Brooklyn Mike | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Let's see, let me get that mic up. Brooklyn Mike

0:03 Speaker 1: is here.

0:04 Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt.

0:05 Speaker 1: There we are. So for those of you who just

0:07 Speaker 1: joining us, if you have not heard Brooklyn Mike on

0:09 Speaker 1: the show, you're lucky. When Brooklyn Mike comes in, he

0:14 Speaker 1: brings his guitar, he plays live for us, so we

0:16 Speaker 1: have you know, whenever we have live performers who play

0:19 Speaker 1: in studio, we have use a little bit of a

0:20 Speaker 1: different mic setup, so it doesn't always it's not always

0:24 Speaker 1: smooth right in the beginning, but then the rest of

0:25 Speaker 1: the show, everything's wonderful. So bear with us. But nope,

0:28 Speaker 1: we can hear him. Mike's got his guitar plugged and

0:30 Speaker 1: he's gonna play for us. And we should talk about

0:33 Speaker 1: so the last time you were on the last time

0:36 Speaker 1: you were on this show, because you are you're kind

0:38 Speaker 1: of a semi regular now on Retrospectrum Radio Correct and

0:42 Speaker 1: of course you've made many appearances on the Morning Show

0:44 Speaker 1: with Peter White as well. But since the last time

0:47 Speaker 1: you were on this program, you you've played an open

0:50 Speaker 1: mic at pcl right.

0:52 Speaker 2: Yeah, at Pembrooke City Limits.

0:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, our friend rob az A Vido.

0:55 Speaker 2: Yeah, great venue, beautiful venue. They do open mic there

0:59 Speaker 2: the first Wednesday of each month, so I attended the

1:05 Speaker 2: December and January open mics. Oh good, and I look

1:09 Speaker 2: forward to being back there. I believe it's February fourth, Okay,

1:12 Speaker 2: the first Wednesday in February.

1:14 Speaker 1: Okay, very good. So they do those every Wednesday, first

1:17 Speaker 1: Wednesday of the month, wenda once a month, okay. So yeah,

1:21 Speaker 1: so Pemburg City Limits. Of course, if you haven't checked

1:22 Speaker 1: it out, please do. It's an amazing place. Rob of

1:24 Speaker 1: course host granted state of mind. But I think now

1:27 Speaker 1: he's actually interviewing people at PCL, is what it sounds like.

1:31 Speaker 1: There's there's live a lot of live performances in the show,

1:34 Speaker 1: so he does a.

1:35 Speaker 2: Ton of different events there. I mean they had something,

1:38 Speaker 2: I think it was last Sunday where it was basically

1:43 Speaker 2: bring a plant to take a plant, so really people

1:46 Speaker 2: bringing live plants. He does so many things to get

1:49 Speaker 2: people in there, and it's really really interesting. So yeah,

1:53 Speaker 2: the event would be you would bring a live plant

1:55 Speaker 2: that you'd want to donate to somebody, and then almost

1:58 Speaker 2: like a pot luck with plants, yeah, potted potted plant

2:02 Speaker 2: luck if you will, and so different things like that. Yeah.

2:06 Speaker 2: Then of course they do trivia there. They do I

2:08 Speaker 2: believe they do some comedy. There's a ton of musicians

2:11 Speaker 2: that play there. Yeah, he just he hosts a lot

2:15 Speaker 2: of different, really interesting and varied events. It's and it's

2:19 Speaker 2: a really really nice venue. It's really cozy. The people

2:23 Speaker 2: there are super super nice.

2:24 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's really becoming the time it's been open,

2:28 Speaker 1: it's been at least two years now, right, maybe there's

2:30 Speaker 1: been two years about that, I believe, so yeah, yeah,

2:33 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's become such an important part of

2:35 Speaker 1: the scene here.

2:36 Speaker 2: And then a couple of doors away he has a

2:37 Speaker 2: record store selling vinyl. I haven't made it in there yet.

2:40 Speaker 2: I got to get there.

2:41 Speaker 1: I gotta do that too. Yeah, I got to turn

2:43 Speaker 1: that out. Yeah, absolutely absolutely. So Now have you been

2:48 Speaker 1: have you played anywhere else? Or has that kind of

2:49 Speaker 1: been your your story into getting back into playing live?

2:52 Speaker 2: Correct, That's correct. I just want to get it's it's

2:56 Speaker 2: kind of ironic because I'm finding I'm needing to get

3:00 Speaker 2: over nervousness really, which well, you know, I haven't performed live,

3:04 Speaker 2: really performed anywhere other than the radio show, which you know,

3:07 Speaker 2: Peter's been super kind to have me on and you know,

3:11 Speaker 2: perform here and there.

3:12 Speaker 1: Yeah.

3:13 Speaker 2: But other than that, you know, I moved to New

3:15 Speaker 2: Hampshire twenty five My wife and I moved to New

3:17 Speaker 2: Hampshire twenty five years ago. And you know, I moved here,

3:21 Speaker 2: got a real job, had to be you know, a

3:23 Speaker 2: real grown up, grown up, and you know, bought a

3:26 Speaker 2: house and had to pay the bills. So I kind

3:28 Speaker 2: of had to backburn or the music for a quarter decade. Now. Granted,

3:34 Speaker 2: if I it's not that I didn't want to. I

3:37 Speaker 2: was gonna say, if I really wanted to, I could

3:39 Speaker 2: have gotten out there and still performed. But you know

3:41 Speaker 2: I moved up here. It was like a whole different life.

3:45 Speaker 2: You know, I had all my contacts and colleagues back

3:48 Speaker 2: home in New York and I didn't know it. Literally

3:50 Speaker 2: didn't know anybody up here. Yeah, so just starting a

3:53 Speaker 2: new life. I'm not in a witness protection program or

3:57 Speaker 2: anything like that.

3:59 Speaker 1: It was just which is exactly what you would say

4:02 Speaker 1: if you were in the witness protection program.

4:06 Speaker 2: Very interesting. So so anyway, fast forward a quarter century.

4:11 Speaker 2: You know, it's a blink of an eye. Man, you

4:13 Speaker 2: just can't believe it. And all the whole time I

4:18 Speaker 2: just my goal was that when I was able to

4:23 Speaker 2: get back to it, I was going to get back

4:25 Speaker 2: to it because you know, I was a music major

4:27 Speaker 2: and really music has been my life since I was

4:28 Speaker 2: a child, and so here I am, you know, kind

4:33 Speaker 2: of getting out there again. And it's it's a whole

4:35 Speaker 2: other world, you know, with technology. I mean, when I

4:38 Speaker 2: was in you know, performing in bands and solos, you know,

4:42 Speaker 2: you'd want to you found a venue that you'd want

4:45 Speaker 2: to perform at, you know, and you'd take your eight

4:48 Speaker 2: x ten glossy with your press kit and a cassette tape,

4:51 Speaker 2: you know, with a demo with three songs on it,

4:54 Speaker 2: and you'd get your foot in the door.

4:56 Speaker 1: You know.

4:57 Speaker 2: Now it's like, you know, that's the biggest hurdle for

5:00 Speaker 2: me is and not that I mean I'm good with technology.

5:03 Speaker 2: It's just now getting you know, preparing so to speak,

5:09 Speaker 2: a resume, an online resume and getting it out there.

5:12 Speaker 2: So it but you know, it's it's it's kind of

5:15 Speaker 2: fun too, because it's it's a whole new a whole

5:17 Speaker 2: new world for me. Yeah, it's kind of ironic because

5:21 Speaker 2: you know, you've like your first guest, both your guests

5:24 Speaker 2: that you had on today. Were were terrific. By the way,

5:27 Speaker 2: interesting common thread among the three of us. Yes, we

5:30 Speaker 2: all have accents, so that's true. That's true. I got

5:35 Speaker 2: my coffee here. You're a you're a real New york

5:37 Speaker 2: I got my coffee. And by the way, shout out

5:40 Speaker 2: to my friend Denise. She's listening in o'calla, Florida today.

