I Get Up - The Teskey Brothers

LCM Song Of The Day: ‘I Get Up’ - The Teskey Brothers

We take a trip today to the outskirts of Melbourne to meet our next featured band The Teskey Brothers. We love this soulful and bluesy track from their debut album ‘Half Mile Harvest’ first released in January last year. The Teskey Brothers are on tour soon with their London date at the wonderful Union Chapel on the 11th February.

The Teskey Brothers are a rare musical gem. Honouring that old school Motown sound and working it into something of their very own, the band have received widespread acclaim for their gorgeous debut album ‘Half Mile Harvest’. A raw combination of soul and blues, the record has warmed the hearts of listeners everywhere with it’s melancholic, analogue tones.

Written by all four band members, the album was recorded in their own home studio, self-produced and released independently. Listening to the record you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the work of Stax Records alumni in Memphis circa ‘67 rather than a group of twenty-somethings from the Yarra Valley just outside Melbourne. The feeling is as old as the tape machine it was recorded on and it’s a true expression of love.

Onstage singer Josh Teskey’s smoked whiskey voice defies expectation as the band around him hold an irresistible groove. Their undeniable live show has wowed audiences around the world, leaving them infected with soul and blues.

Sam and Josh Teskey discovered American soul music of the 1960’s via their parents’ record collection and were immediately taken. As teenagers, the two brothers jammed night after night in the bungalow behind their family home on the outskirts of Melbourne, devouring the R&B songbook and absorbing the tricks of the blues trade. In their obsession, the pair became accomplished players and soon began writing originals; a process which came naturally to both of them.

In 2008, they were joined by Liam Gough (drums) and Brendon Love (bass) to form The Teskey Brothers. The group spent the next eight years cutting their teeth in city-fringe pubs and backyard party jams, honing the old-school Motown soul sound and working it into something of their own.

Finally in January 2017 The Teskey Brothers released their debut album ‘Half Mile Harvest’. The record, self-produced at their home studio in Warrandyte, captures the essence of old school soul that the four have grown to love and know over years of musical friendship. The songs are beautifully written, showcasing the musicianship at hand and dripping with warm melodious hooks as natural and alive as anything that came out of Stax-era Memphis.

Photo credit: Lisa Businovski

http://www.theteskeybrothers.com

Golden Embers - Mandolin Orange

LCM Song Of Day: ‘Golden Embers’ - Mandolin Orange

With a brand new album ‘Tides Of A Teardrop’ set for release on February 1st, North Carolina duo Andrew Marlin & Emily Frantz are establishing themselves as one of the fast rising stars of US roots music. We love this first single ‘Golden Embers’ from the new album

Mandolin Orange’s music radiates a mysterious warmth, their songs feel like whispered secrets, one hand cupped to your ear. They have built a steady and growing fanbase with this kind of intimacy and on ‘Tides of A Teardrop’ it is more potent than ever. By all accounts, it is the duo’s fullest, richest, and most personal effort. You can hear the air between them, the taut space of shared understanding, as palpable as a magnetic field, that makes their music sound like two halves of an endlessly completing thought. Singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz have honed this lamp glow intimacy for years.

On ‘Tides of A Teardrop’, Andrew Marlin wrote the songs, as he usually does, in a sort of stream of consciousness, allowing words and phrases to pour out of him as he hunted for the chords and melodies. Then as he went back to sharpen what he found, he found something troubling and profound. Intimations of loss have always haunted the edges of their music, their lyrics hinting at impermanence and passing of time. But ‘Tides of A Teardrop’ confronts a defining loss head-on: Andrew’s mother, who died of complications from surgery when he was 18.

These songs, as well as their sentiments, remain simple and quiet, like all of their music. But beneath the hushed surface, they are staggeringly straightforward. “I’ve been holding on to the grief for a long time. In some ways I associated the grief and the loss with remembering my mom. I feel like I’ve mourned long enough. I’m ready to bring forth some happier memories now, to just remember her as a living being."

