MIKE'S MUSIC: A MESSAGE FROM MIKE

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A MESSAGE FROM MIKE

Welcome to my webpage. I hope you will visit it often!
Read an indepth interview to learn about my experience!
Check out an actual playlist from a recent performance!
See my calendar for recent and future playdates!
Learn how your center can receive a FREE performance!

Isn't it time that your clients and residents experienced and
enjoyed the MAGIC of quality music? My performances last
at least an hour and only cost $75.00 per visit. Please contact
me soon so that I can bring the magic of my music to your
clients and residents!

!

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SAMPLE PLAYLIST FROM A RECENT PERFORMANCE

What kind of music will I bring to a performance? I try to make my performances appeal to a broad group of people. There's always something for everyone. Here is a sample of an actual playlist I used recently at a local Assisted Living Facility.
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OPENING (on guitar):
Leaving On A Jet Plane (J.Denver)
Come Monday (J. Buffett)
You Are My Sunshine (standard - singalong)
Happy Birthday (standard - singalong)
Today (Standard)
King of the Road (Roger Williams)
Ain't Misbehavin (Fats Waller - 1940s)

SING A LONG (on guitar):
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
By The Light of the Silvery Moon
East Side West Side
Daisy
Take Me Out to the Ballgame

MORE MUSIC (on piano/keyboard):
Sleepwalk/Our Last Date (1950s, instrumental)
All I Have To Do Is Dream (Everly Brothers)
Dream Lover (Bobby Darin)
Midnight Blue (Melissa Manchester)
Georgia On My Mind (Hoagy Carmichael)
Lydia-the Tattooed Lady (from: Philadelphia Story)

MORE MUSIC (on guitar):
HANK WILLIAMS MEDLEY-
Your Cheatin Heart-Hey Good Lookin-Jambalaya-
Kawliga
When Will I Be Loved (Everly Brothers)
Bye Bye Love (Everly Brothers)
Save the Last Dance (the Drifters)
Catch A Falling Star (Perry Como)
Water Is Wide (English folksong)
Scarborough Fair/Greensleeves (English folksongs)

MORE SING A LONG (on guitar):
Amazing Grace (hymn)
This Little Light of Mine (hymn)
Over the Rainbow (Wizard of Oz)
Eidelweiss (Sound of Music)
Getting to Know You (King and I)
Pack Up Your Troubles (1940s)
Long Way to Tipperaray (1940s)
GEORGE M COHAN MEDLEY:
Over There-Grand Old Flag-Yankee Doodle Dandy-
Mary...Its A Grand Old Name

CLOSING (sing a long - acapella):
Good night Irene (Standard)
God Bless America (Kate Smith)

TWO WAYS TO ENJOY A FREE PERFORMANCE!!!

Mike Morton's Calendar

THIS SECTION CHANGES REGULARLY
Please visit again to see lists of my most recent performances as well as upcoming engagements.
==============================
UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS:
Oct 21-Triangle Adult Day Program - Malden
Nov 29-Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
Dec 13-Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood

RECENT PERFORMANCES:
Feb 2 - 300pm Brookline Health Center-Brookline
Mar 8 - 200pm Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
Mar 23-300pm Brookline Health Center-Brookline
Apr 20-200pm Sunrise Brighton Gardens-Dedham
Apr 26-230pm Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
Apr 27-200pm Sunrise Assisted Living-Lynnwood
May 18-300pm Brookline Health Center-Brookline
Jun 11-130pm Salemwood School 2nd grade-Malden
Jun 28-330pm Goddard House-Brookline
jul 12-1045am Charwell House-Norwood
Jul 12-230pm Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
Aug 9-1045am Charwell House-Norwood
Aug 23-230pm Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
Sep 12-1000am-Malden Access TV-Sal's Show taping
Sep 20-230pnm-Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
Oct 11-230pm-Sunrise Assisted Living-Norwood
=======================
TO SCHEDULE YOUR PERFORMANCE AND SEE
IT HERE CONTACT MIKE AT: (781)321-4419 OR
EMAIL: MIKES.MUSIC53@YAHOO.COM!