5:44 Speaker 2: Denise was a co worker who lived in Nashaua. She's

5:48 Speaker 2: Manchester native and uh just recently also retired and made

5:53 Speaker 2: the move to Florida. Okay, so he loaded Denise down

5:57 Speaker 2: in Florida. I hope you're keeping warm down there because

5:59 Speaker 2: where not.

6:01 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I don't know if most of the country

6:03 Speaker 1: is a sweek und Well, yeah.

6:05 Speaker 2: I think there was snow even parts of Florida.

6:07 Speaker 1: I heard really, Yeah, I believe it. Yeah, huge, huge storm.

6:11 Speaker 1: I'm remaining I don't know if you heard me saying

6:13 Speaker 1: this earlier in the show. I'm remaining cautiously opiatistic that

6:16 Speaker 1: it's not going to be that bad here.

6:17 Speaker 2: Yeah. I was laughing because when you said, I don't

6:19 Speaker 2: we're not going to get like two feet and I'm thinking, yeah,

6:21 Speaker 2: just a foot and a half.

6:22 Speaker 1: Yeah, Well that's better, better than two feet. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

6:27 Speaker 2: That's definitely a case where less is more. Yeah. When

6:31 Speaker 2: it comes to snowfall, I love the snow. I mean

6:34 Speaker 2: I actually love the winter. Autumn and winter. I love

6:38 Speaker 2: It's just like, I'm kind of very very sentimental person.

6:41 Speaker 2: I think it's my heritage and of I'm first generation

6:44 Speaker 2: Italian born here. Yeah, and so we're just like naturally

6:48 Speaker 2: emotional sentimental people. And to me, like the autumn and

6:51 Speaker 2: winter is like very very sentimental, you know, melancholy, and

6:56 Speaker 2: I just love it.

6:57 Speaker 1: I don't like the melancholy, no I do. I see

7:00 Speaker 1: the leaves falling, and I just reminds me of death. Well,

7:03 Speaker 1: it's all death.

7:04 Speaker 2: You know. That can't be life without death. It's all

7:07 Speaker 2: the circle, you know.

7:08 Speaker 1: Oh, we do have a call Let's let's see who's

7:10 Speaker 1: on the line here, the phantom.

7:12 Speaker 2: Thanks for calling.

7:13 Speaker 1: Oh I don't know who that was. Might have been,

7:16 Speaker 1: might have been another New Yorker who got a little shy.

7:19 Speaker 1: There's no such thing calling the big time radio show.

7:22 Speaker 1: You know, they got a little nervous there.

7:23 Speaker 2: Shy new Yorker. Actually, when I was younger, I was

7:26 Speaker 2: I couldn't talk to anybody. I really really really shy.

7:29 Speaker 1: Yeah.

7:30 Speaker 2: It broke probably at about sixteen seventeen where I started

7:35 Speaker 2: like being more outgoing.

7:36 Speaker 1: I can relate to that. I was painfully shy growing up. Well,

7:39 Speaker 1: I'm an introvert by nature, which surprises some people because

7:44 Speaker 1: they'll people who don't understand introverts. I'll say, well, how

7:46 Speaker 1: can you host a radio show and you've played in

7:48 Speaker 1: bands and all this stuff, And it's like, well, when

7:50 Speaker 1: you're an introvert, any kind of a performance situation is

7:53 Speaker 1: actually easier than human interaction on a just on a

7:57 Speaker 1: purely social level.

7:58 Speaker 2: It's quite common with actor, comedians, musicians, it is quite common.

8:02 Speaker 2: But from a person that is not in the arts,

8:06 Speaker 2: so to speak like that, it's hard. It's like on

8:09 Speaker 2: the surface, it doesn't make sense, right right, Yeah, but

8:13 Speaker 2: it happens.

8:14 Speaker 1: Like I tell everybody, this is where I feel the

8:16 Speaker 1: safest in the world is behind a microphone. Yeah, you know,

8:19 Speaker 1: whether it's in a radio station or or on hon

8:22 Speaker 1: It's like, I'm very comfortable with public speaking, you know,

8:25 Speaker 1: I can do all that, but I don't. But I

8:26 Speaker 1: don't go to parties. I don't want to do that.

8:29 Speaker 1: I don't want to mingle with people.

8:30 Speaker 2: Ye see I could. I could do both. I have

8:33 Speaker 2: no problem. Well again, I think it's part of being

8:36 Speaker 2: from New York City, always being in crowds. It's just

8:41 Speaker 2: like I actually feel less comfortable in like small, like

8:45 Speaker 2: smaller situations. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm just I'm very comfortable

8:51 Speaker 2: in multi integrated situations with different people.

8:55 Speaker 1: Yeah.

8:56 Speaker 2: Like, I hate to put it this way, but like

8:58 Speaker 2: when I went to Maine for the first time. I

9:00 Speaker 2: was playing with one of my bands, when we went

9:02 Speaker 2: up to Brewer, Maine to play for the whole week.

9:04 Speaker 2: We did that a couple of times at this place,

9:06 Speaker 2: Stacy's Lounge and Brewer and uh, it was almost like

9:10 Speaker 2: we went to the Banger Mall and I felt uncom

9:14 Speaker 2: like there's nothing but white people here, right right. I mean,

9:17 Speaker 2: I hate to bring the subject out. I'm not saying

9:19 Speaker 2: it like in a bad way, but it was uncomfortable

9:22 Speaker 2: for me because it didn't feel natural.

9:24 Speaker 1: That makes you know what I mean, That makes sense.

9:26 Speaker 1: I mean, it wasn't a bad thing, it just was

9:28 Speaker 1: it was odd for me. We have a we have

9:30 Speaker 1: a call? Might be the same person who called earlier.

9:32 Speaker 1: Hi are you there?

9:34 Speaker 3: Hi?

9:35 Speaker 4: Oh?

9:35 Speaker 5: Who's this?

9:37 Speaker 3: This is just a fan of Brooklyn Mike, and I

9:42 Speaker 3: know that voice Fello fan.

9:44 Speaker 1: I thought I thought it might be somebody else calling.

9:46 Speaker 3: But it's it's an anonymous fan.

9:49 Speaker 1: That it's an anonymous fan. We have an anonymous fan.

9:52 Speaker 1: On the line of Brooklyn Mike, you have anonymous fans.

9:54 Speaker 1: So you're already having a lot of success.

9:56 Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see that. That proves it. Nobody wants to admit.

9:58 Speaker 3: It, Brooklyn Mike. You are also a new co host

10:05 Speaker 3: on one of the radio shows. There is that, correct.

10:08 Speaker 2: Yes, the host of that show was quite kind to

10:11 Speaker 2: invite me on a regular basis.

10:14 Speaker 1: Oh, Paul Cormier.

10:15 Speaker 2: Paul Cormier, Yes, I've very much appreciate that.

10:19 Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I was just kidding. Guys. It's me. It's me.

10:23 Speaker 2: Oh, it's Paul Matt, It's Paul.

10:26 Speaker 1: See. I didn't recognize his voice. I thought it was

10:28 Speaker 1: somebody else at me.

10:29 Speaker 2: I thought it was one of those famous people.

10:30 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, he sounds different on the phone, you know

10:33 Speaker 1: what saying. I had you going, but you did. You

10:35 Speaker 1: are usually like one of those voice changer things.

10:39 Speaker 3: No, no, it's just the real McCoy. What you see

10:41 Speaker 3: is what you get.

