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The Solstice Session

by MichaelOnFire.com

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    Recorded live in the studio on The Summer Solstice at Erickson Sound Labs in the Santa Ynez Valley. For more info on this album please see "About this Album" below
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1.
How far have you come, How long can you stay, Did you judge your brother, Did you judge your sister, Did you judge yourself along the way? How high have you flown, How deep have you cried, Did you tell the truth, Did you tell a lie, Did you ask yourself why? Chorus: Don't really care where you've been, There’s a great big sign says – come on in, To this Peaceful Place How big can you get, How small can you be, Can you change your mind, Can you set yourself free, Can you close your eyes and really see? How clean is your head, How pure is your Heart, Can you look at life and experience Art, Can you get to Heaven without a chart? Chorus:
2.
(none)
3.
From out of the darkness Behind my head I feel something happening Underneath my bed The eyes in my face look from side to side Why tell me the truth If there's something to hide Scream through the galaxy You need some relief I'm not one of those Who pays for belief The colors are dripping Off of your face A choir as big as the whole human race Chorus: Fires burning up in the hills, All is forgiven, it’s time to heal All is forgiven, Time to heal Bridge: We rang all the bells all over the Earth We did what we could for whatever that's worth We burned all the uniforms Fire for heat Ain't no other side Ain't no one to beat We took all the churches and gave people homes We took all the laws and turned them to poems Chorus … All is Forgiven
4.
It Took a Lifetime The scrappers picked the schools clean, stole the seats and stole the windows, This city is like a war zone, You just don't go down there all alone Came to town, got a room by the airport, went looking for a beer store A guy was shot, stuck a lit cigar into the bullet hole Chorus: Ain't no doctor lives inside my body Ain't no preacher lives inside my soul It took a lifetime to know the things I know It took a lifetime The crooks and the cops are sitting side by side someone is getting paid to look the other way a lot of sad people at the happy hour I didn't eat but I could smell the food Chorus: Every day I look to the west to see what happened yesterday every morning I look to the east and breathe the morning sun Chorus:
5.
All through the night, one magical night, I had the dream of my life Could this be real, this glorious sight, I kissed an angel goodnight Oh my body feels so good I could fly, I know I could Take my heart and take my mind and take my very soul Chorus Mona Lisa in blue jeans She’s the Woman Aphrodite, She’s the Venus, She’s the Goddess of Love Struck by the light, always the light This time I know that I'm right I had a feeling,deep in my soul Made love to an angel tonight All my blues look good today It's all worth the price I pay All my fears and all my sorrows Fade into the mist Chorus
6.
Better think fast. Better beware Keep your eyes open. Better take care Strong concentration. Deep meditation True dedication. You get a bad reputation Chorus: Call off the dogs. Leave me alone Sign it in blood and carve it in stone Lonely and hungry. Desperate and mad Tired and wounded. Angry and sad Looking for beauty. Blind to what’s good Always the guilty, misunderstood Chorus Passive persuasion, sexual lust Constant frustration, constant disgust Lightness of being. Free from the stress Sometimes you know and sometimes you guess
7.
Someone came cut down the trees killed all the alligators, what’re we going to do if God gets mad? Johnny Tiger, Billy Wildcat ran into the swamp took with them everything they had Someone died last February only found the shoes ain't no wonder, everything is hungry oh the smell of mother nature hanging in my nose oh the smell of no one else has been there Chorus: What you gonna do if you don't have fire What you gonna do if you don't have food Evening in the Everglades Oh how we love Evening in the Everglades Spanish Pirates, Spanish Moss hope we find the treasure found some comfort from the storm also found some pleasure Nights so humid winds so still, Hurricane is coming Cypress trees house the Spirit Seminole are running Chorus: Someone gives some great tatoo then she'll read your fortune Cast your waters to the wind Cast your eyes to Neptune Snakes that walk and bugs that slide outside the seminary Dolphins talk Spirit Talk Ain't no dictionary
8.
Santa Ana 06:18
I've got a fine fascination for that uptown life, For those uptown people and those uptown nights, But my heart was singing and my blue fade away All the cats in the neighborhood meet in my yard Cry in the night time, make my sleep come hard But my heart was singing, and my blues fade away Chorus: Oh, oh, oh, those Santa Ana’s Blow my troubles away I’ve got a sweet memory of the place that was my home L.A., L.A., I used to call you my home My heart was singing, and those winds blowing my blues away Chorus: Bridge: Cousin of thunder Sister of God, Blow through my body Blow through my body I’m in the city of sunshine, waiting for the rain So many people. Nothing to explain But my heart keeps singing. And my dreams keep fading away