An Interview With Mike Morton

Q: Hi Mike, how long have you been a musician?
A: Pretty much all my life. As far back as I can recall I had a love affair with the piano. I think my first experience was when I was about 3 and we were visiting my grandmother's house. She had a piano. I remember walking up to it, reaching up to touch the pretty white and black keys and pressing down onthem. "Wow!" I thought, "It makes pretty sounds". (okay...maybe that's not quite what I said, but I know I thought it was really cool). Later, my grandmother would sit me beside her on the bench and she showed me a few notes and how to play some simple tunes like "ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT". I was hooked!

Q: How old were you then?
A: I think I was about five. Not really sure... maybe I was younger, maybe a little older but not much.

Q: Did you ever take formal lessons?
A: Oh yes! When I was about 8 or 9 years old I started attending a parochial school in Watertown. One of the extras they offered was piano lessons. My parents signed me up and I spent several years taking lessons right up until graduation. I remember the teacher - her name was Sister Mary John and she was strict!

Q: How strict was she?
A: Really strict. And, she had really high standards. Even at 8 or 9 years old she demanded that I practice an hour a day...sometimes just doing the same scales over and over and over! Also there were lots of musical pieces I had to learn and there were annual recitals to prepare for. It was a lot of hard work.

Q: Sounds tough!
A: It was - especially for a boy who also wanted to be out playing and running outside. My parents made sure I practiced every day whether I wanted to or not. They told me that if I wanted to play piano that I'd have to make the choice to work towards it.

Q: Do you think you made the right choice?
A: Absolutely! And I practiced that hour every day... most of the time at least!

Q: What were the recitals like?
A: Really exciting and a lot of fun. Of course, I was always nervous and I think that when I was younger and my turn came I went running onstage, played through my pieces at break neck speed, then jumped up, bowed and ran back off. Of course as I got older I became more disciplined!

Q: (Laughing) I bet you did! Tell me about your other experience as a young musician!
A: When I graduated from grammar school I attended high school at a parochial school in Cambridge. I took a few piano lessons there but not for very long. I still kept on playing though. In grammar school the teacher focused the lessons on the music of classical composers--Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Chopin and the others. I never learned any concertos or anything like that, but I learned a lot of shorter pieces. Once I reached high school I began using what I learned to play popular music...some of the hits that were on the radio, some folk music, some rock... I still played classical, but now it was blended with other styles of music.

Q: How about after you graduated high school?
A: Well, I attended Grahm Jr College in Boston. It used to be located in the heart of Kenmore Square and in my first year there a few of us got together and formed a band. We actually played a couple places in the Kenmore Square area in the early 70s.

Q: Really? Tell me about it.
A: The band's name was "AFTER DARK". We took the name from one of the alternative papers that were out back then. Long before the BOSTON PHOENIX there was BOSTON AFTER DARK andTHE REAL PAPER. We were kicking around ideas for a name and someone suggested "AFTER DARK" and it stuck.

Q: What type of music did you play?
A: We mostly played light folk rock. I look back on it and can see that we were okay but never would have really made it. We had a couple guitarists who came and went, a bassist attending New England College of Art who occasionally graced us with his presence, a female vocalist and myself. We had no drums or percussion. One of our members pwned a 12 string acoustic guitar and declared that it made him our leader...We were on the scene for all of "two minutes" before we broke up and faded away into obscurity.

Q: What did you play in the band?
A: Basically piano. And that's when I taught myself guitar. I learned a few basic chords, some chord patterns and strumming patterns and jumped right in. I also started composing and writing songs around then.

Q: You said your band played a few places?
A: There played at a couple dances -- and we played a few times at this little dive in Kenmore Square that was called "TJ's". It was a local bar and they had this incredible round piano! I loved it! Later on around 1973 or 1974 TJ's closed down. Years later a new club opened on that site--the RATTSKELLAR which was very popular. So, I like to tell people that the band I was in played at the RATT...before it was the RATT.

