Album Notes

There's tons of music out there that never gets played on the radio. You can find it in clubs in places like Austin, at music festivals, and you can dig for it on the Internet. Michael Hearne and Friends Live at the Old Blinking Light is a great example of this music - real music played by real people with life and energy. Mike and some of his friends play regularly at the Old Blinking Light in Taos, New Mexico. If you can make it there, do; or else you can buy this CD. The main players on this album are Mike Hearne, a singer/songwriter in the classic Texas style who happens to live in New Mexico, Jimmy Stadler, invariably referred to as "the dynamic Jimmy Stadler", a keyboard and mandolin player who adds spice to the record, and Kelly Stebbins, a waitress at the OBL who sings torch-style songs. The evening's entertainment recorded on this CD covers a lot of ground musically, from bar songs and two-steps through blues and Cajun-infused tracks. The one thread running through the two-disc set is love of music and appreciation for a good song - whether it's one of Mike's original compositions or a song written by one of his extensive network of songwriter friends (Michael Martin Murphey, Shake Russell and Chuck Pyle among many others). It's all done with the highest quality of musicianship. Just as importantly, it's done with loyalty to the music, and with the energy that comes from playing to an enthusiastic audience. This is a great CD for a road trip. (An explanation of the "explicit lyrics" notice is in order. At some point during the evening, one of the OBL patrons told Kelly Stebbins to "move her big ass." Some of her reactions are included in the recording.)