10:42 Speaker 1: That's amazing. Well, we can't see you. That's why we

10:44 Speaker 1: didn't know it's you.

10:45 Speaker 3: Well, yeah, that's why I'm actually calling. I was actually

10:48 Speaker 3: stepping out. I did my errands this morning, and I

10:52 Speaker 3: was tuning in and I loved the the Irish guy

10:55 Speaker 3: there I had.

10:56 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he was wonderful.

10:59 Speaker 3: Yeah, and his song was fantastic.

11:02 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, no, he was. He was amazing. Uh

11:05 Speaker 1: uh co hal fits. I still don't know if I'm

11:09 Speaker 1: saying his first name correctly, but he said I was.

11:11 Speaker 1: He might have just been being kind.

11:13 Speaker 3: Maybe he was being kind, he man, Maybe.

11:15 Speaker 1: I feel like I'm saying it wrong.

11:18 Speaker 3: So I went out. I went out this morning. I

11:20 Speaker 3: ran my errands and I was listening and I'm like, hey,

11:22 Speaker 3: I'm gonna go win at eleven. And then I got

11:24 Speaker 3: home probably about a half an hour ago, and I

11:27 Speaker 3: was venturing back out and it's too damn cold out there.

11:30 Speaker 1: Man, don't blame you.

11:31 Speaker 2: It was like thirteen below at the Windshill.

11:33 Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah. I'm sitting here now and with a

11:36 Speaker 3: hot cup of coffee, looking forward to hearing some acoustical

11:40 Speaker 3: jams from the fabulous Brooklyn Mike Platino.

11:43 Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes, you said his real last name. He's

11:48 Speaker 1: just stocks to him.

11:54 Speaker 3: Even I even spell it right too. Yeah, he spelt

11:57 Speaker 3: it out to me once and I and I and

11:58 Speaker 3: it stuck.

12:00 Speaker 2: It just took like two or three times to pronounce

12:01 Speaker 2: it properly, which is not unusual. I believe me. It's

12:04 Speaker 2: been pronounced all different ways. The bad thing about having

12:07 Speaker 2: a name like you know, surname like that, that's somewhat unique.

12:11 Speaker 2: So is that I can't say, Well, it wasn't me,

12:14 Speaker 2: it was the other mic Platino, right, that's right, I forget.

12:17 Speaker 2: Actually there were I found another mic Platino, which I

12:19 Speaker 2: was very proud in New Jersey as a dentist.

12:22 Speaker 4: Oh really yeah, and sometimes I get his mail, which

12:24 Speaker 4: is kind of funny.

12:25 Speaker 1: Oh that is funny. That is fine. Yeah, there's another

12:29 Speaker 1: Matt Connorton right here in New Hampshire. But he's my uncle,

12:31 Speaker 1: so that all right, It kind of doesn't count.

12:36 Speaker 3: You ever get one of his paychecks. You just go

12:38 Speaker 3: to the bank wearing a Johnny Oh the thing, Yeah,

12:41 Speaker 3: I'm doctor.

12:42 Speaker 1: Yeah gds yep, were scrubbed. There you go.

12:47 Speaker 2: You're always thinking, Paul.

12:50 Speaker 3: That's right, all right, Well I'm going to be sitting

12:52 Speaker 3: here enjoying your interview and uh, it's always nice to

12:56 Speaker 3: hear book of mic on no matter what show's on,

12:59 Speaker 3: and love your show. I'm your biggest fan. I didn't

13:02 Speaker 3: know if you knew that, but yeah.

13:04 Speaker 1: I did not know. I appreciate that, uh, Paul, see, thank.

13:08 Speaker 3: You you well sometimes all right, all right.

13:14 Speaker 1: That was the great police from Retrospection Radio with poly

13:17 Speaker 1: C of course Brooklyn. Mike is, now are you with

13:19 Speaker 1: us every week on that like officially every week now

13:21 Speaker 1: on that show?

13:23 Speaker 2: Oh?

13:23 Speaker 1: Oh for some reason, why can't I hear you? Oh?

13:26 Speaker 1: I know why? Sorry, I figured it out. Say that again.

13:29 Speaker 2: Yep, hello, yeah, yeah, that is correct. Paul invited me.

13:34 Speaker 2: He called me about two weeks ago and he said

13:35 Speaker 2: listen because usually at the end of each program that

13:38 Speaker 2: I've been on, we have a conversation like do you

13:41 Speaker 2: want me to come back next week? And he says, well,

13:43 Speaker 2: do you want to come back? So he called me

13:44 Speaker 2: about two weeks he says, listen instead of having this

13:46 Speaker 2: conversation every week, if you he says, I'd like I

13:49 Speaker 2: like having you on the show, if you'd like to

13:51 Speaker 2: be on, let's just make you like a permanent co host,

13:53 Speaker 2: as you put it. Yeah, and I said, would be

13:55 Speaker 2: my pleasure, you know.

13:56 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think it's great because we had a conversation.

14:00 Speaker 1: And I don't think he'll mind me saying this, because

14:03 Speaker 1: I think it was just he and I in the

14:04 Speaker 1: room after everyone else had left last night. But he

14:06 Speaker 1: said to me, he said, I really like this crew

14:09 Speaker 1: you know that we have right now on Retrospect.

14:12 Speaker 2: I mean, I'm new to it, but it feels real nice,

14:14 Speaker 2: real comfortable, real natural.

14:16 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, good, I'm glad. I'm glad. Well, geez, you

14:20 Speaker 1: want to play something for people who, uh, for people

14:24 Speaker 1: who have not heard you yet, if you are just

14:26 Speaker 1: joining us Brooklyn Mike is here. He is a real

14:29 Speaker 1: New Yorker. We turned that guitar up there.

14:33 Speaker 2: I don't know what you mean by it.

14:34 Speaker 1: It's a little it's a little inside. But if you know,

14:36 Speaker 1: you know, some of our listeners know what I mean.

14:41 Speaker 1: And real New Yorkers are the most amazing people from

14:44 Speaker 1: what I'm told, Like, there's nobody else on earth quite

14:47 Speaker 1: like a real New Yorker.

14:48 Speaker 2: Really, yeah, I mean we have a president who's a

14:50 Speaker 2: real New york.

14:54 Speaker 1: I just threw up in my mouth. I swallowed it

14:57 Speaker 1: back down, though, because I'm a professional we got the

15:00 Speaker 1: burning sensation in the throat, but I'm okay, you know

15:02 Speaker 1: how to deal with it. I got water here, I'm

15:04 Speaker 1: all right.

15:07 Speaker 2: So I think maybe we'll start off with this song here.

15:11 Speaker 2: So I had mentioned that you you had a interviewed

15:18 Speaker 2: John Poussett Dart. Yes, like I said, that was a

15:21 Speaker 2: in my opinion, great feather in your cap.

15:23 Speaker 1: Oh thank you.

15:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was great interview. I really loved it. And

15:27 Speaker 2: I've been a fan of John Poussett Dart, the Pussett

15:30 Speaker 2: Dart Band since at least nineteen seventy five. I have

15:34 Speaker 2: like all their albums, and I've seen them in concert

15:36 Speaker 2: quite a few times. Okay, wow, And is this song

15:40 Speaker 2: that I've always done of his? I really like it

15:42 Speaker 2: and I think it's quite apropos for today, at least

15:45 Speaker 2: the title of it is. It's entitled Winterness.

15:48 Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, that is apropos. I've shot here all right.

16:00 Speaker 2: Watching the rain fall down, thinking about San Francisco.

16:09 Speaker 5: It all leaves me just about right here laying a

16:17 Speaker 5: wait last night, and felt real nice having you here

16:22 Speaker 5: instead there.

16:26 Speaker 4: Tension and all living with many but still living alone.