For this album, Marlin and Frantz enlisted their touring band, who they also worked with on their last album Blindfaller. Having recorded all previous albums live in the studio, they approached the recording process in a different way this time. “We went and did what most people do, which we’ve never done before—we just holed up somewhere and worked the tunes out together,” Frantz says. There is a telepathy and warmth in the interplay on Tides of A Teardrop that brings a new dynamic to the foreground—that holy silence between notes, the air that charges the album with such profound intimacy. “This record is a little more cosmic, almost in a spiritual way—the space between the notes was there to suggest all those empty spaces the record touches on,” acknowledges Marlin. There are many powerful ways of acknowledging loss; sometimes the most powerful one is saying nothing at all.

http://www.mandolinorange.com

Real Life - The Deep Hollow

LCM Song Of The Day: ‘Real Life’ - The Deep Hollow

Described as ‘stripped down harmony-laden classic Folk and Americana’ our next LCM featured artists are the great Illinois based acoustic trio of Micah Walk, Elizabeth Eckert and Dave Littrell better known collectively as The Deep Hollow. ‘Real Life’ is new single taken from their recently released album ‘Weary Traveler’.

Beginning with a win in the American Songwriter magazine songwriting contest in 2014 to a well-produced Kickstarter-launched album in 2015 that reached number three on the Folk DJ charts in early 2016, the terrific threesome continues to move forward. September saw the release of their second album ‘Weary Traveler’.

http://thedeephollow.com

Quoting Sagan - James Edwyn and The Borrowed Band

LCM #SongOfTheDay: ‘Quoting Sagan’ - James Edwyn and The Borrowed Band

Glasgow sextet James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band began in 2013, their formation the result of a series of unlikely coincidences. The band's music is a mix of alt-country, indie/folk rock and roots orientated Americana. Our featured song today ‘Quoting Sagan’ is the third single from their highly acclaimed second album ‘High Fences’.

If you would like to see the band live they will be performing at the FATEA 30th birthday bash in Bournemouth on Saturday followed by a gig at The Slaughtered Lamb in London on Sunday.

Their first album ‘The Tower’ was released in 2014 through the band’s own label, ‘Dead Records Collective’. The album was well received, achieving significant airplay and positive reviews across a broad range of media.

’High Fences’, the band’s 2017 follow up to The Tower, sees a big leap forward for the band. With Grammy nominated and ARIA-winning engineer Adrian Breakspear (Sony Australia) on mixing duties, the 10-track L.P. captures a bigger, harder edged sound without the band losing their trademark focus on finely honed arrangement and melody. The band’s first two singles from the album, Passing San Ysidro and Pushing Statues have both enjoyed significant radio play across the BBC and other radio networks.

A wonderful live band, they have continued to move from strength to strength. Their second year on the festival circuit in 2017 saw them stepping up to a number of main stages and cementing their growing reputation as a formidable live act. Their two hometown shows of late 2017 were hugely successful, with a sold out single launch (Passing San Ysidro) in August and a sold out album launch as part of the Glasgow Americana festival. 2018 has started with a bang for the band, seeing the invited to showcase at Glasgow’s famous Celtic Connections festival and the UK Americana Music Association festival in London.

https://jamesedwynandtheborrowedband.bigcartel.com

The Snake - Eric Church

LCM #SongOfTheDay ‘The Snake’ - Eric Church

It’s dark and broody, it’s bluesy, rootsy and southern gothic….and we love it. Eric’s brilliant new single ‘The Snake’ is one of our favourite tracks from his recently released new sixth studio album ‘Desperate Man’.

Eric has long maintained that putting music into specific genres is an outmoded concept, and ‘Desperate Man’ (11 tracks tellingly overseen by regular producer Jay Joyce) is further proof of EC’s broad range of influences, from rock and metal acts through to Hank Williams Jr. and Ray Wylie Hubbard, the latter getting a co-writing credit on the new album’s lead single and title track.

Given Eric’s revered status and record-breaking stats, ‘Desperate Man’ could have been a collection of slickly-crafted stadium anthems, but instead of going down that pyro-laced path, the end result, very much a body of work, spotlights Eric as a thoughtful artist fuelled by emotion, feel and the desire to tell a story; a family man cast in the great American song-writing tradition, bringing to mind names like Springsteen, Seger and Jackson Browne; a musician whose substantial success hasn’t detracted from his ability to both talk from the heart and shoot from the hip. In short, an album for our (desperate) times."

All This Love - JP Cooper ft Mali-Koa

LCM #SongOfTheDay: All This Love - JP Cooper ft Mali Koa

We love this great new single from Manchester singer-songwriter John Paul Cooper ft the wonderful London based Australian musician Mali-Koa. It’s taken from JP’s excellent debut album ‘Raised Under Grey Skies’ released last October via Universal/Island.

