Speaker 1: Oh yeah, welcome everybody. We have entered our number three
New Marrow trace of Matt Connorton unleashed and we are
live from the studios of wm MH ninety five point
three FM, Inglorious Manchester, New Hampshire. Of course, you can
stream the show from anywhere. Go to Matt connorton dot
com slash live for all your live streaming options, social
media links, contact infoshow archives, et cetera, et cetera. If
you are listening live today is January twenty four, twenty
twenty six, and I hope you are warm, keeping warm
wherever you are, because it is brutally cold and we've
got a we got a big storm coming. But that's okay.
We're having fun.
Speaker 2: Let's see.
Speaker 1: Let me get that mic up. Brooklyn Mike is here.
Oh I can't hear you. Let me figure out why
I think I. Oh, oh, I'm hearing. Here's something. Go
ahead and talk good morning Matt. There we are there,
we are. So for those of you 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 a 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 plug and he's going to 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 Pembroke City Limits.
Speaker 1: Yeah, our friend Rob az Avito.
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, Okay, very good.
Speaker 1: So they do those every Wednesday at.
Speaker 2: First Wednesday of the month once a month.
Speaker 1: Okay, So yeah, so Pembroke City Limits. Of course, if
you haven't checked it out, please do. It's an amazing place.
Rob az Avito of course also a very important part
of the WMNH family. I think he was here before
I started my show. Actually, I think before I came here.
Speaker 2: That's a long time.
Speaker 1: So it's been nearly a decade. Yeah, Rob of course
host granted State of Mind, which you can hear Fridays
at six pm here at wm ANDH and also of
course if you go to the if you go to
WMNH Radio dot org, you can get it on demand.
But I think now he's actually interviewing people at PCL
is what it sounds like. There's live a lot of
live performances in the show, so.
Speaker 2: Heats us a ton of different events there. I mean
they had something I think it was last Sunday where
was basically bring a plant to take a plant, so
real 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, but with plants, yeah,
potted potted plant luck if you will, and so different
things like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: 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 got I got to do that too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got to turn that out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2: So Now have you been have you played anywhere else?
Or has that kind of been your your smory into
getting back into playing live or 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. Yeah, 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 back burn 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 stillmed. 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.
So just starting a new life. I'm not in a
witness protection program or anything like that.
Speaker 1: It was just, uh, which is exactly what you would
say if you were in the witness protection program.
Speaker 2: M 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 it's a
whole other world, you know, with technology. I mean, when
I was in you know, performing in 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
by ten glossy with your press kit and a cassette tape,
you know, with a demo with three songs on it,
and 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
my friend Denise. She's listening in Ocalla, Florida today. Denise
was a coworker who lived in Nashua. She was Manchester
native and just recently also retired and made the move
to Florida. Oh okay, so loaded Denise down in Florida.
I hope you're keeping warm down there because we're not.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I don't know if most of the country
is this sweek und Well, yeah, I think.
Speaker 2: 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 oppiatistic that
it's not going to be that bad here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was laughing because when you said I don't know,
we're not going to get like two feet, and I'm thinking, yeah,
just a foot and a half. Yeah, yeah, well that's
better better than two feet.
Speaker 1: 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 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 like I
see the leaves falling, and I just reminds me of death. Well,
it's all death.
Speaker 2: You know. There 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. Hi, Welcome to Matt Connorton Unleashed.
Is this.
Speaker 2: The ghost caller? Uh?
Speaker 1: Oh, the phantom thanks for calling. 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, shy New Yorker. Actually, when
I was younger, I was I couldn't talk to anybody.
I really, really, really shy.
Speaker 2: It broke probably 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 actors, 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 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: 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 and 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 in Brewer, and uh, it was almost like
we went to the Banger Mall and I felt uncommon,
like there's nothing but white people here. I mean, I
hate to bring the subject out. It's 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.
Speaker 2: I mean it wasn't a bad thing, it just was
it was odd for me.
Speaker 1: We have a we have a call person who called earlier.
Hi are you there?
Speaker 3: Hi?
Speaker 1: Oh, who's this?
Speaker 4: This is just a fan of Brooklyn Mike.
