Michael Leonard Witham

Last updated

Michael Leonard Witham is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He released his debut album - A Scandal In The Violets, independently in October 2014. Witham's music has been described as Americana, Alternative Country, and Folk. [1]

Americana is an amalgam of American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the musical ethos of the United States, specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, gospel, and other external influences. Americana, as defined by the Americana Music Association (AMA), is "contemporary music that incorporates elements of various mostly acoustic American roots music styles, including country, roots rock, folk, gospel and bluegrass resulting in a distinctive roots-oriented sound that lives in a world apart from the pure forms of the genres upon which it may draw. While acoustic instruments are often present and vital, Americana also often uses a full electric band."

Alternative country, or alternative country rock is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and rock music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream country music and pop country music. Alternative country artists are often influenced by alternative rock. However, the term has been used to describe country music bands and artists that have incorporated influences from alternative rock, indie rock, roots rock, bluegrass, neotraditional country, punk rock, rockabilly, punkabilly, honky-tonk, outlaw country, folk rock, indie folk, folk revival, hard rock, R&B, country rock, heartland rock, and Southern rock.

Folk music Music of the people

Folk music includes traditional folk music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, or music performed by custom over a long period of time. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century, but folk music extends beyond that.

Contents

Career

Witham's path to a music career started in 2010 when he found a damaged guitar in a dumpster behind a strip mall in Shreveport, Louisiana. In Shreveport on a gambling excursion, Witham initially intended to try to sell the guitar to a pawn shop. Instead, Witham took the guitar home to Little Rock, Arkansas, and learned to play it by watching online tutorials. [2] From 2012 to early 2014, Witham recorded A Scandal In The Violets in about five, spread out, studio sessions with producer Jason Weinheimer in Little Rock. [3]

Shreveport, Louisiana City in Louisiana, United States

Shreveport is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the most populous city in the Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area. Shreveport ranks third in population in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge and 126th in the U.S. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, of which it is the parish seat. Shreveport extends along the west bank of the Red River into neighboring Bossier Parish. The population of Shreveport was 199,311 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The United States Census Bureau's 2017 estimate for the city's population decreased to 192,036.

Little Rock, Arkansas Capital of Arkansas

Little Rock is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is also the county seat of Pulaski County. It was incorporated on November 7, 1831, on the south bank of the Arkansas River close to the state's geographic center. The city derives its name from a rock formation along the river, named the "Little Rock" by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe in the 1720s. The capital of the Arkansas Territory was moved to Little Rock from Arkansas Post in 1821. The city's population was 198,541 in 2016 according to the United States Census Bureau. The six-county Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is ranked 78th in terms of population in the United States with 738,344 residents according to the 2017 estimate by the United States Census Bureau.

Craig Manning of Absolutepunk.com rated A Scandal In The Violets, 7.5 out of 10, calling the album "one of the best Americana albums of the year." [4] Cody Conard of Big Takeover magazine compared Witham's songwriting favorably to John Prine and Bob Dylan and said "unlike the hordes of copycats, Witham really sounds like the real deal. He’s a musician’s musician, and his music has the feeling of the kind of stuff future songwriters will be citing as a key influence, not unlike Dylan or Prine. It’s impossible to tell what the future will hold, of course, but A Scandal in the Violets has all the makings of a classic album, and if not, the stepping stones towards a future masterpiece" [5]

The Big Takeover is a bi-annual music magazine published out of New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid.

John Prine American country singer/songwriter

John Prine is an American country folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a composer, recording artist, and live performer since the early 1970s, and is known for an often humorous style of country music that has elements of protest and social commentary.

Bob Dylan American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist who has been a major figure in popular culture for six decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movement. His lyrics during this period incorporated a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop-music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.

Discography

A Scandal In The Violets (2014)

Related Research Articles

James Burton American guitarist

James Edward Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001, Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. Critic Mark Demming writes that "Burton has a well-deserved reputation as one of the finest guitar pickers in either country or rock ... Burton is one of the best guitar players to ever touch a fretboard." He is ranked number 19 in Rolling Stones' list of 100 Greatest Guitarists.

Todd Snider American singer

Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter with a musical style that combines Americana, alt-country, and folk.

Holly Williams American singer-songwriter

Holly Audrey Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the granddaughter of Hank Williams Sr., the daughter of Hank Williams Jr. and half-sister of Hank Williams III. Williams has released three studio albums: The Ones We Never Knew in 2004, Here with Me in 2009 and The Highway in 2013. The Highway was released on Williams' own label, Georgiana Records and reached number 146 on the Billboard 200.

