Mark Twain | A New Single August 18th 2023

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Samuel Langhorne Clemens

My next single is being released on August 18th on this year of our Lord, 2023. It is probably the most convoluted story I have ever told—perhaps beside The Incredible Shrinking Brain—but we will save the later for a different day.

Mark Twain. It’s a brilliant pen name for Samuel Langhorne Clemens. It’s riverboat slang. It was also the pen name of another riverboat pilot who wrote for a Riverboat Almanac. Samuel Clemens stole the idea from him. He admits to this notion in his book entitled “Life on the Mississippi.”

Regardless, it is a brilliant pen name if you examine it for what it is and what it represents. Mark Twain is a measurement of depth. Sounding boats and sounding poles were used by those navigating the murky waters of a muddy river that we are all familiar with as American Citizens: the Mississippi River. It has no rocky foundation to its deepest depths. It is a muddy river. It constantly changes in depths and sizes naturally due to this proclivity endowed to rivers of such quality. However, because of this—it is dangerous. A riverboat can easily run ashore, or find the unwelcome sand of a shoal, if not constantly checking the depth of the river using sounding boats and sounding poles. This is where the notion of marks and numbers come from. These depths would be shouted by those using the sounding poles, to measure depth, to those listening for their instruction as they piloted the vessel.

The Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri

Mark Twain means two fathoms deep. It is the cut-off between dangerous and safe passage. Mark Twain is the shallowest depth in which a riverboat may pass without peril or hazard. Mark Twain is the convergence of safe and dangerous; it is the point in which these two opposing outcomes meet.

Moving forward with this as a title—I found a curious story regarding Samuel Langhorne Clemens and Halley’s Comet:

Halley's Comet appeared in the sky when Mark Twain was born in 1835. The comet moves in a seventy-five or seventy-six-year orbit, and, as it neared Earth once again in the year 1909, Twain said,

I came in with Halley's Comet... It is coming again ... and I expect to go out with it... The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together.'

Hannibal, Missouri. Samuel Langhorne Clemen’s Childhood Home

Sure enough, he died on April 21, 1910, just as the comet made its next pass within sight of Earth.

I was born on April 21st 1979. That has no relevance to this story, and I’m sure it is quite coincidental.

This song, that I am releasing August 18th, tells the story of Halley’s Comet and our Sun. It also, can stand for something completely different. It can be representative. Metaphor. Hyperbolic. Whatever the case may be: I am proud of its words and music and to be releasing it as I hear it in my head. It is a tip of my hat to someone I admire and a love letter of sorts to a romantic idea. I can’t help but be carried away by the trade winds of whimsy. I prefer it, as I can’t imagine life without my creativity to put wind in my sails in the first place.

For you.

May we all be friends and find the beauty in one another, no matter how difficult or easy that proves to be, ultimately. Perhaps—perhaps there are intrinsic links that bind us all to one another, if not just within the matter which makes everything, the gravitational forces caused by mass and its manipulation of spacetime, and the loosely understood physics of such.

You can pre-save the song at this link:

PRE-SAVE LINK

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

"Coyote" | New Single on Streaming Services May 26th 2023

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Hey everyone,

I will be releasing my first single for the new year on Friday May 26th 2023. It is by far, one of my favorite cuts from the new album. It's a song called "Coyote."

While I do come from a generation more accustomed to the idea of releasing an album all at once—perhaps this is no longer a wise decision as an artist in 2023. Doing my due diligence, I am confident that the model of releasing one single at a time may be—better.

So, that is what I will be doing. 

I am uploading this single to be digitally distributed, today, for an official release date on Friday May 26th 2023. You may pre-save my single on your favorite streaming service; I was told that it helps to secure a place on popular Spotify playlists. I would be honored to have you do that if you feel inclined. Do whatever feels good for you though. I’m not even sure that it doesn't anything meaningful aside from just reminding you when it comes out (which would be lovely). Here is a link pre-save:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mikevitale/coyote

I am very proud of all the hard work that I put into this album and this song. I would like to do it justice by releasing it with as much authenticity and sincerity as possible. I create my music in this way—I plan to release it with an equal amount and measure of heart and sincerity.

