Album Notes

Michael Ruggieri's music career started at 9 years old. He remembers vividly creating original songs in his head and would spend his teenage years and early twenties transforming these thoughts into songs through his guitar and voice. In 1996, after years of playing in bands and touring around western New York, Michael packed up and moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the "scene" and take advantage of family already living on the west coast. After playing around Los Angeles for a few years, Michael developed material that would be recorded on his first full-length release, titled Survive.

On Survive, Michael has enlisted the talents of Michael Vail Blum (Madonna, Roger Daltrey, Pink Floyd) of Titan Recording Studios to engineer and co-produce as well as having Dean Pleasants (Suicidal Tendencies, Jessica Simpson, Infectious Grooves) plays lead guitar and bass, and Matt Laug (Alanis Morisette, New Radicals, Slash's Snakepit) playing Drums. The results are a CD packed with emotion, energy, and infectious melodies that is destined to become a staple on mainstream radio.

From the moment you hear Michael's songs, you instantly become captivated with the ethereal build of his songwriting. From the haunting strains of the title track, 'Survive', to the surreal imagery of 'Waiting For Heaven', the listener comes away feeling every nuance and invariably finds themselves exhilarated.

Watching Michael perform live gives audience a chance at seeing how adept he is in conveying his convictions both lyrically and musically. His performances, as both an acoustic solo artist and with his full band are incredibly vibrant, luminous and filled with a love that only further serves to showcase his talent as a songwriter and performer.