miguelli

Happy New Year EC Peeps!

sometimes no news is good news! thank you for this site! m

Looking good, Bernie!

eric and co., I experienced the scenario that eric has described at the beginning of this blog exactly that way. an A&R woman at warners signed me and believed in me, but she got promoted to a different division in Nashville. I was alone in LA with a guy who always wanted her job. he actually said to me "I have my own bands I want to bring to the table." I had a cd of 5 killer tunes. just my voice and guitar. the reluctant A&R man said "go ahead and record with a band and we'll see where we stand." I was contractually entitled to a sum of money to record them. so I spent 3 months with studio cats who played with seal, melissa etheridge, sheryl crowe, etc. the very day I delivered them, eric clapton won 6 grammys for unplugged. the A&R guy after hearing the band version of the tunes said. "I'm looking for something more acoustic." !?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!? I reminded him of the original cd but by then I was old news. I was pushed aside and spent a year trying to get my tunes back. (the very ones they didn't want.) that was the writing on the wall for me and so I became an independent artist. today, I have had success on facebook, I tour, and I am re-building my website. as a studio musician, I am hired to record (replace) tracks in the studio by up and coming bands. instead of being resentful, I have found that I am in a position to help these kids who are starry eyed. (don't buy the humvee just yet!) it helps to pay it forward. at a grammy panel, quincy jones said it best. "it's over. IT'S OVER! the music business that we know is gone. be your own production companies while the labels become one big corporation promoting britney music. every established artist no longer needs a label. they are already known. they only need marketing to promote them. all the unknown artists need to find a director of a movie, an actor, a commercial, a videographer, someone the artist can help promote while the movie promotes the artist. it might be challenging, but it's easier than getting involved with a label who may not even be around when the record is done. (IF IT GETS DONE!)" the same panel featured the engineers/producers of led zep's music. they related a time when the record execs went into jimmy page's studio to see if the music was going to be commercial. page kicked them out. he yelled, "do I come to your office?" as they were leaving with their egos deflated, the record execs said, "we need to find artists who will do what WE SAY." they saw the writing on the wall. it was bone chilling to hear this. but it's exactly right. the record labels want american idol talent. someone they can mold because they want to be famous. a show that features paula, a woman who can't sing. it's documented that her vocals are autotuned. she is judging? please. the pendulum has to swing back the other way. the internet is providing a grassroots method of finding music. our backyard is global. look at what we are doing here in eric's world. i'd rather get an email from eric that said, "hey my new record is done! check it out!" it's more personal AND eric will give us music that HE wanted, not what was filtered through some rec exec who wants to be sure his yacht payments are caught up. if an artist sells a million cd's for a label, their percent will entitle them to less that $100,000. if they sell ten thousand cd's on their own, they will make the same or more. fuzzy math? music is in our cells, it's so much a part of who we are. if the delivery method gets altered, we will go where we need to to find it. the content deliverers got greedy. we are finding a different way to get the content we need. I had an album, 8-track, cassette, and two cd versions of boats. my main question when listening to music (old or new) is, "do I want to hit the rewind/repeat button?" if I don't, I don't care how the content was delivered. apologies for all of the "I"s above. it's a passionate topic to me. "Trying to remember how it used to feel when a kiss was something special. And I wonder now will it ever be again?"

Hi folks, I may again be posting what is an old topic, is there a regular playlist post? Something So Right- Paul Simon Room 335- Lukather & Carlton Live In Japan Master Blaster- Stevie Wonder MLK- U2 Where's The Orchestra?- Billy Joel For A Dancer- Jackson Browne Black Napkins- Frank Zappa Sadie- The Spinners Philosopher's Stone- Van Morrison Simply Beautiful- Al Green Living On The Fault Line- The Doobie Brothers Mother Nature's Son-Beatles Going Wild For You- Bonnie Raitt Piece Of Clay- Marvin Gaye 6 O'clock News- Solange As- Stevie Wonder Shenendoah- Charlie Haden Lady Of The Island- CSN High Flying Bird- Elton John Mysterious Ways-U2 Till The Morning Comes- Hall & Oates A Junkie's Lament- James Taylor Runaway- Eric Carmen Out Of My Head- Lewis Taylor Shelter- Ray Lamontagne Bed's Too Big- The Police We Belong Together- Rickie Lee Jones This Must Be The Place- Shawn Colvin Spanish Fly- Van Halen 1000 Years -Sting

Marc Cohn's "The Rainy Season" is an unbelievable work.

Sorry if I posted old news, but they're worth hearing!

Hello EC (Beatle) Peeps. Wanted to tell you of some friends of mine, an amazing group of musicians that include members of Letterman's & O'Brien's house bands. The band is called The Fab Faux. They play faithfull renditions of the Beatles catalogue. It is NOT Beatlemania. They recreate the music only. It's equivalent would be if you went to a symphonic concert of Mozart's works. There are many musicians, (at least 12) including a quartet who reproduce the Eleanor Rigby/Yesterday/I Am The Walrus strings. Every instrument played live. No backing tracks. Check out their tour schedule and go. You will be lifted!