On 27 June 2012, JP Cooper released his first two extended plays EP1 and EP2. He featured on Don Diablo's single "The Artist Inside", it was released on 9 November 2012. He released his third extended play, EP3 on 8 February 2013. On 20 July 2014 he released his forth EP ‘Keep the Quiet Out’. He released his fifth extended play, ‘When the Darkness Comes’ on 26 January 2015.

On 18 March 2016, he released the single "Five More Days", featuring vocals from Avelino. He featured on Jonas Blue's single "Perfect Strangers", it was released on 3 June 2016. The song peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and reached the top ten positions in eight additional countries, including Germany, Australia and Sweden. On 10 June 2016, he released the single "Party" as the lead single from his debut studio album. He released "September Song" on 16 September 2016 as the second single. The song peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, and also reached the top 10 in the Republic of Ireland and Sweden. "Passport Home" was released as the third single on 7 April 2017, peaking at number 86 on the UK Singles Chart. On 21 July 2017 he released "She's on My Mind" as the fourth single. "Wait" was released as the fifth single of his debut studio album on 25 August 2017. He eventually released his debut studio album, Raised Under Grey Skies on 6 October 2017. He was featured on Craig David's seventh studio album ‘The Time Is Now’ on the song "Get Involved", that was released on 26 January 2018. On 16 June 2018, he played on Pinkpop, an festival in the Netherlands.

https://jpcoopermusic.com/

JP Cooper and Mali-Koa

Working On A Building - The Steel Wheels

LCM #SongOfTheDay: We head to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia today to meet Americana Roots band The Steel Wheels. We love their fusion of the tradition American folk with gospel and bluegrass. Our featured song today is a great harmony laden live version of the classic ‘Working On A Building’. The band are set to release a 7" Vinyl project which includes "Working On A Building" (Side A) as well as "Red Rocking Chair" (Side B).

The Steel Wheels have been drawing on steadfast traditions for more than a decade. Yet their name also evokes a sense of forward motion, which is clearly reflected in their latest album, “Wild As We Came Here”. Exquisite harmonies remain a wonderful strength of the band. They have a social conscience, their music making a strong statement in uncertain times. More than a decade into The Steel Wheels’ career, the simple act of singing together, something that carries them back to their Mennonite heritage is still incredibly special.

Home, family, community, a sense of belonging, seeking and finding, the pendulum of gains and losses, these are the Big Issues embedded into the fabric of The Steel Wheels’ music. Their music promises to be as relevant for the listener as it will always remain for the dedicated artists who poured their hearts and souls into its creation.

https://www.thesteelwheels.com/home

Barnburning - Gangstagrass

Every so often here at LCM we like to bring you things which are a little different. New fusions of styles, new music and new bands. Our LCM featured band today Brooklyn based and Emmy nominated Gangstagrass are a wonderful example. A great kick-ass fusion of bluegrass roots music, rock and old school hip-hop. Our LCM #SongOfTheDay is a high energy live version of their hit single 'Barnburning' taken from a LR Baggs Session filmed in Nashville. The song is taken from their wonderful 2016 album 'American Music', which is really worth exploring further. It reminded us of Rhiannon Giddens with an added hip-hop layer, which really works. 

Bluegrass and Hip-Hop may sound like an odd combination, but don’t tell that to Producer Rench, who birthed the fusion in 2006, with Gangstagrass.  “There are a lot more people out there with Jay-Z and Johnny Cash on their iPod playlists than you think.” says Rench, who had previously made a name for himself as an in-demand Brooklyn country and hip-hop producer and singer/songwriter.  He should know – he’s toured the country with a band of bluegrass pickers and hip-hop emcees to the delight of standing room crowds everywhere, making beats for local NYC rappers and hosting country music nights in popular NYC venues.

In 2007, Rench had a musical itch that needed to be scratched – he was listening to the 1970s recordings of Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys and couldn’t help imagining what classic bluegrass would sound like with rap vocals and beats. The result was a genre-demolishing blitz called Rench Presents: Gangstagrass. He put it up for free download and people took notice. Hundreds of thousands of downloads followed creating an intense underground buzz.

When FX Network came to Rench looking for the Gangstagrass sound for the theme song to their new series 'Justified', he had bluegrass players lay down an original track with rapper T.O.N.E-z, the younger brother of early hip-hop legends Special K and T-LaRoc. The result was "Long Hard Times To Come," the song that opened every episode of six seasons of the hit series. "Long Hard Times To Come" was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2010, contending for best theme song after critical praise and massive fan response.

