Speaker 1: Let's see, let me get that mic up. Brooklyn Mike
is here.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt.
Speaker 1: There we are. So for those of you who just
joining us, if you have not heard Brooklyn Mike on
the show, you're lucky. When Brooklyn Mike comes in, he
brings his guitar, he plays live for us, so we
have you know, whenever we have live performers who play
in studio, we have use a little bit of a
different mic setup, so it doesn't always it's not always
smooth right in the beginning, but then the rest of
the show, everything's wonderful. So bear with us. But nope,
we can hear him. Mike's got his guitar plugged and
he's gonna play for us. And we should talk about
so the last time you were on the last time
you were on this show, because you are you're kind
of a semi regular now on Retrospectrum Radio Correct and
of course you've made many appearances on the Morning Show
with Peter White as well. But since the last time
you were on this program, you you've played an open
mic at pcl right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, at Pembrooke City Limits.
Speaker 1: Yeah, our friend rob az A Vido.
Speaker 2: Yeah, great venue, beautiful venue. They do open mic there
the first Wednesday of each month, so I attended the
December and January open mics. Oh good, and I look
forward to being back there. I believe it's February fourth, Okay,
the first Wednesday in February.
Speaker 1: Okay, very good. So they do those every Wednesday, first
Wednesday of the month, wenda once a month, okay. So yeah,
so Pemburg City Limits. Of course, if you haven't checked
it out, please do. It's an amazing place. Rob of
course host granted state of mind. But I think now
he's actually interviewing people at PCL, is what it sounds like.
There's there's live a lot of live performances in the show,
so he does a.
Speaker 2: Ton of different events there. I mean they had something,
I think it was last Sunday where it was basically
bring a plant to take a plant, so really people
bringing live plants. He does so many things to get
people in there, and it's really really interesting. So yeah,
the event would be you would bring a live plant
that you'd want to donate to somebody, and then almost
like a pot luck with plants, yeah, potted potted plant
luck if you will, and so different things like that. Yeah.
Then of course they do trivia there. They do I
believe they do some comedy. There's a ton of musicians
that play there. Yeah, he just he hosts a lot
of different, really interesting and varied events. It's and it's
a really really nice venue. It's really cozy. The people
there are super super nice.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's really becoming the time it's been open,
it's been at least two years now, right, maybe there's
been two years about that, I believe, so yeah, yeah,
I mean it's it's become such an important part of
the scene here.
Speaker 2: And then a couple of doors away he has a
record store selling vinyl. I haven't made it in there yet.
I got to get there.
Speaker 1: I gotta do that too. Yeah, I got to turn
that out. Yeah, absolutely absolutely. So Now have you been
have you played anywhere else? Or has that kind of
been your your story into getting back into playing live?
Speaker 2: Correct, That's correct. I just want to get it's it's
kind of ironic because I'm finding I'm needing to get
over nervousness really, which well, you know, I haven't performed live,
really performed anywhere other than the radio show, which you know,
Peter's been super kind to have me on and you know,
perform here and there.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But other than that, you know, I moved to New
Hampshire twenty five My wife and I moved to New
Hampshire twenty five years ago. And you know, I moved here,
got a real job, had to be you know, a
real grown up, grown up, and you know, bought a
house and had to pay the bills. So I kind
of had to backburn or the music for a quarter decade. Now. Granted,
if I it's not that I didn't want to. I
was gonna say, if I really wanted to, I could
have gotten out there and still performed. But you know
I moved up here. It was like a whole different life.
You know, I had all my contacts and colleagues back
home in New York and I didn't know it. Literally
didn't know anybody up here. Yeah, so just starting a
new life. I'm not in a witness protection program or
anything like that.
Speaker 1: It was just which is exactly what you would say
if you were in the witness protection program.
Speaker 2: Very interesting. So so anyway, fast forward a quarter century.
You know, it's a blink of an eye. Man, you
just can't believe it. And all the whole time I
just my goal was that when I was able to
get back to it, I was going to get back
to it because you know, I was a music major
and really music has been my life since I was
a child, and so here I am, you know, kind
of getting out there again. And it's it's a whole
other world, you know, with technology. I mean, when I
was in you know, performing in bands and solos, you know,
you'd want to you found a venue that you'd want
to perform at, you know, and you'd take your eight
x ten glossy with your press kit and a cassette tape,
you know, with a demo with three songs on it,
and you'd get your foot in the door.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Now it's like, you know, that's the biggest hurdle for
me is and not that I mean I'm good with technology.
It's just now getting you know, preparing so to speak,
a resume, an online resume and getting it out there.
So it but you know, it's it's it's kind of
fun too, because it's it's a whole new a whole
new world for me. Yeah, it's kind of ironic because
you know, you've like your first guest, both your guests
that you had on today. Were were terrific. By the way,
interesting common thread among the three of us. Yes, we
all have accents, so that's true. That's true. I got
my coffee here. You're a you're a real New york
I got my coffee. And by the way, shout out
to my friend Denise. She's listening in o'calla, Florida today.