16:31 Speaker 5: It's the circle of seasons.

16:36 Speaker 4: It's both sides up the street. Sure is funny to

16:44 Speaker 4: listen to soon song for so long, just like an

16:47 Speaker 4: old friend. Now it's nice to have you back again.

16:54 Speaker 4: Some wonder and wonder and wonder and wonder and wander

16:58 Speaker 4: and wander and wind.

17:00 Speaker 5: Oh back this way again.

17:06 Speaker 4: Witterness, subtle bliss now just about missus me.

17:14 Speaker 5: Sure enough?

17:28 Speaker 6: Yeh yeh yelling yah yah yuh yi yeah, yuh yuh.

17:50 Speaker 7: Say.

17:51 Speaker 5: It's a circle of seasons. It's both sides of the street.

18:00 Speaker 4: I'm just watching the rainfall down, just thinking about San Francisco.

18:10 Speaker 4: It all leaves me just stoop about right here. I

18:15 Speaker 4: ain't gone to know where it all leaves me, just

18:19 Speaker 4: stoop out right. He don't go where it all leaves me,

18:27 Speaker 4: just stoop out right.

18:28 Speaker 5: He hmm.

18:37 Speaker 1: That's great, That is great. Brooklyn Mike is here with

18:40 Speaker 1: us live in studio. If you're just joining us, and uh,

18:44 Speaker 1: you know, it's funny. As much as I don't like Winter,

18:46 Speaker 1: I really like that song or your rendition of it anyway. Yeah, yeah,

18:49 Speaker 1: absolutely absolutely, if you are just joining us, we have

18:52 Speaker 1: Brooklyn Mike here. What's the what's the most because you know,

18:55 Speaker 1: as I'm listening to you sing that, it just occurred

18:57 Speaker 1: to me. I don't know if I've asked you this before.

18:59 Speaker 1: What's the most challenging thing to sing? It's kind of

19:01 Speaker 1: in your your repertoire of songs that you do. Is

19:04 Speaker 1: there something that's particularly challenging for you to sing?

19:06 Speaker 2: To sing? Well, I'll put it this way. If I

19:11 Speaker 2: don't feel that I if I personally, in my opinion,

19:15 Speaker 2: don't feel that I could do a song justice, as

19:17 Speaker 2: much as I might like the song, I won't.

19:19 Speaker 1: Do it, okay.

19:21 Speaker 2: I have to feel that I can render an acceptable,

19:28 Speaker 2: acceptable to me rendition of the song, both playing wise

19:34 Speaker 2: and you know, the total execution the singing. I try

19:39 Speaker 2: to keep. I was having this conversation with Glenn last night,

19:43 Speaker 2: is that one of the things that I enjoy and

19:45 Speaker 2: I find the most challenging is you know, being soloist

19:50 Speaker 2: only playing you know, rhythm guitar and singing. You know,

19:54 Speaker 2: you're replicating something that was generally you know, on an

19:58 Speaker 2: album with you know, full production. So to replicate it

20:02 Speaker 2: and be able to fill all the spaces, you know,

20:05 Speaker 2: without getting too crazy. But I like to keep it

20:08 Speaker 2: as true to the recording as I can. So I

20:13 Speaker 2: hope and feel like so you've never heard that song before.

20:15 Speaker 2: And now if you go out and search that song

20:18 Speaker 2: out and you hear it the recording, I want it

20:23 Speaker 2: what you heard me do be like what you hear

20:27 Speaker 2: on the record. If that makes any sense, Oh it does,

20:29 Speaker 2: it does. And it's not because I want to be

20:32 Speaker 2: like a copycat. It's just my approach is to keep

20:38 Speaker 2: the songs as true to the recordings. Number one, to

20:43 Speaker 2: honor the artist and their vision of the song, which

20:48 Speaker 2: oftentimes is the songwriter themselves. And there's nothing wrong with

20:52 Speaker 2: you know, doing different versions of you know, people do that,

20:55 Speaker 2: they'll do a different take on songs. That's not my approach.

21:00 Speaker 2: And then the other thing is too that if if

21:06 Speaker 2: a person in the audience is hearing a song that

21:09 Speaker 2: they know, and they know it off the record, it

21:12 Speaker 2: sounds more familiar if it's performed as close to the

21:18 Speaker 2: recording as possible. I think people like that. They like

21:22 Speaker 2: that familiarity because I know a lot of times artists

21:26 Speaker 2: and I understand this. I'll just say James Taylor, for example,

21:30 Speaker 2: we'll go out and do Fire and Rain, but he'll

21:31 Speaker 2: do it like a little differently than he did it,

21:33 Speaker 2: you know in nineteen whatever, seventy one because he's done

21:36 Speaker 2: it's seventeen gazillion times, so for his own sanity, he

21:40 Speaker 2: changes it a little bit. Or these the song for

21:44 Speaker 2: the songwriter evolves a little bit and they change it.

21:47 Speaker 2: And some people in the audience enjoy that because it's

21:51 Speaker 2: it's something different. But I know there are people that

21:54 Speaker 2: don't like that. It's like, oh, why is he doing

21:56 Speaker 2: it differently? So you know, you can't please everybody, right,

22:00 Speaker 2: So I have to do what I feel comfortable with,

22:03 Speaker 2: and my approach has always been to try to replicate

22:07 Speaker 2: the original sound as well as as closely as I

22:11 Speaker 2: humanly can with my abilities.

22:14 Speaker 1: I think sometimes too, artists will change, you know, especially

22:17 Speaker 1: someone uh James Taylor. He's got to be in his eighties, right,

22:22 Speaker 1: Sometimes artists will will change over time what they do

22:26 Speaker 1: because just out of sheer necessity. So I'll give you

22:29 Speaker 1: a just a random example. So Kiss, And for those

22:32 Speaker 1: watching the video app, you know, Kiss is my favorite band,

22:34 Speaker 1: so I I never knew that where.

22:37 Speaker 8: Right, But but Kiss is an example of over over

22:42 Speaker 8: the years, at a certain point they started changing the

22:44 Speaker 8: tunings and a lot of rock bands do this where

22:47 Speaker 8: they're they're playing these songs in a lower tuning it's

22:49 Speaker 8: key so that they're a little yeah, so that they're

22:51 Speaker 8: a little bit easier.

22:52 Speaker 1: To sing that voice, to hit those notes. And most

22:56 Speaker 1: people probably don't notice. For someone like me who does notice,

23:00 Speaker 1: I actually like that with that genre. I think that

23:04 Speaker 1: works really well because when you when you tune down that,

23:07 Speaker 1: it actually makes the songs a little bit heavier. And

23:10 Speaker 1: I like that I want because I want them to

23:12 Speaker 1: be heavy. So I kind of on certain songs it's

23:14 Speaker 1: like ooh, I like that, and the I like that

23:16 Speaker 1: tuned down. But I think but I wonder too, even

23:19 Speaker 1: you know, even somebody like James Taylor, I wonder if

23:21 Speaker 1: if maybe some of these songs have changed over the

23:23 Speaker 1: years just out of necessity he does.

23:25 Speaker 2: There's one song that I do three of his songs,

23:28 Speaker 2: and one of the songs, as I was learning it,

23:32 Speaker 2: i've you know, I know the original recording. That's the

23:35 Speaker 2: other thing is that I the vast majority of the

23:38 Speaker 2: songs that I do, which I don't have a repertoire of,

23:40 Speaker 2: I don't know one hundred and twenty songs I do

23:43 Speaker 2: in the original keys. Yeah, And so that's a challenge

23:46 Speaker 2: for me too. Once in a while, I could think

23:48 Speaker 2: of Right now, I can only think of two songs

23:51 Speaker 2: that I do in different keys than the original recordings.