The same live bluegrass band approach was used to make Lightning On The Strings, Thunder On The Mic, a full length album of with T.O.N.E-z, the emcee featured on the Justified theme song. Two years later the Gangstagrass sound was expanded with the release of Rappalachia, a 15 song album featuring a variety of rappers, including Kool Keith, Dead Prez, Nitty Scott MC, T.O.N.E-z, BROOKLYN35, R-SON, and Dolio The Sleuth. Country singers Brandi Hart from the Dixie Bee-Liners and Jen Larson added gritty harmonies alongside Rench’s choruses. Broken Hearts and Stolen Money was released in 2014.  Featuring performances by legendary rap team Smif-N-Wessun, Juno award winning rapper Liquid (of BranVan 3000), Brandi Hart of the Dixie Bee-Liners and Alexa Dirks of Chic Gamine in addition to the now regular crew of emcees and pickers, the album received universal critical acclaim including the Boston Globe labeling the raucus single Two Yards “Essential.” A fourth official album titled American Music was released in April 2015.  Featuring a collection of standout original cuts and traditional folk anthems the band once again broke new ground, while also paying tribute to their cast of American songwriting heroes, and debuted at #5 on the Billboard bluegrass charts.

Gangstagrass has toured internationally, blowing minds on main stages from SXSW to Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, with a live stage act taking full advantage of the improvisational aspects of both hip-hop and bluegrass. With two emcees R-Son and Dolio The Sleuth trading verses, Dan Whitener on Banjo, Landry McMeans on dobro, and Rench on guitar, and frequent 3 part harmonies, the Gangstagrass live show has garnered a reputation among fans for its dynamism and spontanaety. Currently touring across the US, Gangstagrass is using live performances to organically develop new material for an album that will further explode the boundaries between genres generally thought to be incompatible.

http://gangstagrass.com

Fire On The Horizon - Stick Figure

We head to California today is meet our next LCM featured band Stick Figure. The group has released six full-length albums and one instrumental album, all of which were written and produced by front man and self-taught multi-instrumentalist Scott Woodruff. The live band consists of vocalist, producer and guitarist Scott Woodruff, keyboardist Kevin Bong, drummer Kevin Offitzer, bassist Tommy Suliman and keyboardist, backup vocalist and guitarist Johnny Cosmic and Cocoa the an Australian Shepherd. Our very catchy LCM #SongOfTheDay is one of their hit singles 'Fire On The Horizon' taken from their 'Set In Stone' album. 

St Peter's Blues - Have Mercy Las Vegas

We head to Scotland today to meet our next LCM featured band 'Have Mercy Las Vegas. A big thank you to James Edwyn for the introduction. High energy Scottish roots, Americana, Folk and Country Blues are blended to create HMLV's unique sound. HMLV band members include Crispin McAlpine, Eilidh Trotter, Stephen Scott, Marc McLean, Phil Plunkett and Andrew Napier. Our #LCM #SongOfTheDay is the uptempo bluegrass infused 'St. Peter's Blues'.

The band earned rave reviews of their blistering live performances at festivals up and down the country. Stand out performances at Belladrum, Celtic Connections, Hebcelt and Wickerman have been the highlights, although there have been too many to count. In addition, the band have been rewarded with performances on BBC’s RAPAL, STV’s Riverside Show and a live broadcast of their set from Belladrum, featuring in the weekends highlights alongside the Manic Street Preachers and Hayseed Dixie. 

Their debut album “That’s Life” was released in 2014, peaking in lead single “Pappy” reaching the Dermot O’Leary show on BBC Radio 2. HMLV toured the album extensively. St. Peter's Blues was released in October 2016.

St. Peter's Blues

HMLV Records

Buy on Amazon

Preachin' Blues - Larkin Poe

We have been big fans of our next LCM featured artists the great sister duo 'Larkin Poe' for quite a few years now. Originally from in Atlanta, Georgia but now based in Nashville, Rebecca and Megan Lovell are creating their own brand of Roots Rock 'n' Roll: gritty, soulful, and flavored by their southern heritage. Our LCM #SongOfTheDay the powerful blues/rock and gospel infused 'Preachin' Blues' will get your blood pumping and your toes tapping. It's taken from their excellent latest album 'Peach' released in September last year.