Denise was a co worker who lived in Nashaua. She's
Manchester native and uh just recently also retired and made
the move to Florida. Okay, so he loaded Denise down
in Florida. I hope you're keeping warm down there because
where not.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I don't know if most of the country
is a sweek und Well, yeah.
Speaker 2: I think there was snow even parts of Florida.
Speaker 1: I heard really, Yeah, I believe it. Yeah, huge, huge storm.
I'm remaining I don't know if you heard me saying
this earlier in the show. I'm remaining cautiously opiatistic that
it's not going to be that bad here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was laughing because when you said, I don't
we're not going to get like two feet and I'm thinking, yeah,
just a foot and a half.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well that's better, better than two feet. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2: That's definitely a case where less is more. Yeah. When
it comes to snowfall, I love the snow. I mean
I actually love the winter. Autumn and winter. I love
It's just like, I'm kind of very very sentimental person.
I think it's my heritage and of I'm first generation
Italian born here. Yeah, and so we're just like naturally
emotional sentimental people. And to me, like the autumn and
winter is like very very sentimental, you know, melancholy, and
I just love it.
Speaker 1: I don't like the melancholy, no I do. I see
the leaves falling, and I just reminds me of death. Well,
it's all death.
Speaker 2: You know. That can't be life without death. It's all
the circle, you know.
Speaker 1: Oh, we do have a call Let's let's see who's
on the line here, the phantom.
Speaker 2: Thanks for calling.
Speaker 1: Oh I don't know who that was. Might have been,
might have been another New Yorker who got a little shy.
There's no such thing calling the big time radio show.
You know, they got a little nervous there.
Speaker 2: Shy new Yorker. Actually, when I was younger, I was
I couldn't talk to anybody. I really really really shy.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: It broke probably at about sixteen seventeen where I started
like being more outgoing.
Speaker 1: I can relate to that. I was painfully shy growing up. Well,
I'm an introvert by nature, which surprises some people because
they'll people who don't understand introverts. I'll say, well, how
can you host a radio show and you've played in
bands and all this stuff, And it's like, well, when
you're an introvert, any kind of a performance situation is
actually easier than human interaction on a just on a
purely social level.
Speaker 2: It's quite common with actor, comedians, musicians, it is quite common.
But from a person that is not in the arts,
so to speak like that, it's hard. It's like on
the surface, it doesn't make sense, right right, Yeah, but
it happens.
Speaker 1: Like I tell everybody, this is where I feel the
safest in the world is behind a microphone. Yeah, you know,
whether it's in a radio station or or on hon
It's like, I'm very comfortable with public speaking, you know,
I can do all that, but I don't. But I
don't go to parties. I don't want to do that.
I don't want to mingle with people.
Speaker 2: Ye see I could. I could do both. I have
no problem. Well again, I think it's part of being
from New York City, always being in crowds. It's just
like I actually feel less comfortable in like small, like
smaller situations. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm just I'm very comfortable
in multi integrated situations with different people.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like, I hate to put it this way, but like
when I went to Maine for the first time. I
was playing with one of my bands, when we went
up to Brewer, Maine to play for the whole week.
We did that a couple of times at this place,
Stacy's Lounge and Brewer and uh, it was almost like
we went to the Banger Mall and I felt uncom
like there's nothing but white people here, right right. I mean,
I hate to bring the subject out. I'm not saying
it like in a bad way, but it was uncomfortable
for me because it didn't feel natural.
Speaker 1: That makes you know what I mean, That makes sense.
I mean, it wasn't a bad thing, it just was
it was odd for me. We have a we have
a call? Might be the same person who called earlier.
Hi are you there?
Speaker 3: Hi?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 5: Who's this?
Speaker 3: This is just a fan of Brooklyn Mike, and I
know that voice Fello fan.
Speaker 1: I thought I thought it might be somebody else calling.
Speaker 3: But it's it's an anonymous fan.
Speaker 1: That it's an anonymous fan. We have an anonymous fan.
On the line of Brooklyn Mike, you have anonymous fans.
So you're already having a lot of success.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see that. That proves it. Nobody wants to admit.
Speaker 3: It, Brooklyn Mike. You are also a new co host
on one of the radio shows. There is that, correct.
Speaker 2: Yes, the host of that show was quite kind to
invite me on a regular basis.
Speaker 1: Oh, Paul Cormier.
Speaker 2: Paul Cormier, Yes, I've very much appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, I was just kidding. Guys. It's me. It's me.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's Paul Matt, It's Paul.
Speaker 1: See. I didn't recognize his voice. I thought it was
somebody else at me.
Speaker 2: I thought it was one of those famous people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, he sounds different on the phone, you know
what saying. I had you going, but you did. You
are usually like one of those voice changer things.
