Middle Child
© Copyright-Michael Lille
Record Label: Downstream Records
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One glance at Michael Lille's musical resume' and you might think you're not reading about one man, but three or four. Such are his accomplishments over the two decades since he first began his professional career at age fifteen.
His newly released album, Never Home to Stay, was co-produced by Grammy winner Mark Prentice, and features guitarist George Marinelli and Vinnie Santoro of Air Parma, Valerie Carter, Jerry Douglas, and many other special guests. His 1996 self-produced release, Middle Child, features Alison Krauss on background vocals and Victor Wooten on bass. In 1992, Lille's debut Just In Time, was produced by John Jennings and featured Mary-Chapin Carpenter on background vocals. As a songwriter, Washington Post music scribe Mike Joyce praised Lille's "gift for soul searching" and "innate tunefulness."
Performing Songwriter magazine calls Lille "a star on the rise whose voice is soft leather, and his guitar work is flawless." Add to these strengths a relaxed confidence on stage and you understand why he won the 1996 Telluride Troubadour competition and the 1993 Kerrville New Folk Songwriter award. Lille has been on tour as the opening act for Alison Krauss, and has opened shows for Bob Dylan, Little Feat, Leo Kottke, David Wilcox, Kathy Mattea, J.J. Cale, Warren Zevon and comedian Carrot Top.
A team player too, Lille is the "L" in one of Washington, D.C.'s best-loved groups, SGGL, who have released their fourth disc, On The Shoulder, recorded live at The Wolftrap Barns in Vienna, VA. [Sales of their previous albums have soared to over 80,000.]
As if all that weren't enough, Lille is also an outdoorsman and world traveler, having lived and worked in exotic locales such as New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Nepal and Bhutan. In 1999, after 7 years in Nashville, Michael moved to Boulder, CO where he now makes his home.
Always dedicated to growing and being the best he can be, this man for all musical seasons continues to tour, record and translate his life experiences into captivating music. As Lille says, "it's really a privilege to be able to do the things you love."
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Talented singer/songwriter--buy it for "Ships"
author: Robin Brzozowski
I had the pleasure of seeing Michael Lille perform several years ago, and he sang many of the songs on this CD. All of the songs are better than most of what you'll hear on the radio, but buy this CD for "Perfect Strangers" and "Ships" (one of the most moving songs I've ever heard). And if you ever have the chance to see him perform live, don't miss it.
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Lille also knows how to hook listeners with catchy choruses, vivid characters an
author: The Washington Post
The Washington Post / Friday, December 27, 1996 Talent Abounds On Lille's "Middle Child"
More and more, it seems, the music composed by young singer-songwriters who accompany themselves on acoustic guitar falls into one of two categories: earnest or entertaining. Michael Lille's "Middle Child" manages to bridge the gap.
Certainly Lille has a flair for writing thoughtful songs. His ruminations on slowly revealing traits passed down from father to son on "Our Family Name" and his reflections on "The Middle Child," another song about the curious twists of family and fate, reaffirm Lille's talent for writing about serious subjects without wasting words or faking emotion. "The Blessing Of His Birth," a poetic remembrance of the first Christmas, is also impressive, for unlike many contemporary holiday songs it's neither achingly sentimental nor shamelessly derivative.
However, Lille also knows how to hook listeners with catchy choruses, vivid characters and intriguing scenarios---virtues that are particularly evident on "Perfect Strangers," "Walkin Away" and "Big On Big." Small wonder he finds himself working with other talented songwriters here, including Pierce Pettis, Tom Kimmel and Don Henry, and supported by the likes of Alison Krauss (who sings on one track), Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten, pianist Jon Carroll and guitarists John Jennings, Dan Dugmore and Ray Flacke. ------
Mike Joyce
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