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AFTERBURN
folk at Arena Level
Michael Johnathon is not exactly a “normal” folksinger.
AFTERBURN is the word used when something truly rattles the cages and leaves people with a startled, surprised reaction. It ‘s the
accelerated power of a rocket as it’s taking off.
The album AFTERBURN does that with folk music … the recordings
ignite the idea of “folk” from the coffeehouse and launches it
to arena level. Literally. Forget the cliche of the folksinger sitting in
some coffeehouse somewhere crooning about maidens, lost ships
at sea and social causes.
“To me, folk music is front porch ... plus a lot more.
I took everything I knew about life as a folksinger, from traveling the hills and hollers of Appalachia to playing on stages, turned it upside down, mixed it up, and tried to see how aggressive this “folk” canvas could be and still be considered part of the music style I love,” says Michael Johnathon from his log cabin home near Lexington, Kentucky. “That’s when I wrote that poem ... folk can be everything and anything because it gave birth to anything and everything.”
If anyone has supported and embodied the idea and image of America’s Troubadour, it’s Michael Johnathon. Indeed, if Folk is the “Mother of all music” than AFTERBURN certainly reflects all the colors of that musical rainbow, and his career has reflected all of those musical textures. From the screaming long-neck banjo driven Techno-Folk to the majestic symphony of The Dream, the commentary of Cyber Bubba to the lament of Cars, every song is a story, every song is a musical cinemascape, a painting on a canvas of guitars, banjo and mandolins colored
with rock bands and ... yes ... symphony orchestras.
“I love classical music, I love Pink Floyd, Pete Seeger and Dan Fogelberg,” he explains. “Woody Guthrie would have one of the first ones to plug in a keyboard and try it out if they had them back then. What made Bill Monroe a pioneer and Father of Bluegrass was his willingness to try new things. To Change. He was the Nine Inch Nails of his day.”
Some may really like this. The purists will no doubt try to make fun of it ... it may not be their “cup of tea.” But then, Michael Johnathon is not exactly inviting you for a pleasant cup of tea, either.
AFTERBURN launches banjos, mandolins and guitars to heart pounding, unexpected levels and remain in the comfortable tapestry of the folk world by a banjo playing troubadour ... out to surprise, shock, even bewilder you. So, here is what we suggest:
Pour a glass of your favorite drink, put AFTERBURN in a good stereo system, turn the lights out ... and buckle your seatbelts. You are about to go for one helluvuh ride.
RELEASE DATE to Europe MAY 2022,
RADIO: Peter Holmstedt - peter.holmstedt@telia.com
BIO - From symphony halls to coffeehouses, the hollers of Appalachia to inner city clubs, Michael Johnathon proudly refers to himself ... privately, publicly and globally ... as a “folksinger.” AfterBurn is his 19th album. He’s the author of six published books (WoodSongs 5 released in 2022), the screenwriter for the upcoming Caney Creek motion picture, organizer of the national association of front porch musicians called SongFarmers, the symphony album Songs of Rural America and the creator and host of the live audience broadcast of the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour with an audience of over two million listeners each week on 500 public radio stations, public TV coast-to-coast, the RFD-TV
Network nationwide, American Forces Radio Network in 177 nations and schools across north America.
Visit: MichaelJohnathon.com, WoodSongs.com, SongFarmers.org, CaneyCreekMovie.com
- Genre
- Folk & Singer-Songwriter
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