Speaker 3: No, no, it's just the real McCoy. What you see
is what you get.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. Well, we can't see you. That's why we
didn't know it's you.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, that's why I'm actually calling. I was actually
stepping out. I did my errands this morning, and I
was tuning in and I loved the the Irish guy
there I had.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he was wonderful.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and his song was fantastic.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, no, he was. He was amazing. Uh
uh co hal fits. I still don't know if I'm
saying his first name correctly, but he said I was.
He might have just been being kind.
Speaker 3: Maybe he was being kind, he man, Maybe.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm saying it wrong.
Speaker 3: So I went out. I went out this morning. I
ran my errands and I was listening and I'm like, hey,
I'm gonna go win at eleven. And then I got
home probably about a half an hour ago, and I
was venturing back out and it's too damn cold out there.
Speaker 1: Man, don't blame you.
Speaker 2: It was like thirteen below at the Windshill.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah. I'm sitting here now and with a
hot cup of coffee, looking forward to hearing some acoustical
jams from the fabulous Brooklyn Mike Platino.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, yes, you said his real last name. He's
just stocks to him.
Speaker 3: Even I even spell it right too. Yeah, he spelt
it out to me once and I and I and
it stuck.
Speaker 2: It just took like two or three times to pronounce
it properly, which is not unusual. I believe me. It's
been pronounced all different ways. The bad thing about having
a name like you know, surname like that, that's somewhat unique.
So is that I can't say, Well, it wasn't me,
it was the other mic Platino, right, that's right, I forget.
Actually there were I found another mic Platino, which I
was very proud in New Jersey as a dentist.
Speaker 4: Oh really yeah, and sometimes I get his mail, which
is kind of funny.
Speaker 1: Oh that is funny. That is fine. Yeah, there's another
Matt Connorton right here in New Hampshire. But he's my uncle,
so that all right, It kind of doesn't count.
Speaker 3: You ever get one of his paychecks. You just go
to the bank wearing a Johnny Oh the thing, Yeah,
I'm doctor.
Speaker 1: Yeah gds yep, were scrubbed. There you go.
Speaker 2: You're always thinking, Paul.
Speaker 3: That's right, all right, Well I'm going to be sitting
here enjoying your interview and uh, it's always nice to
hear book of mic on no matter what show's on,
and love your show. I'm your biggest fan. I didn't
know if you knew that, but yeah.
Speaker 1: I did not know. I appreciate that, uh, Paul, see, thank.
Speaker 3: You you well sometimes all right, all right.
Speaker 1: That was the great police from Retrospection Radio with poly
C of course Brooklyn. Mike is, now are you with
us every week on that like officially every week now
on that show?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Oh for some reason, why can't I hear you? Oh?
I know why? Sorry, I figured it out. Say that again.
Speaker 2: Yep, hello, yeah, yeah, that is correct. Paul invited me.
He called me about two weeks ago and he said
listen because usually at the end of each program that
I've been on, we have a conversation like do you
want me to come back next week? And he says, well,
do you want to come back? So he called me
about two weeks he says, listen instead of having this
conversation every week, if you he says, I'd like I
like having you on the show, if you'd like to
be on, let's just make you like a permanent co host,
as you put it. Yeah, and I said, would be
my pleasure, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think it's great because we had a conversation.
And I don't think he'll mind me saying this, because
I think it was just he and I in the
room after everyone else had left last night. But he
said to me, he said, I really like this crew
you know that we have right now on Retrospect.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm new to it, but it feels real nice,
real comfortable, real natural.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, good, I'm glad. I'm glad. Well, geez, you
want to play something for people who, uh, for people
who have not heard you yet, if you are just
joining us Brooklyn Mike is here. He is a real
New Yorker. We turned that guitar up there.
Speaker 2: I don't know what you mean by it.
Speaker 1: It's a little it's a little inside. But if you know,
you know, some of our listeners know what I mean.
And real New Yorkers are the most amazing people from
what I'm told, Like, there's nobody else on earth quite
like a real New Yorker.
Speaker 2: Really, yeah, I mean we have a president who's a
real New york.
Speaker 1: I just threw up in my mouth. I swallowed it
back down, though, because I'm a professional we got the
burning sensation in the throat, but I'm okay, you know
how to deal with it. I got water here, I'm
all right.
Speaker 2: So I think maybe we'll start off with this song here.
So I had mentioned that you you had a interviewed
John Poussett Dart. Yes, like I said, that was a
in my opinion, great feather in your cap.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was great interview. I really loved it. And
I've been a fan of John Poussett Dart, the Pussett
Dart Band since at least nineteen seventy five. I have
like all their albums, and I've seen them in concert
quite a few times. Okay, wow, And is this song
that I've always done of his? I really like it
and I think it's quite apropos for today, at least
the title of it is. It's entitled Winterness.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, that is apropos. I've shot here all right.
Speaker 2: Watching the rain fall down, thinking about San Francisco.
Speaker 5: It all leaves me just about right here laying a
wait last night, and felt real nice having you here
instead there.
Speaker 4: Tension and all living with many but still living alone.
Speaker 5: It's the circle of seasons.