Q: (Laughing). That's great. Any memorable experiences?
A: A couple stories stick in my mind - but I think the one that is most worth sharing takes place only about 15 years ago. I was working as a special ed teacher and had brought my guitar in to sing for the students. I was carrying it on the bus and got into a conversation with another passenger. I mentioned being in the the music scene in the 70s and that led to a conversation about some of the old clubs around Kenmore at the time like LUCIFERS. When I mentioned AFTER DARK and where we played he remembered us! He'd been a student at Boston University and remembered seeing us perform once. That was incredible! He was even kind enough to say that we weren't that bad!

Q: What have you done with your music since college?
A: Played mostly for myself but not always. I've spent most of the time since then on the treadmill trying to pay the rent etc. A few times I got discouraged and just gave up on it...but never for long. Over the years I've been a church musician, a vocalist in choirs, done music for special education programs etc. I also did more than a few wedding services or receptions. For a few years in the mid 1990s I was back gigging, doing receptions, a fashion show, a couple dinner parties etc. But again, I had to pay the bills! That took precedence. Eventually I let it fall to the wayside.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you've faced as a musician?
A: Sad to say, but I never followed my dreams. I know! There are books and tapes about doing what you really want in life. I could have learned from them all! Today, I wish that I'd really followed after my dreams and worked harder for my music then I did. Of course in my 30s and since then I've had children to care for and that takes a precedence over everything else. It requires a regular paycheck, and that normally means a non-musical job. Unless you play classical and can get a regular gig with a symphony or classical ensemble it can be a really hard path to follow. You get on the treadmill and let your talents fall to the side of the road. I think that I gave up on my dreams just a little too easily. I think I still could have been working a 40 hour a week job and also doing music. In fact, that's what I'm doing now.

Q: So, you're glad to be back performing again?
A: Yes! I've decided to start doing what I love again. I no longer think I can only do one or the other. I can do both a full time job and my music as well! It's no longer an "all or nothing" proposition for me.

Q: How many instrumments do you play? A: Actually I play several. Of course I play piano, so I can play most keyboards. I also play guitar, a little bass and the Celtic folk harp.

Q: I see. You said you also write songs? A: Yeah - nothing's ever been published though. I hve written some nice songs, mostly ballads, love songs...that sort of thing. Every so often I'll play them during my performances.

Q: Really? Which songs are they? A: I'll never tell. Just listen and see if you can find them!

Q: Mike, today you play almost exclusively at nursing homes, assisted living facilities etc. Why is that?
A: It's a way of saying "thank you". The sacrifices that the people living there have made have helped myself and my children have better lives.

Q: Okay. But what makes you different than other musicians who play at these facilities? Quite a few people come and play. What sets you apart? A: That's a tough one. There are a lot of great musicians out there who are bringing music to our senior citizens. I think the biggest difference is our perspective. Some musicians go out to perform and have the perspective that the people have come to see them perform. And that's true to a very great degree. But I try to always remember that I am actually there for them. I am a guest in their home! After each performance I spend time thanking the people individually for letting me visit and perform for them. It's important that there be a personal connection in addition to the music. In other words, I don't just pack up my gear and scram!

Q: That's great. What about your rates? A: I charge $75.00 for a performance, and they last at least an hours - sometimes a little more. I know that most facilities have budgets and paperwork requirements so I'll submit my invoice after my performance and if the check is mailed in 2-4 weeks that's fine!

Q: What songs do you perform? A: There's a broad variety of music and styles in every performance. There are sing a longs of the old standards, plus some hymns like Amazing Grace. I always include Hank Williams and George M Cohan! You can see a sample playlist here on my webpage!

Q: Do you have references? A: Absolutely and they're available on request!

Q: If someone wants to book you, how do they reach you? A: My phone number is (781)321-4419 and you can always leave a message with my wife Sharon or on our machine! Also I can be reached by email. My addy is: mikes.music53@yahoo.com.

Q: Sounds great! Thank you! A: Thank you!

MIKE'S MUSIC

HOW TO CONTACT:

Mike Morton