Old Crow Medicine Show Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, Remedy, released in 2014, won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The group's music has been called old-time, folk, and alternative country. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs.

David Bromberg American musician

David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.

Bob Johnston American record producer and musician

Donald William 'Bob' Johnston was an American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel.

Dann Huff is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. For his work as a producer in the country music genre he has won several awards including the Musician of the Year award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Country Music Association Awards and the Producer of the Year award in 2006 and 2009 at the Academy of Country Music. He is the father of American singer and songwriter Ashlyne Huff and brother of Giant and White Heart drummer David Huff.

Arlen Roth American musician

Arlen Roth is an American guitarist, teacher, and author. From 1982–1992, he was a columnist for Guitar Player magazine. Those ten years of columns became a book, Hot Guitar.

Jason Isbell American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Michael Jason Isbell is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Green Hill, Alabama, in Lauderdale County. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a former member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell has won four Grammy Awards.

<i>The Missing Years</i> (album) 1991 studio album by John Prine

The Missing Years is the 10th studio album by American folk musician John Prine, released in 1991 on Oh Boy Records. It won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

<i>Seeing Things</i> (album) 2008 studio album by Jakob Dylan

Seeing Things is singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan's first solo studio album. The album was released on June 10, 2008, by Columbia Records and was recorded at the Hollywood Hills home of producer Rick Rubin.

Jerry Glenn Kennedy is an American record producer, songwriter and guitar player.

Amanda Shires American singer-songwriter

Amanda Shires is an American singer-songwriter and violin player. She has performed as a member of the Texas Playboys, Thrift Store Cowboys and Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, as well as in a duo with Rod Picott. Shires has released six solo albums, her most recent To The Sunset on the Silver Knife label in 2018.

The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Achievement Awards are handed out while over 2000 artists, music-loving fans and entertainment industry executives look on.

Ed Romanoff is an American singer-songwriter, corporate story-teller and entrepreneur. His first album, Ed Romanoff, was a Roots Radio Top 100 Album for 2012. He is also the founder of PineRock, a global brand communications company based in New York City. He has co-written numerous soft-rock songs and toured with artists such as Rachael Yamagata.

<i>Never Give In</i> (Will Hoge album) 2013 studio album by Will Hoge

Never Give In is the eighth studio album by Americana musician Will Hoge, and the album's producer was Hoge. The album released on October 15, 2013 from Cumberland Records. The album achieved commercial success and critical acclamation.

Fats Kaplin American musician

Fats Kaplin is an American musician, born in New York City. He is best known as a fiddler. He also plays guitar, button accordion, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar, an Arab oud, and a Turkish cümbüş, among others. He has worked with artists such as Jack White, Trisha Yearwood, The Tractors, Nanci Griffith, Pure Prairie League, John Prine, Roy Bookbinder and Beck.

Ron Cornelius is a session musician and producer who has played on albums by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Al Kooper and Loudon Wainwright III. He is also the president of Gateway Entertainment which was established in 1986. As a producer he has produced Miko Marks's Freeway Bound album in 2007. He is also the co-writer of "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" which has been covered by many artists including Rufus Wainwright.

<i>Americana</i> (Diesel album) 2016 studio album by Diesel

Americana is a studio album by ARIA Award-winning Australian musician, Diesel. The album was released on 1 July 2016. Upon announcement of the album, Liberation Records said the album is a contemporary piece that "incorporates elements of American roots music styles".

References

  1. ↑ Manning, Craig (20 August 2014) "Michael Leonard Witham - A Scandal In The Violets Album Review" Absolutepunk.com Retrieved 1 September 2015
  2. ↑ Lion, Brian (24 November 2014) "UTG Interview - Michael Leonard Witham" Underthegunreview.net Retrieved 1 September 2015
  3. ↑ Stewart, Shea (5 August 2014). "The Show Is Just Beginning - Michael Leonard Witham Prepares For Debut Album Release". Sync Weekly Retrieved 1 September 2015
  4. ↑ Manning, Craig (20 August 2014) "Michael Leonard Witham - A Scandal In The Violets Album Review" Absolutepunk.com Retrieved 1 September 2015
  5. ↑ Conard, Cody (7 August 2014). "Michael Leonard Witham - A Scandal In The Violets Album Review" The Big Takeover Retrieved 1 September 2015
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.