Speaker 4: It's both sides up the street. Sure is funny to
listen to soon song for so long, just like an
old friend. Now it's nice to have you back again.
Some wonder and wonder and wonder and wonder and wander
and wander and wind.
Speaker 5: Oh back this way again.
Speaker 4: Witterness, subtle bliss now just about missus me.
Speaker 5: Sure enough?
Speaker 6: Yeh yeh yelling yah yah yuh yi yeah, yuh yuh.
Speaker 7: Say.
Speaker 5: It's a circle of seasons. It's both sides of the street.
Speaker 4: I'm just watching the rainfall down, just thinking about San Francisco.
It all leaves me just stoop about right here. I
ain't gone to know where it all leaves me, just
stoop out right. He don't go where it all leaves me,
just stoop out right.
Speaker 5: He hmm.
Speaker 1: That's great, That is great. Brooklyn Mike is here with
us live in studio. If you're just joining us, and uh,
you know, it's funny. As much as I don't like Winter,
I really like that song or your rendition of it anyway. Yeah, yeah,
absolutely absolutely, if you are just joining us, we have
Brooklyn Mike here. What's the what's the most because you know,
as I'm listening to you sing that, it just occurred
to me. I don't know if I've asked you this before.
What's the most challenging thing to sing? It's kind of
in your your repertoire of songs that you do. Is
there something that's particularly challenging for you to sing?
Speaker 2: To sing? Well, I'll put it this way. If I
don't feel that I if I personally, in my opinion,
don't feel that I could do a song justice, as
much as I might like the song, I won't.
Speaker 1: Do it, okay.
Speaker 2: I have to feel that I can render an acceptable,
acceptable to me rendition of the song, both playing wise
and you know, the total execution the singing. I try
to keep. I was having this conversation with Glenn last night,
is that one of the things that I enjoy and
I find the most challenging is you know, being soloist
only playing you know, rhythm guitar and singing. You know,
you're replicating something that was generally you know, on an
album with you know, full production. So to replicate it
and be able to fill all the spaces, you know,
without getting too crazy. But I like to keep it
as true to the recording as I can. So I
hope and feel like so you've never heard that song before.
And now if you go out and search that song
out and you hear it the recording, I want it
what you heard me do be like what you hear
on the record. If that makes any sense, Oh it does,
it does. And it's not because I want to be
like a copycat. It's just my approach is to keep
the songs as true to the recordings. Number one, to
honor the artist and their vision of the song, which
oftentimes is the songwriter themselves. And there's nothing wrong with
you know, doing different versions of you know, people do that,
they'll do a different take on songs. That's not my approach.
And then the other thing is too that if if
a person in the audience is hearing a song that
they know, and they know it off the record, it
sounds more familiar if it's performed as close to the
recording as possible. I think people like that. They like
that familiarity because I know a lot of times artists
and I understand this. I'll just say James Taylor, for example,
we'll go out and do Fire and Rain, but he'll
do it like a little differently than he did it,
you know in nineteen whatever, seventy one because he's done
it's seventeen gazillion times, so for his own sanity, he
changes it a little bit. Or these the song for
the songwriter evolves a little bit and they change it.
And some people in the audience enjoy that because it's
it's something different. But I know there are people that
don't like that. It's like, oh, why is he doing
it differently? So you know, you can't please everybody, right,
So I have to do what I feel comfortable with,
and my approach has always been to try to replicate
the original sound as well as as closely as I
humanly can with my abilities.
Speaker 1: I think sometimes too, artists will change, you know, especially
someone uh James Taylor. He's got to be in his eighties, right,
Sometimes artists will will change over time what they do
because just out of sheer necessity. So I'll give you
a just a random example. So Kiss, And for those
watching the video app, you know, Kiss is my favorite band,
so I I never knew that where.
Speaker 8: Right, But but Kiss is an example of over over
the years, at a certain point they started changing the
tunings and a lot of rock bands do this where
they're they're playing these songs in a lower tuning it's
key so that they're a little yeah, so that they're
a little bit easier.
Speaker 1: To sing that voice, to hit those notes. And most
people probably don't notice. For someone like me who does notice,
I actually like that with that genre. I think that
works really well because when you when you tune down that,
it actually makes the songs a little bit heavier. And
I like that I want because I want them to
be heavy. So I kind of on certain songs it's
like ooh, I like that, and the I like that
tuned down. But I think but I wonder too, even
you know, even somebody like James Taylor, I wonder if
if maybe some of these songs have changed over the
years just out of necessity he does.
Speaker 2: There's one song that I do three of his songs,
and one of the songs, as I was learning it,
i've you know, I know the original recording. That's the
other thing is that I the vast majority of the
songs that I do, which I don't have a repertoire of,
I don't know one hundred and twenty songs I do
in the original keys. Yeah, And so that's a challenge
for me too. Once in a while, I could think
of Right now, I can only think of two songs
that I do in different keys than the original recordings.
