January Newsletter
Hi everyone, hope you survived the holidays OK!
Grandpa Burg playing mandolin
I had a great time up in Tawas spending time with my fiance’s family and hometown friends last week. One of the highlights was getting to see Natalie’s grandfather perform a Christmas medley for us on violin and mandolin (watch a video here). Grandpa Burg is 90-years-old and still performing violin at church monthly! Plus, his violin was made in 1820. It’s an impressive instrument.
After performing some music, Grandpa and grandma shared stories of their lives traveling through 48 of the States in an camper after their retirement. These are type of dreams people only talk about doing. Powerful stuff!
Anyways, January brings me to my own travels, my first official tour. I’ll be playing in 13 different cities, four states, and Canada this month. One of the highlights of the tour is that I’m joining Paul Federici’s CD Release Show in St. Catherines Jan 29. I met Paul at Catherine North Studios when I was working on my third release, and he was in the middle of working on his own. Paul shared some of the early tracks, and I was an instant fan. I’m a sucker for City and Colour styled vocals over interesting chord progressions. Paul’s got a voice! Plus, Kirk Starkey added cello as well! (Kirk’s playing on my song “I Will.”)
There are a bunch of Michigan dates this month that are really cool, too, three being full band! The Great Lake Effect will be performing with me at the Trinity House in Livonia this Friday, the Majestic Essential Listening Party in Detroit (1/17) and the Raven Cafe in Port Huron (1/14) later this month.
My future mother-in-law got to spend lots of quality time with our pups, Lois and Gunshy, over the holidays!
Anyways, thanks for checking in with me. I’ve got a little back of acoustic songs I’m hoping to record in March or April, so expect a fourth release and singles coming soon. I’ve really got the urge to keep putting new material out this year, and I’m hoping the gigs keep coming to help me book some more studio time soon.
Sincerely,
Mike
PS: Our 16-week-old puppy is already 30 pounds! Ah!
