The First (sort of)

I am trying to eat a bowl of oatmeal right now.  If I were to be completely transparent, this is posing a challenge for me today—eating I mean.  I am full of anxiety.  I am about to put myself out there as I used to do, for years.  This starts off as a frightening experience.  I have been here before; I have been there before; and it is comforting to know where this road leads: to good places.  Life is about taking risks.  All the fun stuff resides on a horizon, riddled with land mines of mistakes on its forefront, on a field of hard work.  In recent years, I have stepped on quite a few land mines.

I was spilling all of my emotional entrails and sharing a lot of what I was feeling right now, on this very page, for the past hour.  However, the delete key on my keyboard has replaced the many paragraphs I had just written, with this sentence.  Now I am here.  I have managed to finish the bowl of oatmeal and I feel a bit better.

I used to do this a lot.  Journal my thoughts, I mean.  I might again because I find it very cathartic.

Believe this, because it is true: I stopped posting these journals (blogs) because my roommate told me he thought it was "kind of lame."  He had his reasons for sharing his thoughts on the matter.  Who is to say whether he was right?  I can say that words are powerful, both my own and everyone else's.  What I give credence to is my own decision, though.  In hindsight, I believe I shouldn't have listened to him.  Only I know what works for me.

Forgive me for not sharing all that is running through my head this afternoon.  I need to get back to what I am working on.  I am putting together a Patreon account to help fund more live recording videos on Youtube.  When it is completed, I will try to remember to post a link to it here.  In the meanwhile, here is a link to my Youtube page:  http://www.youtube.com/mikevitalemusic

Should you happen to find something to like on there, I would be honored to have your subscription and your attention.

I just completed making a video that I worked very hard on.  The recording was effortless because Frank handled that, but mixing the audio myself was very difficult (it took me nearly 3 months).  We have performed this song many times together live, so no rehearsal was necessary. 

The finished product is what it is.  It's a song I wrote called "Fool For You."  I recorded it live with my friends Frank, Tom, and Brad.  My friends Damian and John did the filming and the lighting for it.  They are all amazing artists and I absolutely adore making creative stuff with them.  The Patreon account is to help fund that desire.  People deserve to be payed for their talents and the money is going to them.  It will pay for rehearsals, production costs, audio mixing, video editing, and hopefully studio time.  I would like to focus exclusively on new material I have written, which will require rehearsals before recording the song live.  It will also ensure faster turnaround of a finished product.  Here is what we made together:

 

 

This, what I am writing, is for you as much as it is for me.  If I were to keep it to myself it would just be for me.  I prefer this though.  Thank you for taking the time to read it.  I have much to share with you.

xoxo

- Mike Vitale

In Store Performance at Fingerprint's in Long Beach

I'm going to be playing three or four songs tonight for the Summer and Music Press Release at Fingerprints in Long Beach.

Joining me this evening will be The Pawnshop Kings and De Lux playing an In-Store performance at 7pm.

CD Release Show at The Constellation Room

Thursday March 27th 2014 is the CD RELEASE SHOW my self-titled E.P.    

All Ages show.  $10 tickets at the door.  I'm working on seeing if advanced ticket sales are available through the venues website:  http://constellationroom.com

This has been a long while in the making so I am very excited to be sharing my new album with all of you folks at such a great venue renowned in local circles for great sound and vibe.  The self-titled album was produced by Mike Vitale, mixed by Chris Karn (Production, Mixing, and Engineering credits with Daniel Lanois, Rocco DeLuca, and Joe Chiccarelli) and Barrett Slagle (Mixing and Production credits for The Steelwells).  The album was Mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic Sound in Los Angeles, CA.

Last Night at Steamer's Jazz Club and Cafe

Mike Vitale played a full band show to a packed house at Steamers all there to support our good friend Nancy Sanchez and the release of her new album as well as the group Mariachi 3Generaciones.  

Last night was a ton of fun and I was super stoked for the invitation to play for fans of her music.

I had Ty Dennis joining me on drums, Brad Cummings on bass, and Cory Clark on electric guitar.

Thanks to Ashley Hectus for the wonderful photos.

 

 

NAMM Performance at The Marriott

Hey Everyone!

I got an invitation to play NAMM this year at The Marriott Hotel in Anaheim CA on Wednesday January 22nd 2014 at 10pm.

This is the first time I'm going to be performing this brand new material from my new self-titled E.P. with a cast of very talented musicians.  I would be honored to have you there.  Full band show.  Free to the public.