And that's just to accommodate my voice, right, my vocal range.
I'm a tenor, so I tend to have a higher voice,
although as I'm getting older, it's like it's kind of
odd I could sing lower.
Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing to your voice changes. Yeah, yeah,
but I.
Speaker 2: Could still sing. You know, I have a strong falsetto,
so yeah, you know that comes in handy. But James Taylor,
as an example, one of the three songs of his
that I do, I learned it, you know, from the
original recording, and then I've seen him do it more recently,
and he does it a half step half step higher.
Speaker 1: Oh he doesn't higher, half step higher. Yeah, it's kind
of interesting. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's a baritone. Okay, James Taylor is a baritone.
It's funny because I heard him say that he doesn't
consider himself at all a good singer, and he wishes that, Yeah,
he wishes that he were more of a tenor than
a baritone, so he could sing higher.
Speaker 1: Oh that's interesting, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: I thought that was interesting to hear him say that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think he's a very good singer. I
think I think he's a great songwriter. Oh yeah, do
you want to do something from James Taylor?
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's I thought you a switches do that song
that I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious.
Speaker 2: It's call Don't let Me Be Lonely Tonight. I told
this little anecdote on Peters on the Morning Show. Every
time I hear this, you know, like sometimes a song
can just spark a very very specific memory, not just
of a time period or year, but like a very
specific and this song, this song, the recording has a
sax solo tenor sax solo toward the end. And it
was late seventies and I was working in a pizzeria,
which I did from like nineteen sixty eight to nineteen
eighty one. But I was working at pizzeria. In the kitchen,
we had a radio on the shelf and yet you know,
rock station on or whatever FM station, and this song
came on, and it was the dead of summer, and
right as the sax solo was about to start, we
had a blackout. It was in the middle of the afternoon,
and I just always remember right as the sax Solo
was going to start overlight. Everything went out, the refrigerators
went off, the lights went out, and like every time
I hear the song, I remember that so but I
will admit that in my rendition, I will not be
doing the sax solo.
Speaker 1: Okay, fair, I think that's fair. No, no, no, sax solo.
Speaker 2: No, not today.
Speaker 1: If you're just joining us, we have Brooklyn Mike here
with us, live in studio.
Speaker 2: All right, let's give this baby a shot.
Speaker 1: All right, looking forward to this. I love James Tayler's
right again.
Speaker 2: That's too loud.
Speaker 1: Nope, nope, that's great.
Speaker 2: Really okay, do me wrong?
Speaker 4: To me right, tell me lies, but ho me tight.
Save your goodbyes for the morning light.
Speaker 2: But don't let me be lonely tonight.
Speaker 4: Say goodbye and say hello. Sure enough, good to see you,
but it's time to go.
Speaker 5: Don't say yes, but please don't say no.
Speaker 6: I don't want to be lonely tonight.
Speaker 4: Go away and tam, go on and do as you
please here. You ain't gonna see me getting down on
my knees. I'm undecided, and your heart's been divided. You've
been turning my world upside down. So do me wrong
and do me right right now, baby, go on and
tell me lies, but hold me tight. Save your goodbyes
for the morning light, morning light. But don't let me
be lonely tonight. I don't want to be lonely to night. No,
I don't want to be lonely tonight.
Speaker 1: Beautiful, beautiful Brooklyn Mike here on the show this morning.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: That's great. That's great. Now, So the next just for
people who are joining us now, so you're gonna be
when's the next open my kid?
Speaker 2: Is it in February? February February fourth, first Wednesday of February.
Speaker 1: At Pembroke City Limits of course, which uh uh. Rob
as a veto who also hosts a Greatest State of
Mind here on WM and H and so Rob's been
a part of the you know, a very important part
of the music scene here for a long time. So
that's that's great. Now have you been have you been
doing any other open mics anywhere.
Speaker 2: Else or no, I'm looking into it. I was actually
over at the Mocha pot and talking to the gal
down there. They're thinking of starting to do some open
mics actually in February they're going to start doing a
comedian open mics.
Speaker 1: Oh no kidding.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that'll be fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and uh we need more of that, Yeah, need
more laughter in general.
Speaker 2: Kidding.
Speaker 1: Oh, very cool. Now when you do the open mics,
do you what do you do?
Speaker 5: Like?
Speaker 1: Do you do you kind of mix it up or
do you try different things kind of read the crowd
or I try to.
Speaker 2: It's it seems like they've the way it's been two times.
It's like they allow you three songs. Okay, so I
just I don't know. I've picked three songs that I
feel most comfortable with. Like I said, I'm still getting
over the nervousness. Yeah, I didn't finish that conversation. It's
kind of ironic because I got into the whole thing
about moving to New Hampshire. But before I moved here,
for over fifteen years, almost twenty years, I largely made
a living, you know, performing in bands and solos, and
I literally performed in front of almost twenty thousand people,
you know, very large crowds.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Never bothered me, you know, you know, I was just so. Also,
when you're younger, I think you're less, you have less inhibitions.