23:55 Speaker 2: And that's just to accommodate my voice, right, my vocal range.

24:01 Speaker 2: I'm a tenor, so I tend to have a higher voice,

24:03 Speaker 2: although as I'm getting older, it's like it's kind of

24:06 Speaker 2: odd I could sing lower.

24:07 Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing to your voice changes. Yeah, yeah,

24:09 Speaker 1: but I.

24:09 Speaker 2: Could still sing. You know, I have a strong falsetto,

24:13 Speaker 2: so yeah, you know that comes in handy. But James Taylor,

24:16 Speaker 2: as an example, one of the three songs of his

24:18 Speaker 2: that I do, I learned it, you know, from the

24:20 Speaker 2: original recording, and then I've seen him do it more recently,

24:25 Speaker 2: and he does it a half step half step higher.

24:28 Speaker 1: Oh he doesn't higher, half step higher. Yeah, it's kind

24:30 Speaker 1: of interesting. Yeah.

24:31 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a baritone. Okay, James Taylor is a baritone.

24:35 Speaker 2: It's funny because I heard him say that he doesn't

24:37 Speaker 2: consider himself at all a good singer, and he wishes that, Yeah,

24:40 Speaker 2: he wishes that he were more of a tenor than

24:43 Speaker 2: a baritone, so he could sing higher.

24:45 Speaker 1: Oh that's interesting, Yeah, yeah.

24:47 Speaker 2: I thought that was interesting to hear him say that.

24:49 Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think he's a very good singer. I

24:51 Speaker 1: think I think he's a great songwriter. Oh yeah, do

24:53 Speaker 1: you want to do something from James Taylor?

24:55 Speaker 2: Yeah, let's I thought you a switches do that song

24:57 Speaker 2: that I'm talking about.

24:58 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious.

24:59 Speaker 2: It's call Don't let Me Be Lonely Tonight. I told

25:04 Speaker 2: this little anecdote on Peters on the Morning Show. Every

25:09 Speaker 2: time I hear this, you know, like sometimes a song

25:13 Speaker 2: can just spark a very very specific memory, not just

25:17 Speaker 2: of a time period or year, but like a very

25:20 Speaker 2: specific and this song, this song, the recording has a

25:25 Speaker 2: sax solo tenor sax solo toward the end. And it

25:29 Speaker 2: was late seventies and I was working in a pizzeria,

25:34 Speaker 2: which I did from like nineteen sixty eight to nineteen

25:37 Speaker 2: eighty one. But I was working at pizzeria. In the kitchen,

25:40 Speaker 2: we had a radio on the shelf and yet you know,

25:44 Speaker 2: rock station on or whatever FM station, and this song

25:47 Speaker 2: came on, and it was the dead of summer, and

25:49 Speaker 2: right as the sax solo was about to start, we

25:53 Speaker 2: had a blackout. It was in the middle of the afternoon,

25:55 Speaker 2: and I just always remember right as the sax Solo

25:58 Speaker 2: was going to start overlight. Everything went out, the refrigerators

26:01 Speaker 2: went off, the lights went out, and like every time

26:04 Speaker 2: I hear the song, I remember that so but I

26:07 Speaker 2: will admit that in my rendition, I will not be

26:10 Speaker 2: doing the sax solo.

26:11 Speaker 1: Okay, fair, I think that's fair. No, no, no, sax solo.

26:15 Speaker 2: No, not today.

26:16 Speaker 1: If you're just joining us, we have Brooklyn Mike here

26:18 Speaker 1: with us, live in studio.

26:20 Speaker 2: All right, let's give this baby a shot.

26:21 Speaker 1: All right, looking forward to this. I love James Tayler's

26:26 Speaker 1: right again.

26:30 Speaker 2: That's too loud.

26:31 Speaker 1: Nope, nope, that's great.

26:32 Speaker 2: Really okay, do me wrong?

26:38 Speaker 4: To me right, tell me lies, but ho me tight.

26:48 Speaker 4: Save your goodbyes for the morning light.

26:53 Speaker 2: But don't let me be lonely tonight.

27:00 Speaker 4: Say goodbye and say hello. Sure enough, good to see you,

27:08 Speaker 4: but it's time to go.

27:12 Speaker 5: Don't say yes, but please don't say no.

27:16 Speaker 6: I don't want to be lonely tonight.

27:22 Speaker 4: Go away and tam, go on and do as you

27:27 Speaker 4: please here. You ain't gonna see me getting down on

27:32 Speaker 4: my knees. I'm undecided, and your heart's been divided. You've

27:40 Speaker 4: been turning my world upside down. So do me wrong

27:51 Speaker 4: and do me right right now, baby, go on and

27:56 Speaker 4: tell me lies, but hold me tight. Save your goodbyes

28:03 Speaker 4: for the morning light, morning light. But don't let me

28:07 Speaker 4: be lonely tonight. I don't want to be lonely to night. No,

28:17 Speaker 4: I don't want to be lonely tonight.

28:26 Speaker 1: Beautiful, beautiful Brooklyn Mike here on the show this morning.

28:31 Speaker 2: Thank you.

28:31 Speaker 1: That's great. That's great. Now, So the next just for

28:36 Speaker 1: people who are joining us now, so you're gonna be

28:40 Speaker 1: when's the next open my kid?

28:41 Speaker 2: Is it in February? February February fourth, first Wednesday of February.

28:45 Speaker 1: At Pembroke City Limits of course, which uh uh. Rob

28:50 Speaker 1: as a veto who also hosts a Greatest State of

28:52 Speaker 1: Mind here on WM and H and so Rob's been

28:55 Speaker 1: a part of the you know, a very important part

28:56 Speaker 1: of the music scene here for a long time. So

28:59 Speaker 1: that's that's great. Now have you been have you been

29:01 Speaker 1: doing any other open mics anywhere.

29:03 Speaker 2: Else or no, I'm looking into it. I was actually

29:06 Speaker 2: over at the Mocha pot and talking to the gal

29:11 Speaker 2: down there. They're thinking of starting to do some open

29:13 Speaker 2: mics actually in February they're going to start doing a

29:15 Speaker 2: comedian open mics.

29:17 Speaker 1: Oh no kidding.

29:17 Speaker 2: Yeah, so that'll be fun.

29:19 Speaker 1: Yeah, and uh we need more of that, Yeah, need

29:22 Speaker 1: more laughter in general.

29:23 Speaker 2: Kidding.

29:27 Speaker 1: Oh, very cool. Now when you do the open mics,

29:29 Speaker 1: do you what do you do?

29:29 Speaker 5: Like?

29:30 Speaker 1: Do you do you kind of mix it up or

29:32 Speaker 1: do you try different things kind of read the crowd

29:34 Speaker 1: or I try to.

29:36 Speaker 2: It's it seems like they've the way it's been two times.

29:40 Speaker 2: It's like they allow you three songs. Okay, so I

29:43 Speaker 2: just I don't know. I've picked three songs that I

29:46 Speaker 2: feel most comfortable with. Like I said, I'm still getting

29:49 Speaker 2: over the nervousness. Yeah, I didn't finish that conversation. It's

29:52 Speaker 2: kind of ironic because I got into the whole thing

29:55 Speaker 2: about moving to New Hampshire. But before I moved here,

29:58 Speaker 2: for over fifteen years, almost twenty years, I largely made

30:02 Speaker 2: a living, you know, performing in bands and solos, and

30:06 Speaker 2: I literally performed in front of almost twenty thousand people,

30:10 Speaker 2: you know, very large crowds.

30:11 Speaker 1: Wow.

30:12 Speaker 2: Never bothered me, you know, you know, I was just so. Also,

30:15 Speaker 2: when you're younger, I think you're less, you have less inhibitions.