Hello EC (Beatle) Peeps. Wanted to tell you of some friends of mine, an amazing group of musicians that include members of Letterman's & O'Brien's house bands. The band is called The Fab Faux. They play faithfull renditions of the Beatles catalogue. It is NOT Beatlemania. They recreate the music only. It's equivalent would be if you went to a symphonic concert of Mozart's works. There are many musicians, (at least 12) including a quartet who reproduce the Eleanor Rigby/Yesterday/I Am The Walrus strings. Every instrument played live. No backing tracks. Check out their tour schedule and go. You will be lifted!

hi folks, i have been catching a program on the sundance channel called "spectacle" hosted by elvis costello. so far he has interviewed elton john, james taylor, lou reed, tony bennett, and the police, which aired tonight. sort of an "in the actors studio" for musicians, but more involvement from the host. tonight the police were interviewed separately, then together. wonderful insight and humor. i read the episodes would be available for download on itunes as well as a dvd purchase. it would be great to see an interview with eric! hope you're having a good week. miguelli

people! this feels wrong! i am so appreciative but this is eric's site! it's why i didn't say anything about my stuff. but thank you. miguelli ps itunes has the first single

hello ec people, and eric. just had a chance to read responses and have to say, my word of 2009 is providence. (from the goethe quote on commitment.) it was my intention to reach out to eric and to hear how you all feel was quite gratifying. i have been a few inches off the ground. and i would like to add that as much as i love the ballads on boats, tonight i drove to santa barbara to a gig with "take it or leave it" burning up my car speakers. eric rips his vocal cords like lennon on "twist & shout" and the groove is more soulful than the stones! a few examples of how boats is with me: the first professional tour i did was in 92 with the beach boys. i was nervous of course but the first time i sat with both carl wilson (god bless) and bruce johnston, this album came up. they both had great things to say about it AND were happy that i knew of and loved it. last spring i produced a few cuts for joshua kadison. i was playing back one of his tunes on the piano to him to ask about a voicing he was playing. when he asked how i was able to pick it up so quickly, i played the intros to nowhere to hide, boats, runaway and love is all that matters for him. if you can play these tunes you can play any pop piano song. my first tour of my own songs with just my guitar brought me to a lot of small radio stations, and when i would be asked about my influences, i would sometimes mention boats which was always confusing because there i was with an acoustic guitar. no piano, no quartet, etc. but i would talk about the emotion and how it didn't matter what the instrumentation was. you would be surprised how many dj's would know and talk of a favorite cut. i will shut up after this because i don't want to appear obsessed. too late! i do listen to other music. you don't want to get me started on the beatles. but truly, this is an excellent example of amazing writing, singing, playing, arranging, dynamics, versatility, artistic endeavor, and pop sensibilities. i mean, buckmaster and eric arranging and conducting strings, nigel olson, jeff porcaro (god bless) and eric playing drums, andrew gold and burton cummings AND eric singing, reising, zito AND eric playing piano and guitars, it's gets better each time. there are a lot of orchestrated records from the late 70's, but they sound dated. this still sounds fresh. i will even publicly admit that in my sophmore year at berklee, my professor did not like the composition i wrote for a final exam in a classical style and was going to fail me unless i re-did it. it was to be performed live on piano with a trio whose parts i had yet to write. well the night before i had finally gotten a date with a girl i had a crush on all semester. i knew i would not get a chance to come up with a new composition as i was busy! we listened to a cassette of boats all night on loop. in the morning i got up early and just wrote parts out for the trio of "runaway" i played the piano part and got an A! thanks, eric! ahhh... was that too much? oh well. i live in the town of bs music and biz, so it's not often that i can express how i feel about great music. have a great week and just know how honored i was to hear from one of my musical heroes. peace, miguelli ps i was not at the sunset/hob show but i did pass eric and the guys at a morning show out here, mark and brian. i was too nervous to say anything.

eric, hope this message finds you in good health for this new year. i am a musician/writer in los angeles. i make my living playing on other records as a well as a songwriter with the occasional cut. it's a wierd time to be in this business. i am a member of the grammy's. when invited to the doings during the year, i see a lot of names, but i hear no songs. reading bob lefsetz' blog, who gets it right so often, i wonder where we are headed. to me, it's in the songs. the craft of writing has been sold out to the packaging of popculture. i have to play as a session musician on a lot of stuff i could have played when i was a beginner in highschool. (i'm 38) nowhere to hide, boats against the current, love is all that matters, etc. these songs, this album, is such a huge part of my life. my musical style is a compilation of beatles, james taylor, stevie wonder etc. but my emotional connection to music as a player or composer is always measured up to how your songs make me feel. i humbly thank you for changing my life. from the 8 track in the station wagon as my mother drove our family around to school to the 3 albums, and the 2 cd's, it is up there with aja, sweet baby james, abbey road. i toured with carl wilson and asked about this album. i've heard the stories, read your interviews. i have had similar experiences with producers, played with some of the musicians that played with you. i don't know how you view a project from long ago. in my world, it's like looking at an old picture. what would i have done different, why did i give in to that producer etc. but believe me, as a non fan letter writer, i want to assure you, you did it. it's beautiful. as i listen to this music, i'm cleaning my house, putting away christmas decorations, and preparing for 09. i am comforted, inspired and moved by your gift. if you are in la for NAMM or whatever, look me up, i'll buy you a cup of coffee. god bless and keep this year. miguelli