Speaker 1: Depends on the person. Yeah, I think some people. For
some people, I think it's the opposite, you know, because
some people as they get older, they they become more
just kind of secure, like like they're not as worried
about some of the things that they were when they
were younger.
Speaker 2: In terms of I think for I should I should specify.
For me, it's it's in terms of performing, Okay, not
just in general generally in life, Like, yeah, I'm comfortable,
like I talk to strangers all the time. I have
no problem speaking with anybody or but because I take
the performing so seriously, like I'm so worried about screwing up. Yeah,
and I just, you know, want to make a good impression.
Speaker 1: I just that makes sense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like that. So, and I was doing it
on such a regular basis. I mean there were times
where I was in a band where we were doing
over thirty jobs a month, you know, while we were
out all the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you know there were slow times too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So now it's like just starting all over. It's almost
like starting for the first Like I have all this
repertoire that you know, I had to brush up on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but.
Speaker 2: It's it's getting better. As far as the not being
too nervous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I.
Speaker 2: Still even coming in here just you and me, I'm still,
you know, because I still I think it's because I
take it so seriously.
Speaker 1: Oh that's a good thing. That's a good thing.
Speaker 2: Well plus two.
Speaker 1: Isn't it good to be a little bit nervous a little?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 2: I mean yeah, I guess a little bit. I think
I keep on your toes a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And it's just, you know, it's kind of you know,
it's because to me, it's a you know, like I
always thought of stage right as being a good kind
of nervous.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I don't playing bands anymore, but when I when I
used to, you know, I I, uh, of course stage
right works different ways for different people, but I know
for me and for all a lot of people, it
would be, you know, I would be nervous right up
to the point of going on stage, that kind of
nervous energy, but then once on stage, it's like, oh, okay, yeah,
this is good, you know.
Speaker 2: And also for me, it's kind of interesting that you
put it that way, like waiting to go on stage.
So all the bands that I worked in, I did
the sound like I had have the sound system oh yeah,
So like I would get there, you know, before everybody
else and unload the whole sound. So I was already
like you know, in the groove, you know, getting sound
ready and getting all the mics and the yamps and
the you know, the the PA speakers and getting all
you know, hooking everything up. So by the time it
came time to actually, you know, put my bass on
my shoulder and start and sing and perform, I was like,
it's like a relief.
Speaker 4: Yeah, now I could I could have fun. You know, Yeah,
you got all the work out of the.
Speaker 2: Way, you know, right right.
Speaker 7: Did you like that?
Speaker 1: Did you like me?
Speaker 2: I loved it. I love doing sound.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's good because sometimes you know, if there's a
guy in a band who's also the sound guy, they
do it out of they're doing it out of necessity.
Speaker 2: No, I volunteered to do it because even it started
right from the very very beginning. The first band that
I was in with my brother, you know, we went
out and bought the sound system, which I had to
supplement as time went on with you know, the other
bands that I was in, but you know, we had
a basic sound system, and I I just volunteered because
I know, I just had an ear for it and
I wanted to do it, and nobody else really wanted to.
I was like, I was happy to do it.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And plus, you know, I mean, I think you know
this very well that no matter how good a band is,
the sound could make or break a band. Sure, And
and I so often go hear bands even just sometimes
like hearing a person doing like speaking, and it's like,
who is doing? Sound? Like it's so muffled, you know,
it's so easy to correct it, you know, and so
so I enjoyed being able to to do that and
get the sound to my in my opinion, proper right.
And we never had any complaints.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, that makes sense, That makes sense. Yeah, well
you want to.
Speaker 2: Play another one?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Sure, how about and see?
Speaker 1: Oh let me get that uh git up there?
Speaker 2: Of course, you know I got into one by my
man Gordon.
Speaker 1: Oh, yes, is he? I know we've talked about this before,
but remind me, is he your favorite?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: All time?
Speaker 2: Gordon Lightfoot.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's what I thought.
Speaker 2: I referred to him as my hero. And like I said,
I've said, I've was very very fortunate to get to
meet him a few times.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I'm in concert quite a number of times in
New York and also here.
Speaker 1: Like how many times would you say, like double digits?
Speaker 2: Like, oh no, no, not that many times. No, probably
half a dozen, maybe more than that, close ten times. Okay,
but you know, I don't have to see somebody every
time they come around, right, But I probably knew articles one,
two three. I saw him at Carnegie Hall. That was
a really great concert. I mean, you want to talk about,
you know, the old saying you could hear a pin
drop in the audience, you know, and he's like when
he performs, like it's very very controlled, very quiet. It's
just it was. If you've ever gotten to see him,
it was an amazing, amazing experience to support. And yeah,
so just this a little bit of a cautionary tale,
I would say, and cautionary in the respect that if
you happen to have the propensity for talking in your
sleep and you might have some secrets could be an issue.
So this one is entitled talking in your sleep. I
heard you talking in your sleeper. Is there an't anything
that I can do? I don't believe we've had a
word all name about anything at all. I heard you
talking in the night. That's right.