30:20 Speaker 1: Depends on the person. Yeah, I think some people. For

30:22 Speaker 1: some people, I think it's the opposite, you know, because

30:25 Speaker 1: some people as they get older, they they become more

30:28 Speaker 1: just kind of secure, like like they're not as worried

30:30 Speaker 1: about some of the things that they were when they

30:32 Speaker 1: were younger.

30:32 Speaker 2: In terms of I think for I should I should specify.

30:35 Speaker 2: For me, it's it's in terms of performing, Okay, not

30:38 Speaker 2: just in general generally in life, Like, yeah, I'm comfortable,

30:42 Speaker 2: like I talk to strangers all the time. I have

30:45 Speaker 2: no problem speaking with anybody or but because I take

30:48 Speaker 2: the performing so seriously, like I'm so worried about screwing up. Yeah,

30:53 Speaker 2: and I just, you know, want to make a good impression.

30:55 Speaker 1: I just that makes sense.

30:56 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like that. So, and I was doing it

31:00 Speaker 2: on such a regular basis. I mean there were times

31:02 Speaker 2: where I was in a band where we were doing

31:05 Speaker 2: over thirty jobs a month, you know, while we were

31:07 Speaker 2: out all the time.

31:08 Speaker 1: Yeah.

31:10 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you know there were slow times too.

31:13 Speaker 1: Yeah.

31:13 Speaker 2: So now it's like just starting all over. It's almost

31:16 Speaker 2: like starting for the first Like I have all this

31:18 Speaker 2: repertoire that you know, I had to brush up on.

31:21 Speaker 1: Yeah, but.

31:24 Speaker 2: It's it's getting better. As far as the not being

31:27 Speaker 2: too nervous.

31:28 Speaker 1: Yeah, but I.

31:29 Speaker 2: Still even coming in here just you and me, I'm still,

31:31 Speaker 2: you know, because I still I think it's because I

31:34 Speaker 2: take it so seriously.

31:35 Speaker 1: Oh that's a good thing. That's a good thing.

31:36 Speaker 2: Well plus two.

31:37 Speaker 1: Isn't it good to be a little bit nervous a little?

31:40 Speaker 4: Uh?

31:40 Speaker 2: I mean yeah, I guess a little bit. I think

31:42 Speaker 2: I keep on your toes a little bit.

31:44 Speaker 1: Yeah, And it's just, you know, it's kind of you know,

31:46 Speaker 1: it's because to me, it's a you know, like I

31:48 Speaker 1: always thought of stage right as being a good kind

31:50 Speaker 1: of nervous.

31:50 Speaker 3: You know.

31:50 Speaker 1: I don't playing bands anymore, but when I when I

31:52 Speaker 1: used to, you know, I I, uh, of course stage

31:57 Speaker 1: right works different ways for different people, but I know

31:59 Speaker 1: for me and for all a lot of people, it

32:00 Speaker 1: would be, you know, I would be nervous right up

32:02 Speaker 1: to the point of going on stage, that kind of

32:05 Speaker 1: nervous energy, but then once on stage, it's like, oh, okay, yeah,

32:08 Speaker 1: this is good, you know.

32:10 Speaker 2: And also for me, it's kind of interesting that you

32:12 Speaker 2: put it that way, like waiting to go on stage.

32:15 Speaker 2: So all the bands that I worked in, I did

32:17 Speaker 2: the sound like I had have the sound system oh yeah,

32:19 Speaker 2: So like I would get there, you know, before everybody

32:22 Speaker 2: else and unload the whole sound. So I was already

32:24 Speaker 2: like you know, in the groove, you know, getting sound

32:28 Speaker 2: ready and getting all the mics and the yamps and

32:31 Speaker 2: the you know, the the PA speakers and getting all

32:33 Speaker 2: you know, hooking everything up. So by the time it

32:36 Speaker 2: came time to actually, you know, put my bass on

32:39 Speaker 2: my shoulder and start and sing and perform, I was like,

32:43 Speaker 2: it's like a relief.

32:44 Speaker 4: Yeah, now I could I could have fun. You know, Yeah,

32:47 Speaker 4: you got all the work out of the.

32:48 Speaker 2: Way, you know, right right.

32:50 Speaker 7: Did you like that?

32:51 Speaker 1: Did you like me?

32:52 Speaker 2: I loved it. I love doing sound.

32:54 Speaker 1: Yeah that's good because sometimes you know, if there's a

32:58 Speaker 1: guy in a band who's also the sound guy, they

33:00 Speaker 1: do it out of they're doing it out of necessity.

33:03 Speaker 2: No, I volunteered to do it because even it started

33:08 Speaker 2: right from the very very beginning. The first band that

33:10 Speaker 2: I was in with my brother, you know, we went

33:13 Speaker 2: out and bought the sound system, which I had to

33:16 Speaker 2: supplement as time went on with you know, the other

33:18 Speaker 2: bands that I was in, but you know, we had

33:21 Speaker 2: a basic sound system, and I I just volunteered because

33:24 Speaker 2: I know, I just had an ear for it and

33:26 Speaker 2: I wanted to do it, and nobody else really wanted to.

33:30 Speaker 2: I was like, I was happy to do it.

33:32 Speaker 5: Yeah.

33:32 Speaker 2: And plus, you know, I mean, I think you know

33:36 Speaker 2: this very well that no matter how good a band is,

33:39 Speaker 2: the sound could make or break a band. Sure, And

33:43 Speaker 2: and I so often go hear bands even just sometimes

33:47 Speaker 2: like hearing a person doing like speaking, and it's like,

33:52 Speaker 2: who is doing? Sound? Like it's so muffled, you know,

33:55 Speaker 2: it's so easy to correct it, you know, and so

33:59 Speaker 2: so I enjoyed being able to to do that and

34:02 Speaker 2: get the sound to my in my opinion, proper right.

34:06 Speaker 2: And we never had any complaints.

34:08 Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that makes sense, That makes sense. Yeah, well

34:11 Speaker 1: you want to.

34:11 Speaker 2: Play another one?

34:12 Speaker 5: Yeah?

34:12 Speaker 2: Sure, how about and see?

34:15 Speaker 1: Oh let me get that uh git up there?

34:18 Speaker 2: Of course, you know I got into one by my

34:20 Speaker 2: man Gordon.

34:22 Speaker 1: Oh, yes, is he? I know we've talked about this before,

34:26 Speaker 1: but remind me, is he your favorite?

34:27 Speaker 2: Yeah?

34:28 Speaker 1: All time?

34:29 Speaker 2: Gordon Lightfoot.

34:30 Speaker 1: Okay, that's what I thought.

34:31 Speaker 2: I referred to him as my hero. And like I said,

34:34 Speaker 2: I've said, I've was very very fortunate to get to

34:37 Speaker 2: meet him a few times.

34:38 Speaker 1: Yeah.

34:39 Speaker 2: So I'm in concert quite a number of times in

34:41 Speaker 2: New York and also here.

34:42 Speaker 1: Like how many times would you say, like double digits?

34:44 Speaker 2: Like, oh no, no, not that many times. No, probably

34:49 Speaker 2: half a dozen, maybe more than that, close ten times. Okay,

34:53 Speaker 2: but you know, I don't have to see somebody every

34:56 Speaker 2: time they come around, right, But I probably knew articles one,

35:00 Speaker 2: two three. I saw him at Carnegie Hall. That was

35:02 Speaker 2: a really great concert. I mean, you want to talk about,

35:07 Speaker 2: you know, the old saying you could hear a pin

35:08 Speaker 2: drop in the audience, you know, and he's like when

35:11 Speaker 2: he performs, like it's very very controlled, very quiet. It's

35:19 Speaker 2: just it was. If you've ever gotten to see him,

35:23 Speaker 2: it was an amazing, amazing experience to support. And yeah,

35:28 Speaker 2: so just this a little bit of a cautionary tale,

35:32 Speaker 2: I would say, and cautionary in the respect that if

35:39 Speaker 2: you happen to have the propensity for talking in your

35:43 Speaker 2: sleep and you might have some secrets could be an issue.

