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> > > Mucklow, Michael
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 Michael
Mucklow began playing guitar on his sixteenth birthday; having
received a nylon string guitar as a present based on his promise that he
would learn to play it. In his second year of playing Michael migrated to
the electric guitar because of being influenced by a popular Heavy Metal
band. From the mid 70’s to the early 1980’s, Michael played rhythm
guitar in several Heavy Metal, Hard Rock and Punk Rock bands. Michael’s
easy going calm demeanor makes it hard to picture him playing those types
of music, but as Michael says, “Those styles really opened me to playing
with passion and intensity, and I later learned the same can be applied to
all forms of music – even very soothing music.”
For three years, beginning in 1983, Michael played guitar in a Praise
& Worship band. He declares that “I learned a lot while I was in
that band…especially about the depth of musical expression that lives
within my own heart.” Michael was asked to perform as a solo guitarist
on several occasions, where listeners often referred to his playing as,
“relaxing, calming and peaceful…even healing.” Michael has come to
believe that, indeed, music has the power to “produce a positive impact
on one’s spirit.” During that same period, Michael was deeply
influenced by the music of the popular Catholic Troubadour, John Michael
Talbot, whose music also inspired him to return to playing the acoustic
guitar.
By 1986, Michael was looking to move forward into his next musical
adventure. Though he had composed a few tentative instrumental pieces,
most of his writing was lyrically based songs. Then, in 1987, he heard the
group Acoustic Alchemy, and in addition to solidifying his love for the
blended sound of two acoustic guitars, he now found himself focused on
creating guitar instrumentals. In the years following another source of
inspiration that provided for even more musical exploration and expression
came from guitarists who play Fingerstyle and use alternate tunings in
their music: guitarists like William Ackerman, Alex De Grassi, and Michael
Hedges.
In 1995 Michael began a five year journey by joining Jon Gosen and Eric
Banas to become the core of Purple Mountain Matinee (PMM), destined to
become one of the most popular bands in Southern California’s Hi-Desert
area. Eric and Jon had been working together writing music and lyrics and,
in addition to holding down the lead guitar slot, Michael began to
contribute his skill in writing interesting melodies to combine with their
novel lyrics. The three formed a lasting friendship, their creativity
soared, and new compositions were produced in an almost effortless flow.
The band released three albums, and offered a fresh and eclectic book of
original music, most of which was composed by Jon, Eric, and Michael, who
also contributed several instrumental compositions to the band’s
repertoire.
A couple of years after the disbanding of PMM Michael returned to
exploring the potential offered by alternate tunings of the guitar that
had so intrigued him in the music of Ackerman, Hedges, and De Grassi.
“And when I did, a whole new way of expressing what is within came
about. After creating, in a surprisingly short time, about a dozen songs
in this newly found mode of expression, I decided that it was now right
for me to record as a solo guitarist – to no longer let the music
dissipate into the air around me, but to let it fall upon others’ ears,
as well.” This heartfelt music is different enough to be appreciated and
savored. “It has a life of its own, and recording it is a sharing of
what, for me, truly is.”
To create Clearly, his first recording as a solo artist, Michael again
teamed up with his PMM friends Jon Gosen and Eric Banas. “Jon produced
and recorded the album at his Indigenaut Studios in Joshua Tree. He
offered guidance and support, added keyboard and percussion tracks, and
helped in the mixing process; and, in addition to his companionship and
moral support during the project, Eric contributed a beautiful piano
passage on Moonlight Sands. Any music can become formularized and can
become bland and lifeless in the recording process; I believe we kept it
alive. I was often pleasantly surprised during the recording process by
how much I enjoyed listening to the playback, and now with the CD a
reality I find that I genuinely enjoy listening to it.
“And so, here I am in 2006 with my first “solo artist” CD release…
Clearly is the result of a blending of the influences that have spoken
most to my heart over the years – it’s a genuine labor of love. I do
hope people will enjoy what they hear, and that they too will find these
instrumental guitar stylings to be relaxing, joyful, sensitive, tasty,
ethereal, soothing…and the sound of many waters.” |
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> > > Mucklow, Michael
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