Speaker 4: Yes, I heard your call, but I could hardly hear
the name you spoke. It's me, My, don't recall. I
heard you so offly whisper. I reached to hold you
near me, and from your lips there came that secret
I was not supposed to know. I heard you talking
in your sleep. Is there anything that I can say?
I don't believe we've had a word all day about anything?
Speaker 6: You know? Today?
Speaker 4: I heard you softly whisper. I reached out to hold
you near me, and from your lips it came that
secret I was not supposed to know. I heard you
talking in your sleep. Is there anything that I can do?
I don't believe we've had.
Speaker 6: A word all day.
Speaker 7: About anything at all.
Speaker 5: I heard you talking in the night.
Speaker 4: That's right, it's I heard you call, though I could
hardly hear the name you who spoke? It's me, My
don't recall.
Speaker 1: Hmm, Yeah, I don't know that one. That's us beautiful.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's an old one that's probably from nineteen sixty six,
goes way back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Wow, When when did he start? Was that like
the beginning for him?
Speaker 2: He goes back to the fifties. Actually, oh, no kidding.
Oh yeah, he didn't realize started at a really young age.
Speaker 1: Oh wow.
Speaker 2: Oh see, I didn't realize the late fifties. But in America,
I mean as far as recordings and getting on the radio,
it was probably about sixty six or so.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, and then when did he pass away? Was
I was.
Speaker 2: May May first? I think of twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Okay, not that long ago. Yeah, and he was he
was kind of performing up to the end.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was doing like almost one hundred
shows a year.
Speaker 6: Jeez.
Speaker 2: Wow, good for him eighty four and a half years old.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's incredible, that's incredible. What was he still able
to sing?
Speaker 2: Pretty much? His his voice was shot, was it. Yeah?
It was one of those that unfortunately it was just
like a veil of his former voice.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But you know, mixed reviews. I mean, people that would
go to see him, that expected to, you know, hear
the Gordon Lightfoot of the nineteen seventies, you know, would
complain about it, why is she still doing shows? But
those of us that really loved him, it didn't matter,
you know, right, because the music was still a hundred
I mean, he was still one hundred percent there with
the music really yeah. Yeah, and he would never never
miss a beat, never miss a lyric, nothing, yeah, you know,
and he still had the guys, I mean, the drummer,
drummer and a bassist that played with him for like
through all these decades. Really yeah, and even the keyboardist
has been with him since like the nineteen eighties, no kidding, Yeah,
the same Guy's pretty amazing.
Speaker 1: Is that's incredible?
Speaker 2: Only his guitarist had passed away in recent years and
he was replaced with a great guitarist. But yeah, that's so.
It really was like hearing the records and you'd go
to see him other than his voice being diminished, which
you know you can't you can understand.
Speaker 1: That, I guess. Yeah, of course. Yeah. How old was he?
Eighty four?
Speaker 2: Eighty four and a half, Yeah, eighty.
Speaker 1: Four and a half. Jez, wow, Now that is that
is remarkable. Who else is a big influence on you?
Speaker 2: Dan Fogelberg, yep, another one of my favorites as far
as vocal, Like I say, my vocal mentor is a
singer songwriter also from New York City, Kenny Rankin Okay,
So he's he's one of my biggest influences as far
as far as uh, you know the term of vocal stylings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what what is it about him?
Speaker 2: Because I'm trying to think, you know, he his his
style of playing. It was very very much like uh,
you know, like Boston Nova, like Brazilian style of music.
And he he did a lot of covers. I do
a few of a few songs of his so that
are covers, but like in the style that he does them. Okay,
I speak kind of interesting. A song that I did
last time I was here, uh, Pussy Willow's Cattails. Funny
little anecdote about that is that I was always big
a Gordon Lightfoot fan, but I didn't really know a
lot of lot. I knew like his hits early on,
like in the early seventies. I knew songs that were
on radio. I didn't really have many of his albums yet,
but I did. I was very familiar with Kenny Rankin.
He was he had a lot of airplay in New
York City, and so I had a bunch of his albums.
And one of my favorite songs of Kenny Rankins was
that he did Pussy Willow's Cattails. And I didn't realize
until years later that it was a Gordon Lightfoot song.
So it kind of all came together, you know, it
was Yeah, okay, this makes sense. And yeah, Kenny he
covered like two or three Gordon Lightfoot songs.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, kid?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, oh interesting, Yeah one another one called Mountains and Marianne. Yeah,
it might be just those two.
Speaker 1: Now is he still around Kenny rank No, he died quite.
Speaker 2: A number of years ago, unfortunately. Okay, yeah, okay, good,
almost twenty years ago. Now, yeah, oh yeah, did you
want to play something of his? Uh, that's interesting. Let's
see what can we do.
Speaker 1: I'm particularly curious because, off the top of my head,
let me turn that guitar up. Off the top of
my head, I don't really know any Kenny Rankin. I'm
certainly a where if we ate he was, but I
can't think of anything of his that I know.