35:48 Speaker 2: So this one is entitled talking in your sleep. I

36:22 Speaker 2: heard you talking in your sleeper. Is there an't anything

36:26 Speaker 2: that I can do? I don't believe we've had a

36:30 Speaker 2: word all name about anything at all. I heard you

36:37 Speaker 2: talking in the night. That's right.

36:40 Speaker 4: Yes, I heard your call, but I could hardly hear

36:45 Speaker 4: the name you spoke. It's me, My, don't recall. I

36:54 Speaker 4: heard you so offly whisper. I reached to hold you

37:02 Speaker 4: near me, and from your lips there came that secret

37:09 Speaker 4: I was not supposed to know. I heard you talking

37:17 Speaker 4: in your sleep. Is there anything that I can say?

37:23 Speaker 4: I don't believe we've had a word all day about anything?

37:28 Speaker 6: You know? Today?

38:00 Speaker 4: I heard you softly whisper. I reached out to hold

38:08 Speaker 4: you near me, and from your lips it came that

38:13 Speaker 4: secret I was not supposed to know. I heard you

38:23 Speaker 4: talking in your sleep. Is there anything that I can do?

38:29 Speaker 4: I don't believe we've had.

38:31 Speaker 6: A word all day.

38:33 Speaker 7: About anything at all.

38:37 Speaker 5: I heard you talking in the night.

38:40 Speaker 4: That's right, it's I heard you call, though I could

38:45 Speaker 4: hardly hear the name you who spoke? It's me, My

38:49 Speaker 4: don't recall.

39:04 Speaker 1: Hmm, Yeah, I don't know that one. That's us beautiful.

39:07 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's an old one that's probably from nineteen sixty six,

39:12 Speaker 2: goes way back.

39:13 Speaker 1: Yeah, Wow, When when did he start? Was that like

39:16 Speaker 1: the beginning for him?

39:17 Speaker 2: He goes back to the fifties. Actually, oh, no kidding.

39:20 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he didn't realize started at a really young age.

39:23 Speaker 1: Oh wow.

39:24 Speaker 2: Oh see, I didn't realize the late fifties. But in America,

39:28 Speaker 2: I mean as far as recordings and getting on the radio,

39:31 Speaker 2: it was probably about sixty six or so.

39:34 Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, and then when did he pass away? Was

39:38 Speaker 1: I was.

39:39 Speaker 2: May May first? I think of twenty twenty three.

39:44 Speaker 1: Okay, not that long ago. Yeah, and he was he

39:47 Speaker 1: was kind of performing up to the end.

39:49 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was doing like almost one hundred

39:51 Speaker 2: shows a year.

39:51 Speaker 6: Jeez.

39:52 Speaker 2: Wow, good for him eighty four and a half years old.

39:54 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's incredible, that's incredible. What was he still able

39:58 Speaker 1: to sing?

39:58 Speaker 2: Pretty much? His his voice was shot, was it. Yeah?

40:01 Speaker 2: It was one of those that unfortunately it was just

40:04 Speaker 2: like a veil of his former voice.

40:07 Speaker 1: Yeah.

40:08 Speaker 2: But you know, mixed reviews. I mean, people that would

40:12 Speaker 2: go to see him, that expected to, you know, hear

40:14 Speaker 2: the Gordon Lightfoot of the nineteen seventies, you know, would

40:18 Speaker 2: complain about it, why is she still doing shows? But

40:21 Speaker 2: those of us that really loved him, it didn't matter,

40:23 Speaker 2: you know, right, because the music was still a hundred

40:26 Speaker 2: I mean, he was still one hundred percent there with

40:27 Speaker 2: the music really yeah. Yeah, and he would never never

40:31 Speaker 2: miss a beat, never miss a lyric, nothing, yeah, you know,

40:34 Speaker 2: and he still had the guys, I mean, the drummer,

40:36 Speaker 2: drummer and a bassist that played with him for like

40:41 Speaker 2: through all these decades. Really yeah, and even the keyboardist

40:44 Speaker 2: has been with him since like the nineteen eighties, no kidding, Yeah,

40:47 Speaker 2: the same Guy's pretty amazing.

40:49 Speaker 1: Is that's incredible?

40:50 Speaker 2: Only his guitarist had passed away in recent years and

40:53 Speaker 2: he was replaced with a great guitarist. But yeah, that's so.

40:57 Speaker 2: It really was like hearing the records and you'd go

41:00 Speaker 2: to see him other than his voice being diminished, which

41:03 Speaker 2: you know you can't you can understand.

41:05 Speaker 1: That, I guess. Yeah, of course. Yeah. How old was he?

41:07 Speaker 1: Eighty four?

41:08 Speaker 2: Eighty four and a half, Yeah, eighty.

41:09 Speaker 1: Four and a half. Jez, wow, Now that is that

41:12 Speaker 1: is remarkable. Who else is a big influence on you?

41:15 Speaker 2: Dan Fogelberg, yep, another one of my favorites as far

41:19 Speaker 2: as vocal, Like I say, my vocal mentor is a

41:25 Speaker 2: singer songwriter also from New York City, Kenny Rankin Okay,

41:29 Speaker 2: So he's he's one of my biggest influences as far

41:34 Speaker 2: as far as uh, you know the term of vocal stylings.

41:37 Speaker 1: Yeah, what what is it about him?

41:40 Speaker 2: Because I'm trying to think, you know, he his his

41:43 Speaker 2: style of playing. It was very very much like uh,

41:47 Speaker 2: you know, like Boston Nova, like Brazilian style of music.

41:52 Speaker 2: And he he did a lot of covers. I do

41:56 Speaker 2: a few of a few songs of his so that

41:59 Speaker 2: are covers, but like in the style that he does them. Okay,

42:02 Speaker 2: I speak kind of interesting. A song that I did

42:06 Speaker 2: last time I was here, uh, Pussy Willow's Cattails. Funny

42:11 Speaker 2: little anecdote about that is that I was always big

42:14 Speaker 2: a Gordon Lightfoot fan, but I didn't really know a

42:18 Speaker 2: lot of lot. I knew like his hits early on,

42:21 Speaker 2: like in the early seventies. I knew songs that were

42:23 Speaker 2: on radio. I didn't really have many of his albums yet,

42:27 Speaker 2: but I did. I was very familiar with Kenny Rankin.

42:29 Speaker 2: He was he had a lot of airplay in New

42:31 Speaker 2: York City, and so I had a bunch of his albums.

42:35 Speaker 2: And one of my favorite songs of Kenny Rankins was

42:38 Speaker 2: that he did Pussy Willow's Cattails. And I didn't realize

42:41 Speaker 2: until years later that it was a Gordon Lightfoot song.

42:44 Speaker 2: So it kind of all came together, you know, it

42:46 Speaker 2: was Yeah, okay, this makes sense. And yeah, Kenny he

42:50 Speaker 2: covered like two or three Gordon Lightfoot songs.

42:52 Speaker 1: Oh wow, kid?

42:53 Speaker 3: Yeah?

42:53 Speaker 2: Yeah, oh interesting, Yeah one another one called Mountains and Marianne. Yeah,

42:59 Speaker 2: it might be just those two.

43:00 Speaker 1: Now is he still around Kenny rank No, he died quite.

43:02 Speaker 2: A number of years ago, unfortunately. Okay, yeah, okay, good,

43:06 Speaker 2: almost twenty years ago. Now, yeah, oh yeah, did you

43:10 Speaker 2: want to play something of his? Uh, that's interesting. Let's

43:13 Speaker 2: see what can we do.