My compass is the chills I get up and down my spine when I work on art. Losing track of time. Accidentally being late to things because I was having so much fun making something with all my being and soul. It's my inside poking out like the tag on the back collar of a T-shirt.

This song's inspiration came from touring the United States in 2021 after a long pandemic filled with isolation, self-reflection, and rumination. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, having the opportunity to see the Rocky Mountains. To drive through the beautiful national park between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Who knew that was there? Not me—that is, until I was balling my eyes out because of its beauty and depth. The endless stretches of desert between Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Texas...

We live in such a gorgeous and diverse country filled with beautiful people. I am grateful and on my hands and knees every day for the privilege of getting to do what I do. It's also incredibly difficult, exhausting, contentious, dynamic, emotional, introspective, risky—and the most rewarding thing I can think of doing with my life—yet still, a privilege. Without a doubt. May I strive to continuously stay within the good graces of Fortuna, Hotei, Ganesha, Jesus, Muhammad, The Way, Yahweh, My Inner Voice, and every other personification and archetype of human experience, story, and history that pertains to the spreading of positive creation in this world. I am a student. I have much to learn until the day I breathe my last breath.

I am a 44 year old man who is trying his best to leave this place a little better than how he found it. Even if all my efforts are akin to just vacuuming the floor, dusting and tidying the place up a bit before the next tenant stays the night in this AirBnB we call Mother Earth, I am confident I will never regret how hard I work. Ever. I will not be an old man sitting on the porch thinking, "what would my life had been like, had I actually applied myself where my heart and soul pointed?"

Instead, I am endlessly strolling. An old desert dog. Amongst sage brush, and bunch grass, and cactus and fog. Slender and gangling my bush tail sags, as I trot through the desert: the cliff face and crags.

You might here my faint howl, when the wind carries my song just right.

Gone by Mike Vitale

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Gone is now available to listen to on all streaming services. You can find it on your preferred service by either clicking the album cover or at this link right here:

GONE | NEW SINGLE

Empty Circle by Mike Vitale

Leave it to me to forget to post this song, the day before the next single comes out.

This is the third of five singles I will be releasing consecutively, leading up the release of my full LP called ϕ

Empty Circle is one of my favorite songs on the album. It was written in retrospect to a particularly difficult portion of my life. Hindsight is 20/20, some people say. There is a deep well of truth to that notion—yet, there is also a particularly poignant lack of definitive answers to any questions we ask the mysterious 8-ball of life, or ourselves for that matter. We oscillate within the frequency of our own convictions and heart. Ever changing—sometimes instantaneously—sometimes on the plank of our own decisions at sword point on a villainous vessel of plight and circumstance.

We also just blow things out of proportion sometimes—like a balloon that doesn't quite know its own limitations—or like something just full of hot air.

It's our own reflection on the matter in hindsight, that lets us file these memories with some sort of archaic Dewey Decimal System for later study in the annals of our own life. Perhaps we can work hard to find meaning and improvement and personal growth in the library of our human experience—or we can chatter away with whomever, while the librarian inside our skull exclaims with a shoosh that we are far too loud in a sacred place of study.

Just like the little boy protagonist in this song, lost in the woods: I saw my own footprints in the snow, and became excited—only to discover that the trail of footprints were in fact, my own—I was walking in a giant circle, truly lost, cold, and all alone.

This one is called Empty Circle. You can listen to it on your favorite streaming service, here:

https://songwhip.com/mikevitale/empty-circle

As a small side note: thank you to all the wonderful people who find meaning in the tune, and have been adding it to their playlists on Spotify and so forth. I am humbled with appreciation for the gesture of sharing. I balled my eyes out writing this song. May someone find comfort in it knowing they too are not alone.

Younger Days by Mike Vitale

While I am certainly not an old man, I do remember when phones were still attached to walls, and when they were dialed by rotary.

My grandparents went from the bold new innovation of electricity and radio on a rural farm in California—to watching astronauts landing on the moon on a television from a house in Tulare.