about

THE SOLSTICE SESSION: On the day and the night of the Summer Solstice (2016), our “group” gathered in the Santa Ynez Valley, at Bear Erickson’s studio, to record what we hoped would become a new Michael On Fire album.
By this time, Michael had been performing with these musicians for more than four years, a couple times a year for a couple weeks at a time, at shows in California (Tompeet and Jack also joined him on extended tours across America.) Over the course of that time, Michael had gained a reputation as a highly improvisational artist, and his “California band,” as he affectionately called them, had shown repeatedly that they could go through any door of his choosing, and open new ones as well.
Our only real “plan” for the album was – elevated lyrical content. Despite our stated desire to emphasize the lyrics, the first song Michael pulled out was an instrumental piece he composed two days earlier. It was the first song they recorded and the first track on this album. Its’ calm thematic beauty set the tone for what would follow the rest of the night and through the next day. The predominant aim that took over the session, which was embraced by all, was simply – to be true, now; and fully present in the present. The result is a record that is alive and creative.
Some people ask – what’s even the point anymore of making “an album” when today’s technology allows you to put out songs whenever you want? The albums give context to the ongoing relationship between the artist and the audience. They help us “locate” the songs and recognize the musicians. We know “Queen Jane Approximately” from Highway 61, “A Day in the Life” from the Sgt. Pepper, and “When Will I Ever Learn” from Avalon Sunset. We know Al Kooper from “Like a Rolling Stone,” Billy Preston from “Get Back,” and Ladysmith Black Mambazo from Graceland. We know these songs and these musicians from those albums.
This is the sixth Michael On Fire album in seven years, and his 20th overall. It was recorded with the same musicians in the same studio and the same approach as his last album (Healing Waters) and yet it sounds and feels very different. It is the latest and the next step in the musical journey of an artist of uncommon creativity, vision and commitment.

credits

released April 5, 2017

The Solstice Session
© 2017 Real Eyes Productions (REP056)

All songs written by Michael Colone aka Michael On Fire
© 2016 Michael Colone
Published 2017 Prisma Galacti Music (BMI)

Recorded and Mixed, June 2016, at Erickson Sound Labs in Buellton, California by Bear Erickson
Produced by Michael On Fire and Bear Erickson
Mastered by Channel Fuse Music, Memphis, Tennessee

The Players: Michael On Fire (guitar and lead vocal), Bill Flores (lap and pedal steel, accordion, baritone saxophone), Jack Joshua (bass), Tompeet Frederiksen (drums), Bear Erickson (lead guitar, background vocal), Jim Pugh (Hammond B3 organ and piano)

Original cover art and liner notes by Ron Colone
Cover Graphics by Cavalier Design
Photos by Ron Colone, Jeremy Ball, John Fitzpatrick, Beth Robinson, Greg Sadler

Thanks to the Artist Advocacy Foundation (artistadvocacy.org) Ron Colone, Carole Ann Colone, John Poitras, David Katz

Real Eyes Productions, PO Box 1672, Santa Ynez, CA 93460, USA (805)688-0383

michaelonfire.com · michaelonfire.bandcamp.com · youtube.com/MichaelOnFireMusic

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MichaelOnFire.com

From his beginnings as a songwriter working out of Detroit’s famed United Sound Studios, to his recordings with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, to the progressive jazz of Prismatic, to the years in L.A. and Nashville, making records with Stephen Stills, and Joe Vitale, to the nonstop touring, Michael On Fire has been relentless in his commitment to creative expression and musical performance. ... more

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