Speaker 1: I know that voice. I thought I thought it might
be somebody else.
Speaker 4: Calling, 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 it.
Speaker 4: 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, Paul Cormier.
Speaker 2: Paul Cormier. Yes, I've very much appreciate that.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, I was just kidding. Guys. It's me. It's me.
Speaker 2: Oh, it's Paul, Matt, It's Paul. See. I didn't recognize
his voice. I thought it was somebody else at me.
I thought it was one of those famous people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, he's it's different on the phone. You know
what saying I had you going, but you did. Are
you usually like one of those voice changer things.
Speaker 4: No, No, it's just the real McCoy. What you see
is what you get.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. Well, we can't see you, that's why we
didn't know it's you.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, that's why I'm actually calling. I was actually
stepping out. I did my my errands this morning, and
I was tuning in and I loved the uh the
Irish guy there I had from Ireland.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah yeah. He was wonderful.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and his song was fantastic.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, no, he was. He was amazing. Uh
Ca 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 4: Maybe he was being kind, he man, Maybe.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm saying it wrong.
Speaker 4: So I went out. I went out this morning. I
ran my errands and I was listening in and I'm like, hey,
I'm gonna go win at eleven. And then I got
home probably about half an hour ago, and I was
venturing back out and it's too damn cold out there.
Speaker 2: Man, don't blame you. It was like thirteen below at
the Windshill.
Speaker 4: 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 2: Oh, thank you, Paul.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, you said his real last name. He's just
stocks him.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I even spell it right too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: He spelled it out to me once, and I and
I and it's Stocked.
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, a surname like that that's
somewhat unique. So is that I can't say, well it
was 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 proudly in New Jersey
as a dentist. Oh really Yeah, and sometimes I get
his mail, which is kind of funny.
Speaker 1: Oh that is fine, That is fine. Yeah, there's another
Matt Connorton right here in New Hampshire. But he's my
so that all right. It kind of doesn't count.
Speaker 4: Here we get one of his paychecks. You just go
to the bank wearing a Johnny Oh the thing. Yeah,
I'm doctor Platina GDS. Yep, quere scrubbed.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 2: You're always thinking, Paul.
Speaker 4: 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 he's on.
And Matt love your show. I'm your biggest fan. I
didn't know if you knew that, but yeah, I did
not know.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, Polly C.
Speaker 4: Thank you you will sometimes.
Speaker 2: All right, all right?
Speaker 1: That was the great policy from Retrospect Radio with poly C,
which you can hear every Friday night live here at
WMNH ninety five point three FM from eight to ten pm.
Of course, Brooklyn mic 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, 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 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 it would
be my pleasure, you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, I think it's great because we had a conversation.
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 screw you
know that we have right now on retrost feels.
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, uh for for people who uh
for people who have not heard you? Yeah, if you
are just joining us Brooklyn Mike is here. He is
a real New Yorker. Let me turn 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, I mean, we have a president who's a real
New York Look how great he is there?
Speaker 6: You.
Speaker 1: I just threw up in my mouth. I swallowed it
back down though, because I'm a professional. I 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. Oh thank you, Yeah,
I was great interview. I really loved it. And I've
been a fan of John Poussett's art, the Pussette 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, well that is apropos.
Speaker 2: I've a shot here all.
Speaker 3: Right, watching the rain fall down, thinking about San Francisco.
Speaker 2: It all leaves me just about right he.
Speaker 3: Lana wake last night and felt real nice having you
hear instead of there tension and all living with many.
Speaker 2: Buts to living alone. It's the circle of seasons.
Speaker 3: It's both sides of the street. Sure is funny to
listen to someone's song for so long, just like.
Speaker 7: An old friend.
Speaker 2: Now it's nice to have you back again some.
Speaker 3: Wonder and wonder and wonder and wonder and wonder and
wander and wind poll back this way again. Winterness, subtle
bliss now just about missus me sure enough, ya ye.
Speaker 2: Yelling ye yu.
Speaker 7: Yu yu yu.
Speaker 2: Say. It's a circle of seasons.
Speaker 3: It's both sides of the street. I'm just watching the
rain fall down, just thinking about San Francisco. It all
leaves me just about right here.