Peach

Tricki-Woo Records

Buy on Amazon

82 Fires - The East Pointers

Prince Edward Island in Canada is a hotbed of great music and our LCM featured artists today The East Pointers are no exception. This JUNO award winning trio released their excellent new album 'What We Leave Behind' in September. Our LCM #SongOfTheDay is a great live version of the album's lead single '82 Fires'. Our video today was recorded at The Great Hall in Toronto back in February.

If you would like to see the trio live they will on a UK tour in the summer with a headline date at the excellent Cecil Sharp House in London on the 19th June. 

The East Pointers are fiddler/singer Tim Chaisson, banjoist Koady Chaisson and guitarist Jake Charron who write about real life, sketching out its joys and sorrows in vivid strokes. That palpable authenticity makes their instrumental tunes practically cartwheel and infuses their lyric-driven songs with poignancy.

And it’s why listening to The East Pointers’ brilliant and hotly anticipated second album 'What We Leave Behind', produced by superstar East Coast-bred songwriter/producer Gordie Sampson is akin to meeting up with an old friend.

As a follow-up to 2015’s internationally acclaimed, JUNO Award-winning debut 'Secret Victory', 'What We Leave Behind' shares stories previously unheard but framed by a familiar context. The album reflects on the traditions of Canadian Celtic music, where it comes from, and what it means to the people, but also strides in new directions. With a captivating balance between their traditional-sounding instrumental tunes, and catchy radio-ready songs, The East Pointers reach out with open arms to a wide range of listeners, inviting them to discover a new love of folk music.

Never before have The East Pointers so deftly leveraged the whole spectrum of human emotion, drawing inspiration straight from the world they live in. That’s especially evident in a pair of striking new songs featuring Tim Chaisson’s lead vocals: the trembling first single ‘82 Fires’ and the melancholy ‘Two Weeks,’ co-written with Sampson amid recording sessions at Nashville’s famed Sound Emporium last winter, where What We Leave Behind was cut.

‘While in Penguin, Tasmania we spoke with an older gentleman, a lifelong resident, who said that there were 82 wildfires currently on the loose in Tasmania, the most in over half a century. It hit home the severity of what we were all experiencing.”, says Koady Chaisson. “It was a restless few days for us. Small human decisions about where to live or whether or not the show would go on didn’t matter, Mother Nature would always have the final say. Being in the middle of that brings an immediacy about it, you can feel powerless."

The plaintive ‘Two Weeks’ meanwhile, documents a passage depressingly common in the bands’ home province of Prince Edward Island and played out the world over in economically challenged communities: the need to leave home and travel far away from friends and family to find work.

“When I played that song for my mom, she said ‘That’s going to hit home for a lot of people,’” Koady Chaisson explains. “Many families are forced to split their time, with at least one member having to go out west - usually to Alberta - to make ends meet. It’s so hard. I did it, though luckily not for long, but there are people in my community going through it month after month, year after year.” The flip side of 'What We Leave Behind' and indeed, of The East Pointers’ electrifying concerts are scorching instrumental tunes that yank the freewheeling, Celtic-goosed past into the present, defying anyone to sit still in their chair.

“Traditional music has always been at the core of what we do as a band,” adds Jake Charron. “There's something powerful about a style of music that has been passed on for generations around the world.” A new take on this tradition is evident in the spry ‘Party Wave,’ inspired by a thrilling surfing experience the band enjoyed in New Zealand, one of many countries The East Pointers visited during 10 months of touring last year. The tunes, written this past year on the road, take you on a journey, building with excitement before transforming into a full-on dance party. Rounding out the album, the melancholic ‘John Wallace’ - about a 19th century shipwreck off the coast of Prince Edward Island - and the mournful ‘Hid in Your Heart’ uphold the band’s devotion to documenting real life, tragedy and all.

What We Leave Behind carves a new path for The East Pointers, as they continue to blur the lines between traditional and popular music and develop a devoted fanbase around the globe.

What We Leave Behind

By The East Pointers

Buy on Amazon

Better Days - The Willows

Our LCM featured artists are Cambridge based UK Folk and Roots supergroup The Willows. They are currently in the studio recording their highly anticipated third album and as a taster our LCM #SongOfTheDay is a live studio version of one the new tracks the beautiful 'Better Days'. Watch out for the new album and the UK tour later in the year. 

