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MP3 Michael Jeansonne - Crossroads
14 MP3 Songs in this album (48:33) !
Related styles: Country: Americana, Blues: Blues-Rock, Mood: Fun
People who are interested in Delbert McClinton Elton John John Mellencamp should consider this download.
Details:
Mobile, AL 1976
I remember the first time I really heard my own voice singing along to Springsteen’s “Born to Run” in the back of my mom’s Buick station wagon in Mobile, AL. I kept thinking how cool it was that I could copy the tone of different singer’s voices so closely and looking back now realize why I liked to run around in the car with my mom so much. Not long after that I started bangin’ around on my dad’s ol’ ukulele trying to play along with songs from my older sister’s suitcase size 8 track collection. Elton John, The Guess Who, Boz Scaggs, BTO, The Doobie Brothers; these were the artists that established my love for music and can still be heard as roots for the music I am writing and playing today.
The first time I “sold my soul” for music was just before high school. My mother agreed to buy me a small Peavy PA system with microphone (and stand) in exchange for me playing for my parents friends upon request. This basically meant every Saturday night I was in our playroom playing small concerts for house guests. This led to one guest asking for a show at her house along with a $50.00 payday! At 15 I realized that I could play guitar, sing and get paid for it. This led to solo gigs throughout my high school years and then on into my college years at LSU. From 1985 to 1989 I played every Thursday afternoon on the porch of Fred’s Bar & Grill and during the summers packed up my trailer and found gigs in Yellowstone, WY, Boulder, CO, and Los Angeles, CA.
Everywhere USA 1989
A career in the stevedoring business eventually took precedence over music and led me on a nationwide odyssey of 38 US ports as a ship superintendent loading and unloading ships. Living out of a suitcase with an expense account was not a bad deal for a 23 year old bachelor. During a three month stretch in Long Beach, CA I had the opportunity to spend several late nights with our Japanese partners in the local karaoke bars. This led to my name as a candidate to serve as our company representative in Tokyo which led to me saying yes.
Tokyo 1992
Before reaching Tokyo, the word had been spread through Kawasaki’s office that a “Karaoke ringer” was coming to live and work amongst them. Within the first month I drank a year’s supply of scotch and sang “My Way” more times than Elvis. Then I received a card from a gentleman that had a “country bar” in Tokyo’s famous Ropongi district. He said he wanted me to do a country show and would put a band together for me for the following Saturday night. I then had one rehearsal with interpretation through the broken English of a Japanese bass player. Surprisingly, the first show went well and then every Saturday night after that got better and better. Within two months we were drawing capacity crowds and I was slowly becoming a celebrity in Tokyo. It was a magical year for my music career as I realized how much I loved performing live with a band. There is a special moment just before show time when the lights go down, the house is packed, the band is ready to play, and then complete magic takes over when that first chord is struck.
New Orleans 1993
I moved back to New Orleans in 1993 and had no trouble getting a band together in the “Big Easy.” The Tokyo shows led to New Orleans shows at The Mermaid Lounge, Carrolton Station, The Maple Leaf Bar, Tipitina’s, House of Blues, and then 5,000 plus at The Jazz and Heritage Festival. I got married to Melanie in 1996 and now more than ever music was creeping back into my life. Sony Music came down to see a couple of shows; record deals were being talked about and were no longer just a dream. I can remember doing an early morning news show with the band and then dashing off to change into my suit for a meeting with the Port of New Orleans. It was “fun-crazy” times. Melanie and I would rent a U-Haul on Thursday and she and I would take off with the band all over the south playing shows at the casinos in Biloxi, bars in Mobile, festivals in Abita Springs – we were all over the place and having a ball. So much so that we decided to give music a legitimate shot. So after ten years with one company I resigned, we sold the house and moved to Nashville.
Nashville 1998
Once in Nashville, a close friend introduced us to her world of friends which led to a publishing deal! Our plan seemed to be coming together well until ten years later we still have no record deal and no songs cut! However, along the way I learned that some people wait a lot more than ten years but more importantly I have learned that record deal or not – I still love performing and do all I can to put myself in that moment when the lights go down, the house is packed and the band is ready to play.
In ten years we have produced two records on our own Tiger Records (Geaux Tigers) and plan to release a third knowing that they will be extremely valuable once the first Grammy is won! I believe in reaching for your dream as long as there is breath to draw. I firmly believe music brought me my wife (a whole other story) which brought me three beautiful children and a wonderful life in Franklin, TN. Looking back all the way to the back seat of my mother’s Buick station wagon, I wonder now how empty and different my life would be had I not pursued my passion for music and I am so grateful for all the enablers in my life that encouraged me along the way.
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