I remember when my parents gave my grandparents a VCR for Christmas. The clock would be blinking 12:00, 12:00, 12:00. I would wonder why my grandparents never set the clock to the actual time of day it was.

I understand why, now, at 42 years old.

The world keeps moving, and changing, any a rate that I hardly feel I can keep up with—and people are no different as well. We are walking contradictions in that sense. We stay the same—yet, we also do not. Slowly changing, yet rapidly aging.

I had a person give me the advice once, to be the best version of myself. I suppose, as a turn of phrase, it politely takes into account that we are "ever changing like the shifting continents"—and with each passing day, I do feel that I am growing older and older at an exponential rate. Time, perceptibly, seems to be moving faster—and I change quite slowly—perhaps imperceptibly to myself and everyone else around me, until I catch up with a person I have not seen in 15 or 20 years, or look into a mirror and notice grey hair in my beard and hair.

I know for certain that I am not the same man I was 20 years ago. I am all the better for that. I also feel that wading in the waters of the past has its short comings, when the future is as optimistic as we make it.

This is called YOUNGER DAYS. It is now available on Spotify and Apple Music and all the other streaming platforms you fancy. Find it here or by clicking the album cover image above: https://sng.to/mikevitale/younger-days

Do something nice today. Reach out to a friend and say hi and tell them that you love them.

Thanks for listening!

Mike

Time Machine by Mike Vitale

Last week's single "Time Machine" is now available on Spotify and Apple Music as of August 17th 2021, as well as all the other popular (and not so popular) streaming services.

Here is a link to find it on your favorite of that variety:

https://sng.to/mikevitale/time-machine

- Mike

New Single "The Needle of the Human Race" on August 30th 2018

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My latest single "The Needle of the Human Race" will be available at all digital distribution locations on August 30th 2018.  You know the drill:  Spotify, Apple Music. iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Soundcloud, Bandcamp—all the places.

This was one of the first mixes I had completed from Patreon backers.  A special thank you to all of these people for whom of which this is all happening, because of you and your belief: Erik Gomez, Fernando Gallegos, Heather Renz, Amy Armitage, Austin, Bob Emerson, Bridget Mackiewicz, Carey Brown, Carson Fonseca, Fern Rouintree,  Brenda Matea, Ashley Thom, Jake, Janet Woodward, JayPee, John Sinambal, Joshua Jon Day, Judy and Jody Timmerman, Kelly McDonald, Lex, Matt Vitale, Megan Kaplinsky, Ron Feldman, Sarah Lim, The Luna Eclipse, Tim Grobaty, Yeggi Watts.

The song was mixed by Jon O'Brien at Music Box Studios in Fullerton, CA.  I recently had it mastered by Mark Chalecki and his amazing attention to detail that I admire a great deal.

A big thank you to all of my friends that played on this song.  Frank Reina on drums and Scott Dibble on Keys.  Most of all, thank you my friend Dave Gonzalez who played bass on this tune.  God bless him.  He passed away before having the opportunity to ever hear this song, completed—it breaks my heart to say that—it hurts even more to know that he is gone.  Then again, perhaps people such as Dave never really die, or are gone—they simply become music.  I will lean in that direction with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face.

A big thank you to my friend Ryan C Jones for the cover photo of this song.  If I remember correctly, he shot this photo on his phone.  You are such a gift Ryan and I am deeply appreciative of you, your talent, and your kindness. 

For anyone interested in Pre-Saving the song on Spotify, simply click the image above and it will put you in a place to do that.

Most of all, thank YOU (the person reading this) for finding interest in me and the music I'm making.  You validate my life and efforts.

New Single NO VACANCY released today!

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Hey Everyone,

I just released a new full band single today called "No Vacancy."

Here is a link to find the song on your favorite listening platform:

http://smarturl.it/tx0xoc

It is available everywhere.  You name it.  You can listen to it there.

 

For your convenience, you can also just visit my NEW SINGLE page here on this website:

https://mikevitalemusic.com/new-single/

You can also click the album cover and it will take you to a landing page for several of the popular haunts to listen to new music (i.e. Spotify, Apple Music, etc).