43:17 Speaker 1: I'm particularly curious because, off the top of my head,

43:20 Speaker 1: let me turn that guitar up. Off the top of

43:21 Speaker 1: my head, I don't really know any Kenny Rankin. I'm

43:26 Speaker 1: certainly a where if we ate he was, but I

43:29 Speaker 1: can't think of anything of his that I know.

43:36 Speaker 2: I'm going to do a song that he did. He

43:37 Speaker 2: did a cover. This is a cover, so you'll you

43:40 Speaker 2: know the song, but uh, really going out on going

43:44 Speaker 2: out in the limb on this.

43:44 Speaker 1: One, that's live radio. It's exciting.

43:54 Speaker 2: Okay, So this is I'm going to try to replicate

43:57 Speaker 2: Kenny's version of this song. As well as I can.

44:01 Speaker 1: Will will we recognize the song?

44:03 Speaker 2: Yes?

44:04 Speaker 1: Okay, as soon as the vocal comes in, I think, okay, okay.

44:06 Speaker 7: Well, I look at you all.

44:30 Speaker 4: See the love there that sleeping while my ma getar

44:39 Speaker 4: gently weeps. I look at the floor and I see

44:51 Speaker 4: me sweeping steal Ma getar gently wee.

45:05 Speaker 5: I don't know nobody told you how to unfold your love,

45:23 Speaker 5: and I don't know how someone controlled you. They bought

45:33 Speaker 5: and soul you.

45:41 Speaker 4: I look at the world and I see it's still

45:47 Speaker 4: turning while my guitar gently we.

46:00 Speaker 5: With every mistake, we.

46:02 Speaker 6: Must surely be learning.

46:08 Speaker 5: Still my guitar gently we I don't know why you

46:22 Speaker 5: were diverted you will preferred to, and I don't know

46:36 Speaker 5: how you were renverted. No wanna learned. And I'll let

47:02 Speaker 5: you all see the little father sleeping.

47:09 Speaker 4: While I get tar gently weep.

48:09 Speaker 1: Hmmm, that was fantastic, Thank you good Lord. That was

48:13 Speaker 1: really good, really good.

48:15 Speaker 2: If that doesn't sedate you, I don't know what will.

48:17 Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that and that that harmonic that does

48:19 Speaker 1: he do that on his version? Jesus threw that. That

48:22 Speaker 1: is cool as hell. I love that harmonic. You threw

48:25 Speaker 1: it right at the end there. Yeah, well, the drama

48:27 Speaker 1: of it is just so good.

48:29 Speaker 2: Well, that's you know, one of the if you could

48:31 Speaker 2: bring it up again, that's one of the things that

48:33 Speaker 2: I love, you know, uh, for example, is figure oftentimes

48:38 Speaker 2: figuring out how to how to end the song. I

48:40 Speaker 2: mean a lot of songs on records fade, so it's

48:43 Speaker 2: coming up with an ending. And so the way I

48:46 Speaker 2: describe it, it's like that's my version of Kenny Rankin's

48:49 Speaker 2: version of well my guitar. Yeah, but to do I

48:54 Speaker 2: like to and that that.

49:08 Speaker 1: Love it.

49:11 Speaker 2: Gotta end it somehow.

49:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, that is so good. That is so good.

49:16 Speaker 2: One of the things I enjoyed the most is that

49:18 Speaker 2: that type of stuff.

49:19 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. If you're just joining us up. Brooklyn

49:22 Speaker 1: Mike is here with us a live in studio on

49:24 Speaker 1: this very very cold Saturday morning. We got looking at

49:29 Speaker 1: the clock. We got time for what you want to do?

49:31 Speaker 2: One more? Sure?

49:32 Speaker 1: All right? We had time for one more love hearing

49:34 Speaker 1: Brooklyn Mike play.

49:36 Speaker 2: Thank you, h I think I'd like to if you

49:38 Speaker 2: don't mind another Gordon Lightfoot song.

49:40 Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, whatever you want to do, got to honor.

49:42 Speaker 2: My man here. So another another thing that I enjoyed

49:59 Speaker 2: doing is kind of turning people on to songs by

50:06 Speaker 2: artists that they know, but they don't know the songs

50:09 Speaker 2: so I do. For example, up until recently, I mean

50:14 Speaker 2: I I do like about fifteen Gordon Lightfoot songs, and

50:17 Speaker 2: only two of them were hits. But more recently, thanks

50:21 Speaker 2: to Paul Cormier and his suggestions, I've added some more

50:25 Speaker 2: popular Gordon Lightfoot songs, which I think was a great idea.

50:29 Speaker 2: So I've got about five of those now.

50:30 Speaker 1: Wow.

50:31 Speaker 2: But this one is probably one of my top three

50:36 Speaker 2: favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs of all time. Nineteen seventy four

50:39 Speaker 2: off the Sundown album. And unless you're a fan of

50:43 Speaker 2: his or had the album, you probably have never heard

50:45 Speaker 2: the song. But I just and again if anybody that,

50:50 Speaker 2: if you're out there and you're hearing this song and

50:52 Speaker 2: it sparks your interest, please go and listen to the recording,

50:56 Speaker 2: because it's the orchest straight, it's it's very haunting. The

51:01 Speaker 2: orchestration on it is amazing, the production is amazing, and

51:07 Speaker 2: it's just one of those songs I still I wish he.

51:11 Speaker 2: I wish he were still alive for many many reasons,

51:14 Speaker 2: but also if I could get to meet him again,

51:16 Speaker 2: to ask him what is this song about? Because I

51:19 Speaker 2: have I can't. I still can't figure it out. It's uh, musically,

51:24 Speaker 2: it's it's very interesting, I find and even like lyrically,

51:29 Speaker 2: I just I can't figure it figured it out. So

51:32 Speaker 2: if anybody out there knows, it's called is There Anyone Home?

51:37 Speaker 2: Is the title of this song, and it's if you

51:39 Speaker 2: want to hear it. It's on the Sundown album.

51:43 Speaker 1: M hm.

51:56 Speaker 4: Is there anyone home in this house? Made? Anyone inside?

52:03 Speaker 3: No my name.

52:06 Speaker 4: I've been around for or half one hundred days, never

52:12 Speaker 4: saw a door shuts the tight turn around, don't look down.

52:19 Speaker 4: There's a man behind you with a gun. Like any

52:33 Speaker 4: wandering child in the wilderness, wild and uncaged.

52:38 Speaker 5: On your wings.

52:41 Speaker 2: I think I heard.

52:45 Speaker 5: Someone stirred.

52:47 Speaker 4: I think I heard someone stern. There's a light around you.

52:56 Speaker 4: I've come to switch it on. It would brighten everywhere.

53:04 Speaker 4: Don't be ashamed. If you feel a whole lot water

53:08 Speaker 4: in your heart, you got that feeling in your soul?

53:24 Speaker 4: Is there anyone home in this house?

53:27 Speaker 5: Made soul? Anyone in there who might care?

53:33 Speaker 4: I've grown weary and wise, and I feel much amazed.

53:39 Speaker 4: Got a few good tells too unwine. Turn around, don't

53:45 Speaker 4: look down. There's a man behind you with the girl,

53:59 Speaker 4: like anyone entering minstrel let On in the House of

54:04 Speaker 4: a Thousand Delights. I think I heard someone Stern.

54:13 Speaker 2: I think I heard.

54:16 Speaker 5: Someone Stern. I think I got hurt someone Stern. I

54:23 Speaker 5: think I got heard someone Stern.

54:31 Speaker 2: I think got the

54:36 Speaker 5: Someone Stern.