Their first album 'Beneath Our Humble Soil' released in 2013 was nominated for best debut in the Spiral Earth Awards 2014, and has been championed by the likes of Bob Harris and Mike Harding. The much anticipated follow-up 'Amidst Fiery Skies', co-produced with Sean Lakeman was released on 6th October 2014. Fronted by the breathtaking vocals of Jade Rhiannon, supported by rich vocal harmonies and dynamic acoustic musicianship the band take influence from folk traditions on both sides of the Atlantic.

The band were formed in 2010 by husband and wife, Cliff and Jade, sister, Prue, and chance meeting via Gumtree, Ben. Following numerous gigs in folk clubs all over the the UK supporting the likes of LAU, Seth Lakeman, & Peatbog Faeries and an eponymous EP, the band released debut album Beneath Our Humble Soil in 2013. Co-produced by Stu Hanna (Megson, Faustus, Show of Hands), the album caught the attention of BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris who invited the band in for a live session midway through their UK tour. Maverick Magazine gave the record 4½ stars, and it was subsequently nominated for Best Debut in the Spiral Earth Awards. Standout festival performances followed at the likes of Cambridge Folk Festival, Towersey Festival, Secret Garden Party, FolkEast, Folk By The Oak and SommerSound (Germany), helping to build a reputation as a compelling live act.

Second album 'Amidst Fiery Skies' saw the band further augment their sound with new member Evan Carson (bodhran), guest double bassist Ben Nicholls (Seth Lakeman Band, The Full English) and co-producer Sean Lakeman. For the first time the band present original, traditional and covered songs side by side, yet in many ways the record feels like their most homogenous work to date. Stories remain at the heart of the album: The banjo-driven Johnny Robson telling of a man who throws himself into the fire after an apparition of his deceased wife. The heart breaking and tender Outward Bound (a variant on the Faithful Sailor Boy) depicting a ship’s safe return to land without the maiden’s lover aboard. Whilst, The Visitor describes a true story of arguably the most heroic lifeboat rescue in British history. The music itself is rich in power, with the band equally at home with pin-drop intimacy as they are invigorating foot-stompers.

The Willows are :

Jade Rhiannon – Vocals, Shruti Box
Cliff Ward – Banjo, Guitar, Violin, Vocals
Ben Savage – Guitar, Dobro, Vocals
Katriona Gilmore – Violin, Vocals
John Parker - Bass
Evan Carson – Bodhran, Percussion

King For A Day - Anderson East

It's always exciting when or next LCM featured artist Anderson East releases new music. We are delighted that Michael is not only releasing his new album 'Encore' on the 12th January but he is also headlining in London at Omeara, London Bridge on the 24th January. As a taster of the new album our LCM #SongOfTheDay is the excellent bluesy 'King For A Day'.

Michael Cameron Anderson known professionally as Anderson East, is an American rhythm and blues musician from Athens, Alabama, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. His song "Satisfy Me" was released in March 2015 and received consistent radio airplay. His major-label record debut, Delilah, was released on the Low Country Sound imprint via Elektra in July 2015.

Michael opened for Holly Williams and ended up playing guitar and singing harmonies with her. He worked as both a session musician as well as a recording engineer to make ends meet. Michael began his musical career in 2009, self-releasing an album titled 'Closing Credits for a Fire' under the name Mike Anderson. He then began recording under the name Anderson East with the release of an EP titled 'Fire Demos'.

Michael's self-released debut album, 'Flowers of the Broken Hearted' in 2012, was made up of two records: one record which he recorded in Los Angeles with producer Chris Seefried and session players Charlie Gillingham, Don Heffington and Rob Wasserman and a second record recorded in Nashville with Tim Brennan and Daniel Scobey. The record is 15 songs long, and is made up of two CDs each with their own music genre: The White disc is made up of a progressive soul and Americana vibe, while the Red disc is darker and has more of a rock sound. He funded the record as a PledgeMusic project, with a percentage of the proceeds going to Water Aid, a nonprofit organization that brings water to communities that don't have clean drinking water.

Michael's major label debut album, 'Delilah', on Elektra Records was released in July 2015. It was produced by Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton) and features a song by George Jackson recorded at the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

In 2017, Michael appeared on the Fifty Shades Darker Soundtrack, performing the track "What Would It Take" which he co-wrote with Aaron Raitere. The soundtrack debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200. He also covered the Brandi Carlile song "Josephine" for her charity album 'Cover Stories'.

On August 15, 2017, Michael released the first single from his upcoming album 'Encore' titled "All On My Mind". He subsequently performed this song on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on October 13th.