Thank you to Frank Reina, Brad Cummings, Tom Bremer, Scott Dibble, Ryan Lipman, and Mark Chalecki for making art with me.

THANK YOU to everyone on Patreon for your help in releasing this new material.  I mean this with all my heart:  I can't do it without you (I tried).  This is working: what we are dong together.  I am more prolific as an artist than I have been in years because of your financial help. I have been releasing something constant and consistent every month since May 2018, because of you.

I want to take a second to thank all of these individuals especially for their continued contributions and help:  Erik Gomez, Amy Armitage, Fernando Gallegos, Heather Renz, Brandi, Bob Emerson, Joshua Jon Day, Carey Brown, and Tim Grobaty.

If you like this song, thank you.  It came from my heart.  It is my life.

 

 

New Single NO VACANCY on Tuesday July 31st 2018

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Artwork by Joshua Jon Day and Mike Vitale

Artwork by Joshua Jon Day and Mike Vitale

I'd say I'm dropping new music—but it's more like a drip—from a broken water faucet. 

I'm releasing a new full band single called NO VACANCY on Tuesday July 31st 2018.  It will be available for streaming as well as digital purchase that day on all your favorite music streaming haunts: Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Google Play, Youtube, Soundcloud, iHeartRadio, etc.  AND if you are a really amazing person who still buys music (bless your heart) you will be able to purchase it as well on iTunes, Bandcamp, Google Play, Amazon, and every other digital retail location that is known to man.

In all honesty, this is one of my favorite songs that I have written and produced with friends.  It turned out really lovely and I am so very thankful to have had such a wonderful cast of musicians who helped to flesh out the arrangement:  Frank Reina on drums, Brad Cummings on bass, Scott Dibble on rhodes piano, and Tom Bremer on electric guitar.  A song is only as good as the people you have playing on it and I am very fortunate to be surrounded by all these beasts of badassery.

The song was mixed by Ryan Lipman and mastered by Mark Chalecki.  Thank you guys for making this sound so beautiful and pristine.  I am in awe of your talent.

Artwork was done by myself and my friend Joshua Jon Day.  I took the photograph and he helped me fashion a fabulous album cover out of it.  I really find these old neon signs to be so beautiful.

I make no allusions of being a phenom when it comes to new releases.  I cross my fingers that songs will connect with people and they will share.  This song is no exception.  However, I do try to do my part to find avenues of exposure for songs such as this.  Spotify recently started a submission process for playlists on unreleased songs, and I submitted this tune for their consideration.  Keep your fingers crossed that the curators find something to like in this song and select it for many a playlist.

Most importantly, thank you to everyone on Patreon who helps me to release this new material.  I mean this with all my heart:  I can't do it without you (I tried).  This is working: what we are dong together.  I am more prolific as an artist than I have been in years because of your financial help.  I want to take a second to thank all of these individuals especially for their continued contributions and help:  Erik Gomez, Amy Armitage, Heather Renz, Brandi, Bob Emerson, Joshua Jon Day, Carey Brown, and Tim Grobaty.

My deep and sincere gratitude for letting me do what I love to do: make music and play it.

Lowering My Expectations

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What is happiness?

It's a complicated question if you think about it.  We've all thought about it at one time or another.

Ironically, the times we think the least on it, are probably when we're the happiest?  But then again, I don't know—the older I get, the more I realize I don't know anything.  I'm just throwing spaghetti at the wall like everyone else around me.

However, I have caught myself expecting way too much, too often.

Simple things.  Like, if I buy expensive things such as Air Conditioners, Sub Woofers, Guitar Pedals—can they not break?  It ridiculous to think that they won't.  Of course they are going to break, and they are going to do it when I am hurting for money and can not afford to replace them.

It almost becomes a mental focus exercise regarding what to pay more attention to: the things that make one sad, or the things that make one happy.  The seemingly level-headed person will immediately say something full of wisdom like, "focus on the positives rather than focus on the negatives."  I say, most likely, that the person who says that cries alone in their bedroom, or in their car, from time to time too.

No.  Maybe I need to lower my expectations.

I released a new single called GONE on June 12th.  I have sold two copies of it digitally.  It's two more than I was expecting to sell.  The song has been streamed on Spotify 15 times.  That is 15 more times than what I was expecting.  