Speaker 2: I ain't gonna know where.
Speaker 3: It all leaves me just about right here. Don't go
where it all leaves me just stoop out right.
Speaker 2: 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,
Thank you, Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely If you Alrea just
joining us. We have Brooklyn Mike here on Matt Connorton
unleashed on this uh very cold Saturday morning, Saturday, of course,
January twenty four, twenty twenty six, and we are live
from the studios of wmn H ninety five point three
FM's 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
repertoire of songs that you do. Is there something that's
particularly challenging for you to sing?
Speaker 2: Just 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 do it.
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 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, No, 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 he 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 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 going 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 appen, you know, Kiss is
my favorite band, so I I never that, 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 so that they're
a little yeah, so that they're a little bit easier
to sing 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. I kind of on certain songs it's like, oh,
I like that and that 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.
Speaker 2: He does. I 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 too, 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, uh, 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, does half step higher. Yeah, it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I thought that was interesting to hear him
say that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I think he's a very good singer. I mean,
I think he's a great songwriter. Oh yeah, do you
want to do something from James Taylor?
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's switches do that song that I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm curious.
Speaker 2: It's called uh, Don't let Me Be Lonely Tonight.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: I toeld this little anecdote on Peters on the Morning Show.
Every time I hear this, you know how 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 had 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, 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. You get that guitar
up there, swig of water here, No, no, no sacks solo,
no to if you're just doing us. We have Brooklyn
Mike here with us live in studio on this very
very very bitterly cold hopefully it's the coldest day of
the year, because I don't want it to get any
colder than this. Certainly.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think this is this is about as cold as
we get generally. Yeah, all right, let's give this baby
a shot.
Speaker 1: All right, looking forward to this. I love James Taylor.
Speaker 2: That too loud?
Speaker 1: Nope, Nope, that's great, really okay, do me.
Speaker 3: Wrong, to me right, tell me lies, but me tight.
Save your goodbyes for the morning light. But don't let
me be lonely tonight. Say goodbye and say hello, sure enough,
good to see you, but it's time to go. Don't
say yes, but please don't say no.
Speaker 2: I don't want to be lonely tonight.
Speaker 3: 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 now, 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 tonight. No, no,
I don't want to be lonely tonight.
Speaker 1: Beautiful, beautiful Brooklyn Mike here on the show This morning you.
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 great Est State
of Mind here on WM and A. 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 else or.
Speaker 2: 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 and we.
Speaker 1: Need more of that, yeah, need more laughter in general. Oh,
very cool. Now, when you do the open mics, what
do you what do you do?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Do you do you kind of mix it up or
do you try ou different things kind of read the
crowd or.
Speaker 2: I try to 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'd literally performed in front of almost twenty thousand people,
you know, very large crowds. Wow. 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. Uh 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.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: 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. Yeah. 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. Yeah.
But it's it's getting better. As far as the not
being too nervous. Yeah, but I 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: No, that's a good thing. That's a good thing. Well
plus two, isn't it good to be a little bit
nervous a little uh?
Speaker 2: I mean yeah, I guess a little bit. I think
I'll 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 new nervous you know. I don't playing bands anymore,
but when I when I used to, you know, I
I of course say it's right. Works different ways for
different people, but I know for me and for 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. Yeah, now I could Now I
could have fun.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got all the work out of the way,
you know, right right?
Speaker 1: Did you like that?
Speaker 2: Did you like being I loved it. I loved doing sound.
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. Yeah,
but 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 volunteer
because I don't 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 1: 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 speaking and it's like, who
is doing sound? Like it's so muffled? Yeah, you know
it's he's so easy to correct it, you know, right,
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? Yeah? Sure, how about and see?
Speaker 1: Oh let me get that uh guitar up there?
Speaker 2: Of course you know I got it too. 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: 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 to ten times.
But you know, I don't have to see somebody every
time they come around. But probably in New York Cle's
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?
Speaker 6: Right, I heard you talking in your sleep?
Speaker 2: Is there anything that I can do?
