threshold is fame (and quite a bit of common sense ). 

To draw an analogy:  you don't try to speak up and make changes at an office workplace when you are the receptionist.  You wait until you are promoted—granted a position of greater responsibility such as assistant manager, or manager.

So, I've learned to keep my mouth shut as far as politics is concerned.  I save my comments for when I'm driving down the road, alone in my car, listening to NPR.  However, IF I reach a point where I am fortunate enough to obtain some sort of fame, know that I think that Bono is the man of the century, and a great icon to follow. 

Love rules.

Can you give us an idea of geographical area you cover by listing off towns or cities that lie on the  borders of your territory?

As far north as Mackinac Island, and as far south as St. Joseph.

Haven't been to East Lansing in couple years. Will be shooting over to Chicago hopefully in the coming year, and maybe Cleveland.


Apparently you play a good many small towns. What  types of venues do you play? Do you have a typical crowd? If so, what are they like in terms of demographics and behavior?


By small towns, you mean smaller than LA, or Chicago.

Northern Michigan (north of the 45th parallel) is very seasonal. However, they also have a lot of skiers and snowmobilers in the winter. The demographics range widely. However, my best responses come from college age people, to people in their early 50s. I attribute this to the ``nostalgia phenomenon''. That's when kids dig in their parents old record collection (and in some cases CD collections) at age 9, and discover how great some of that music is, or was.

Also, I'm part of an age group of people who know who Gordon Lightfoot is, but then also love the new stuff that's coming out from Howie Day to Green Day. People, in a wide age demographic, are digging so many kinds of music these days—simultaneously. That's really cool because it shows that people are listening to the music, instead of paying too close attention to the hipster status.   

Summer, however, is crazy. Northern Michigan is full of vacationers from all over the world, especially on Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island. I have friends there from Ireland, Scotland, Russia, and Germany.   

To the south, in what they call ``the Greater Grand Rapids area'', people are more reserved and very hard to motivate with any form of art. I blame it on over-marketed sports, and the over-worked-ness, 80 hour work week of the white collar. In regards to behavior, there seems to be a lack of unified enthusiasm for music in that area, unless Cher or Willy Nelson come the arena. That's not to say one can't have a good crowd in Grand Rapids, but it's a little fewer and further between. One often gets the general impression that the mind of that region is occupied with something else... not sure what (and there are, or course, exceptions to that observation).

Maybe it's like that everywhere these days.

So, Brant, this is proving to be a very long interview in terms of time.

I think it's been about a month, since I emailed you the previous question.

What's been going on in your life these last several weeks?

I'm experimenting with the musical direction of Nick Drake, and Iron and Wine with some (but not all) of the newer stuff.  However, as it happens, after working on 5 low key songs, I'm ready to start rocking a little more.

And I wanted to throw out a new epiphany that I had recently regard the ongoing dilemma about how to classify my music.  Thanks to my wife who might have figured it out.  What it comes down to for me is that I'm basically a heterosexual male who has a female singer/songwriter trapped inside of him.  My wife said that I am the male version of Sheryl Crow at times, Jewel at other times, and Lisa Loeb at other times... THEN, she also said I remind her of Billy Joel.  And I said ``Perhaps I am the non-urban version of Billy Joel—the Environmental Billy Joel who doesn't play piano...'' 

I thought maybe you'd get a laugh out of that.

I think you and I are just a creatures of our common culture.

As a Kalamazoo native I've become convinced that Southwest Michigan has an identity crisis. I think it's natural for us native SW Michiganders to be a tad muddleheaded.

We grow up hearing what we're not. We're not Detroit or Chicago. We're not Ann Arbor. We're not Mackinac Island. We're not Traverse City... etc. and so forth until we become crazy with insecurities!

That's my view anyway.

Everyone knows I'm a head case.

If it wasn't for Mrs. Muddle, somebody would have carted me off a long time ago.


I'd like to thank Brant for putting up with my lengthy interview process. I wish him all the success and happiness in the world

I feel a little strange talking about Brant's music. It's like talking about a close relative. (I know we talk about our kinfolk all the time, but we normally do it behind their backs.)

I'm also hesitant, because Brant's music is evolving right now, and I don't want to create a ``butterfly effect'' that will change the course of that evolution.

I will say two things.

1. Brant's music is in a good place, and I believe it will evolve into an even better place.
2. If I would nudge him in any direction, it would have to do with themes. I encourage him to focus on the mud and the mundane, the boys behind the plastic.

You'll have to excuse me now while I put on a pot of Hills Bros. Fry up some potato cakes, and make some gravy.

Then I'll savor some thoughts about life on Rose Street in 1954.

I am giving Brant a rating of ``5'' plus one 1950 vintage JC Penney Rockabilly suit. Because I owe Brant ``1'', and because his music suits me just fine.

Technorati Tags: music, people

Breaking Records: Funky & Fun!

Hire musicians with personality! Friday, 17 MAR 2006: More quality music from this befuddled universe. Click N Play Remember the thrill you experienced when you heard performers like Carlos Santana or bands like Kansas for the first time? Now you can have that same type of thrill again: Just pop the new CD from Michael Sanders & One Tribe Nation into your player. That CD, by the way, is titled Servants of a Lesser God. One of the more interesting titles in recent memory. I haven't met or talked with Michael Sanders, but I exchanged emails with him, and he comes across as a quiet, respectful man. And I would dare suggest that is how Michael Sanders approaches his music. I see the "quiet" as his intelligence and knowledge of musical traditions, and "respect" as his love of music and the players who have worn the path smooth. Michael Sanders comes from a family with a music tradition. He's Will Sanders' son. Will Sanders was a pianist and singer. He played and sang with The Inkspots, Cab Calloway, Mercer Ellington, and Count Basie. Don't get the false impression that Michael Sanders & One Tribe Nation are offering music that is derivative. Not at all. They have absorbed multiple influences, and come up with a combination that is their own. The unique fusion of styles and genres is the hot thing in bands today, and One Tribe Nation is white hot! Besides that Michael Sanders can really ignite those guitar strings. He's magical. I suggest you discover Michael Sanders & One Tribe Nation for yourself. You can do that by using the Click N Play MP3 player above. TO BE CONTINUED: More music soon! Technorati Tags: music, people

Hyperlinks updated 16 JAN 2008.