Indy In-Tune #171: Mike M'Ocean Myers

Explicit content warning

01/07/15 • 59 min

One of the great parts of doing this podcast/website/community thing called Indy In-Tune has always been meeting new players and watching them develop their craft over years at a time. Some of them are top bands in the area that have move on to regional and national recognition, some of them are garage bands that never quite make it out of the garage. Once I even interviewed a band that pretty much broke up the day after the podcast was recorded. Sure a lot of times I'm just spotlighting artists everyone has heard and playing tracks everyone already owns, but then there are those shows where I'm introducing someone I really admire, but I know 95% of you have never even heard of before. Then we come to my friend Mike Myers, whom many of you know, many of you have heard, but I guarantee very few of you have heard him like you're going to hear him on this episode. I can't say I wouldn't have ever met Mike Myers if it wasn't for Indy In-Tune. We're both regulars at the open mic around the corner from Studio B. We were drinking buddies probably before he even knew what was going on in my basement. I'd heard him play probably a hundred times, usually cover fare that most people whip out on stages like Claude and Annie's which I rarely taken notice of anymore, but sing along with subconsciously almost every time. As we allude to in the show though, there was one night in particular, when he stripped everything down to the basics and played his original songs, that those people in the room that night saw magic, and I knew that was the Mike Myers I had to show everyone. This interview, long in the making, I think captures both the personal warmth and simple charm of his music, and the personable warmth and witty charm of his personality. Of course, he's not like this in real life ... but he does make a fascinating interview. Links Referenced in the Show: Mike Myers can be found here | ...oh and here ) and here () and here () and don't forget here (). All of the music for this episode was recorded live on the air in the studio and is presented in their original raw format, just they way they aired -- again, because I'm not a producer. Apologies for the cell phone chirps, beer bottle clanks, and banter in the background. Co-hosting on this episode are Brandon/Benjamin Cannon of and singer/songwriter Brandon Wilson who first appeared on . Samplings of his music can and videos be found on his EPK page. He can be found most Wednesday nights at Nick Wengler's open stage at , and on Thursday nights at Kolo Bell's open stage at in Broad Ripple. The sure looks scary to us. His third track, I'll Cry in the Dark, was inspired by .

Previous Episode

Indy In-Tune #170: Bashiri Asad Forever

... and so we kick over into a new year, 2015. I keep a black moleskin with all of my various projects, initiatives, goals, and hair-brained schemes in it. I'd say we got through quite a few last year, from a revamped website to some new equipment, and finally to building a makeshift stage and video studio down in the secret underground bunker we call "Indy In-Tune Studio B." This year, the goals are fewer, and possibly less-ambitious. Put simply, my goal this year is to be as busy as humanly possile. Specifically, I want to be at 250 podcasts, 50 mini concerts, and as much archived on-air fun as I can accumulate under the belt by this time next year. Why? Because it has not escape my attention that after 9 years, I should be coming up on episode #450, and in the past two years that veritable conucopia of weelkly shows that have popped up (Free Beer Express, Brother Brother, Chris Brake Show, DoIt Indy, et al.), and some of them are already approaching their 100th episode. That part of my brain that's ruled by numbers tells me that this is unacceptable. I am the longest-standing podcaster in Central Indiana, I should have an episode count that inspires awe. So if anything, as I've always said, I love the fact that shows like those come along, since they make me step up my game. 2015 kicks off with our third visit from the great Bashiri Asad, this time in support of his brand new release, "Bashiri Asad Presents the Gil Suite: A Toast to Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson." This is an amazing album he has put together as part of his "Year of Tributes" (more on that during the interview) and features some top-notch talent from around our scene including, but not limited to, Brandon Meeks, Devon Ashley, Justin Brewer, Rob Dixon, Nick Gerlach, Max Allen, Phil Geyer, and Ashton Kleeman. He joined us in the studio with guitarist John Fell where he gave an impromptu acoustic set of numbers spaning all of his releases. How's that for kicking the year off with a bang? Links referenced in the show: Bashiri Asad can be found here: | | The first three tracks were recorded live on the air in the studio and are presented in their original raw format, just they way they aired -- mostly because I'm not a producer. Bashiri is accompanied by on guitar for these tracks. Apologies for the webcam blips, beer bottle clanks, and awe-inspired whispering in the background. Co-hosting on this episode are Brandon/Benjamin Cannon of and singer/songwriter Brandon Wilson who first appeared on . His latest project, "The Gil Suite," along with his other releases, can be found on his . It is a tribute to poet/author/musician . It was conceived at (a much good art is) in a conversation between Bashiri and . He first teamed up with () and (sound engineer at ) when he contributed vocals to their . Everybody is on about .

Next Episode

Indy In-Tune #172: Emily Myren

Not sure what it is about winters, but it seems like the local music scene appears to go into hibernation between October and February around here, at least as far as the bigger, more popular acts go. Normally, I would use this time to take a nice holiday break, maybe catch up on some old editing of live shows, network with bands and arrange some guests for Spring. With any luck, I get a chance to hit a few coffee shops (perfect with the cold weather) and hunt down some new singer/songwriter talent, those guys seem to work all year 'round. This year, however, it seems there are fewer and fewer new entrants into that circle. Maybe I met all off them courtesy of the myriad Shine series from the last couple of years, I really don't know. Complicating this is the fact that the rapid loss of live music venues that has plagued us for the last three years has now has extended to the coffee houses with many, such as Hearthstone, closing due to extensive competition, and others simply giving up on live music altogether to avoid the increasing presence of ASCAP fees and fines every time a performer slips in the occasional cover tune during their set of originals. One new find for me this year has been Ms. Emily Myren, an up-and-coming, very in demand player who has given us no shortage of opportunities to see her perform in the second half of 2014. Bringing a new style and voice to the singer/songwriter scene, Emily has quickly become an in-demand favorite at most of our usual haunts, from the Shine series to Sabbatical to the newly added front room at the Alley Cat to a stellar appearance in the final round of Birdy's One Guitar competition. Now for the first time we get her on Indy In-Tune to play a few tracks from her new CD, Found, and to give us the story behind the songs and the songwriter. Links Referenced in the Show: Emily Myren can be found here | | . Co-hosting on this episode are Brandon/Benjamin Cannon of and singer/songwriter Brandon Wilson who first appeared on . Her latest EP, Found, can be purchased . It took all of 2 and a half hours to record. (Her first EP took even longer!) It was produced by Ryan Gibbons at . She got her start as a sociology major at Ball State. She recently made it to the finals of . She was formerly the lead singer of a band called The Appomattox, which became .