Speaker 3: I don't believe we've had a word all day about
anything at all. I heard you talking in the night,
that's right. Yes, I heard your call. Well, I could
hardly hear the name you spoke. It's me, I don't recall.
I heard you soly whisper. I reached out 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 thing about anything,
you know?
Speaker 7: Today to day.
Speaker 3: I heard you softly whisper. I reached out to hold
you near me, and from your lips they came that
secret I was not supposed to know.
Speaker 7: I heard you talking in your sleep.
Speaker 3: Is there anything that I can do? I don't believe
you've had a word all day about anything at all.
I heard you talking in the night. That's right, it's
I heard you call, though I could hardly hear the
name you spoke.
Speaker 1: It's me.
Speaker 6: I 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 did 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 I started at a really
young age.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, Oh see, I didn't realize.
Speaker 2: 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?
Speaker 2: Was I was 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: Oh yeah, yeah, he was doing like almost one hundred
shows a year.
Speaker 6: Jeez.
Speaker 2: Wow, good eighty four and a half years old.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's incredible, that's incredible. What was he still able
to sing? Pretty much?
Speaker 2: 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: That 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 when you'd go
to see him, you know, other than his voice being diminished,
which you know you can't you can understand that, I guess.
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. Yeah, how old was he? Eighty four?
Speaker 2: Eighty four and a half?
Speaker 1: Yeah, eighty four and a half. Jaz Wow, Now that
is that is remarkable. Who else is a big influence
on you?
Speaker 2: Dan Fogelberg 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 you know, the term of vocal stylings.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what what is it about him? Because I'm trying to.
Speaker 2: Think, you know, he his his style of playing It
was very very much like you know, like Boston Nova,
like Brazilian style of music, and 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,
Pussy Willow's Cattails. A funny little anecdote about that is
that I was always a big Gordon Lightfoot fan, but
I didn't really know a lot of 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 Okay, this makes sense,
and yeah, Kenny, he covered like two or three Gordon
Lightfoot songs. Oh wow, no, Kenny, Yeah, yeah, oh interesting,
yeah another one another one called Mountains in Marianne. Yeah,
it might be just those two no, is he still
around Kenny rank No, he died quite a number of
years ago, unfortunately.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2: 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 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 one.
Speaker 1: That's live radio. It's exciting.
Speaker 7: H's where?
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?
Speaker 2: As soon as the vocal comes in, I think, okay, okay, Well, hm,
I look.
Speaker 3: At you all? See the love there? That sleepy?
Speaker 2: Why am I get.
Speaker 3: Talm gently weeps.
Speaker 1: I look at the.
Speaker 3: Floor and I see it me sweeping, steal my guitar
gently weeds.
Speaker 6: I don't know.
Speaker 3: Nobody told you.
Speaker 7: How to unfold.
Speaker 3: Your love, and I don't know how.
Speaker 2: Someone controlled you, they.
Speaker 7: Bought and sold you.
Speaker 3: I look at the world and I see it's still
turning in.
Speaker 2: Why my guitar.
Speaker 3: Gently weeks. With every mistake, we must surely be learning
steal my guitar, gently weeks.
Speaker 2: I don't know why.
Speaker 7: You were diverted.
Speaker 3: You will preferred to, and I don't know how.
Speaker 7: You were renverted. No one to learned.
Speaker 3: And I'll let you all seek the little father sleeping
while I get tar gently weep.
Speaker 5: Hmmm, that was fantastic, Thank you, good Lord.
Speaker 1: 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 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. Wow,
my good talk. Yeah, but to do I like to.
Speaker 1: That 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, you know absolutely if you're just joining us up,
Brooklyn Mike is here with us live in studio on
this very very cold Saturday morning, January twenty four, twenty
twenty six. Here, this is Matt Connorton on leave and
we are live from the studios. It's nice and toasty
Warman here at WMNH ninety five point three FM. And
of course you can stream the show from anywhere. Go
to Matt connorton dot com slash live for all of
your live streaming options, social media links, contact info, show archives,
et cetera, et cetera. We got looking at the clock,
We got time for what you want to do?
Speaker 2: One more?