Speaker 2: I'm going to do a song that he did. He
did a cover. This is a cover, so you'll you
know the song, but uh, really going out on going
out in the limb on this.
Speaker 1: One, that's live radio. It's exciting.
Speaker 2: Okay, So this is I'm going to try to replicate
Kenny's version of this song. As well as I can.
Speaker 1: Will will we recognize the song?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Okay, as soon as the vocal comes in, I think, okay, okay.
Speaker 7: Well, I look at you all.
Speaker 4: See the love there that sleeping while my ma getar
gently weeps. I look at the floor and I see
me sweeping steal Ma getar gently wee.
Speaker 5: I don't know nobody told you how to unfold your love,
and I don't know how someone controlled you. They bought
and soul you.
Speaker 4: I look at the world and I see it's still
turning while my guitar gently we.
Speaker 5: With every mistake, we.
Speaker 6: Must surely be learning.
Speaker 5: Still my guitar gently we I don't know why you
were diverted you will preferred to, and I don't know
how you were renverted. No wanna learned. And I'll let
you all see the little father sleeping.
Speaker 4: While I get tar gently weep.
Speaker 1: Hmmm, that was fantastic, Thank you good Lord. That was
really good, really good.
Speaker 2: If that doesn't sedate you, I don't know what will.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that and that that harmonic that does
he do that on his version? Jesus threw that. That
is cool as hell. I love that harmonic. You threw
it right at the end there. Yeah, well, the drama
of it is just so good.
Speaker 2: Well, that's you know, one of the if you could
bring it up again, that's one of the things that
I love, you know, uh, for example, is figure oftentimes
figuring out how to how to end the song. I
mean a lot of songs on records fade, so it's
coming up with an ending. And so the way I
describe it, it's like that's my version of Kenny Rankin's
version of well my guitar. Yeah, but to do I
like to and that that.
Speaker 1: Love it.
Speaker 2: Gotta end it somehow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is so good. That is so good.
Speaker 2: One of the things I enjoyed the most is that
that type of stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. If you're just joining us up. Brooklyn
Mike is here with us a live in studio on
this very very cold Saturday morning. We got looking at
the clock. We got time for what you want to do?
Speaker 2: One more? Sure?
Speaker 1: All right? We had time for one more love hearing
Brooklyn Mike play.
Speaker 2: Thank you, h I think I'd like to if you
don't mind another Gordon Lightfoot song.
Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, whatever you want to do, got to honor.
Speaker 2: My man here. So another another thing that I enjoyed
doing is kind of turning people on to songs by
artists that they know, but they don't know the songs
so I do. For example, up until recently, I mean
I I do like about fifteen Gordon Lightfoot songs, and
only two of them were hits. But more recently, thanks
to Paul Cormier and his suggestions, I've added some more
popular Gordon Lightfoot songs, which I think was a great idea.
So I've got about five of those now.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: But this one is probably one of my top three
favorite Gordon Lightfoot songs of all time. Nineteen seventy four
off the Sundown album. And unless you're a fan of
his or had the album, you probably have never heard
the song. But I just and again if anybody that,
if you're out there and you're hearing this song and
it sparks your interest, please go and listen to the recording,
because it's the orchest straight, it's it's very haunting. The
orchestration on it is amazing, the production is amazing, and
it's just one of those songs I still I wish he.
I wish he were still alive for many many reasons,
but also if I could get to meet him again,
to ask him what is this song about? Because I
have I can't. I still can't figure it out. It's uh, musically,
it's it's very interesting, I find and even like lyrically,
I just I can't figure it figured it out. So
if anybody out there knows, it's called is There Anyone Home?
Is the title of this song, and it's if you
want to hear it. It's on the Sundown album.
Speaker 1: M hm.
Speaker 4: Is there anyone home in this house? Made? Anyone inside?
Speaker 3: No my name.
Speaker 4: I've been around for or half one hundred days, never
saw a door shuts the tight turn around, don't look down.
There's a man behind you with a gun. Like any
wandering child in the wilderness, wild and uncaged.
Speaker 5: On your wings.
Speaker 2: I think I heard.
Speaker 5: Someone stirred.
Speaker 4: I think I heard someone stern. There's a light around you.
I've come to switch it on. It would brighten everywhere.
Don't be ashamed. If you feel a whole lot water
in your heart, you got that feeling in your soul?
Is there anyone home in this house?
Speaker 5: Made soul? Anyone in there who might care?
Speaker 4: I've grown weary and wise, and I feel much amazed.
Got a few good tells too unwine. Turn around, don't
look down. There's a man behind you with the girl,
like anyone entering minstrel let On in the House of
a Thousand Delights. I think I heard someone Stern.
Speaker 2: I think I heard.
Speaker 5: Someone Stern. I think I got hurt someone Stern. I
think I got heard someone Stern.
Speaker 2: I think got the
Speaker 5: Someone Stern.