This is a start.  I'll keep you posted.  Or, then again, maybe I won't, so that it isn't on the forefront of my mind.  

Whatever the case may be, I am making and releasing more stuff.  I'm 39 years old and I have no plans to stop making music or to stop trying to find people that like what I make.  You can count on that.

I'm happiest when I'm working hard, regardless of my expectations—and I am so grateful and thankful for my good health and to have you.  Deeply and truly.  Now, off to promote for a show tonight.  Take care. 

The Jungle - Single

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Make no mistake.  From here on out, this year, there will be a rapid succession of music releases.  This is for the month of May.  This is something that was originally released as a The Hawkline Monster song, before I decided to make my own life difficult and go back to using the name my parents gave me (Mike Vitale—what a douche).

With that being said, this song, as of May 26th 2018, has been added to all digital streaming and digital retail services under my own name: Mike Vitale.

I am very proud of this song.

It is a song I wrote about us. It’s about people. It’s about how we behave like complete animals, yet, want to have some sort of unique distinction above them, as if we are not one ourselves. 

Given our penchant for war and destruction, as a species, I find this to be a pertinent topic that should be discussed, even if within the confines of a song. My desire is that the more we are aware of our instinctual animal behavior and our emotional base reactions, such as aggression and fear, the more we might move beyond our reptilian brain, or what Arthur Koestler referred to as the ghost in the machine. This song features my friends Frank Reina on drums, Cory Clark on electric guitar, Brad Cummings on bass, Jesse Nason on synth, and myself on vocals, acoustic guitar and electric guitar. It was mixed by Barrett Slagle and mastered by Pete Lyman.

Here are a few digital streaming links that you can use to listen to this song:

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/track/0GzkZ9M7ltL9M53HXofjZx?si=V0v9cr2mT32iPx7YpuCW0A

Apple Music:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-jungle-single/1390269918

AND

Here are places where the song can be purchased:

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mike-vitale/260074369

Bandcamp:

https://mikevitalemusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-jungle

Google Play

https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Mike_Vitale_The_Jungle?id=Bata2klx4ujrvfgotft3mjryldi&hl=en

Amazon MP3

https://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Mike-Vitale/dp/B07DBHW38V/ref=sr_1_5?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1527705217&sr=1-5-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=mike+vitale

It exists on everything known to man for streaming services and digital purchase sites, so just let me know what you want a link to, and I'll send it to you.

I have another single that is literally about a week away from being released.  It is a full band version of the song "Gone."

No joke people.  2018 is going to be all about me playing a lot of shows and releasing a lot of music.

What I would love for you to do is to help me spread the word about these songs.  Word of mouth is king.  Please talk about them to people so that they do not die a slow death of ones and zeros on the world wide web, in obscurity.

New Single Available on July 20th 2017

Running Away From Home by Mike Vitale 

TOP LEFT: Mike Vitale and Matthew James Vitale. TOP RIGHT:  Mike Vitale.  BOTTOM RIGHT:  Donna Vitale and Mike Vitale

Hey!

Did I ever tell you about that time I ran away from home when I was in second grade, because I wanted to be a werewolf?  

Well, the single for "Running Away From Home" is being released tomorrow (July 20th 2017) on all major digital distribution sites including iTunes, Amazon, Etc.  It is also available to stream on all major streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Pandora, and so forth.

I'm very proud of how the song turned out and I have a wealth of wonderful musicians who made this track what it is.  Thank you to Frank Reina for his drumming and engineering skills on the kit, Brad Cummings for his work on the bass, and to Tom Bremer for his country guitar chops.  Holy shit: you guys knocked it out of the park.  Also, thank you to Chris Karn for such a great mix.

This has been a long time in the making and I would be thrilled if you all help me spread the word to friends and family if you like the song.  I have two more singles that I just wrapped up the mixes on today: No Vacancy and The Needle of the Human Race.  As always, thank you so very much for your continued enthusiasm and support and for being a part of this journey of mine.  It is so deeply appreciated and I am humbled to have your attention.