Speaker 1: Sure, we had time for one more love hearing Brooklyn
Mike play.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I think I'd like to if you don't
mind another Gordon Lightfoot song.
Speaker 1: Sure, yeah, whatever you want to do.
Speaker 2: Got to honor my man here we.
Speaker 1: Should mention too, Brooklyn Mike also now officially a member
of Retrospectrum Radio every Friday night here at WM and
H from eight to ten pm Eastern Time. Check social listings.
As Polly C likes to.
Speaker 2: Say, so, 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 yes, I do.
For example, up until recently, I mean I I do
like about fifteen Gordon Lightfoot songs, and only two of
them more 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: Oh 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 orchestra. 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 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 out. Figure 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: Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2: Is there anyone home in this house? Made of stone?
Speaker 3: Anyone inside norm made I've been around for half a
hundred days, never saw the door shut so tight. Turn around,
don't look down. There's a man behind you.
Speaker 2: With a gun, like.
Speaker 3: Any wandering child in the wilderness, wild and uncaged.
Speaker 2: On your wings. I think I heard someone stirred.
Speaker 3: I think I heard someone stirn. There's a light around you.
I've conco switched all it would brighten every room.
Speaker 2: Don't be ashamed if.
Speaker 3: You feel a whole lot water in your heart, you
got that feeling in your soul. Is there anyone home
in this house?
Speaker 2: Made stole? Anyone in there whom might care? I've grown
weary and wise, and I feel much amazed.
Speaker 3: Got a few good tales too, Unwine, turn around, don't
look down.
Speaker 2: There's a man behind you with.
Speaker 3: The girl, like any wandering minstrel at on in the
House of a Thousand Delights.
Speaker 2: I think I heard someone sterned. I think I heard.
Speaker 6: Someone stern.
Speaker 3: I think I.
Speaker 6: So one st.
Speaker 2: I think got her someone stern.
Speaker 3: I think got the.
Speaker 2: Soone.
Speaker 1: Is it a ghost story?
Speaker 2: Maybe? I have no idea, but I love the song
I do too. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like that a lot. I like that a lot.
Speaker 2: It's got a lot of interesting like changes in it, you.
Speaker 1: Know, Yeah, yeah, No, it was really good. Thanks Brooklyn, Mike.
Where should people go online to keep up with everything
that you're doing?
Speaker 2: The wm n H n H dot org ninety five
point three FM.
Speaker 1: Tune in retrospector right Friday nights for one thing, right.
Speaker 2: I do have I have a couple of songs on YouTube. Yes,
you know, Michael Platino, P L O T I n OK.
Just a couple of songs. I put them on there initially,
h in the springtime. I'm because I submitted. I had
to submit a couple of songs that people could review
as kind of as an audition. I didn't get the job,
but that's okay. I got a couple of couple of
videos online. I did Venture a Highway and by the
time I get to Phoenix, so that's on YouTube. Oh cool,
I'll have to check those out. Yeah, yeah, I could
send you to I'll send you the links. Okay, Yeah,
I appreciate it. Appreciate it well.
Speaker 1: Always wonderful to have you here, and of course wonderful
seeing you Friday nights, of course, and a lot of fun.
And I do want to thank you everybody who joined
us today. Of course, we had a ca Hall fits,
so don know if I'm saying it right in the
first hour and in the second hour we had a Dale,
the bass player from the Puncturists, great great band from
the UK. I really really liked them a lot. And
of course Brooklyn Mike was here. Wonderful and if you
miss any part of today, so of course it'll be
up in just a little bit at wmnhradio dot org
and at my website Matt connorton dot com. And again
Brooklyn mic are real New Yorker. Thanks, thank you so much,
my friend.
Speaker 2: Thank you being here.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I mentioned the puncturists. I'm gonna leave you uh,
I'm gonna leave you all with this song one more time.
We played this in the second hour. But again, I
think it's relatable for our audience because I know we
have a lot of musicians who listen to the show
and industry people and so forth, so I think this
is uh, I think this is appropriate to play this again.
The song is called they Don't Pay support Bands, and
the band is the Puncturess And this is just a
fun song, but there's a lot of truth in it.
And we'll talk to you all a little bit later. Bye, everybody,