Album Notes

Michael Waite grew up on the south shore of Lake Superior. The son of a gourmet cook and an English professor, he found solace in the different styles of music in his house, as well as outside in the woods and by the lakeshore.
From cowboy music to Irish ballads to soul to jazz to bluegrass, his love for all styles emanates from his first recording, Let it Go. Joining him on the record are John Churchville playing drums of many kinds and Jared Nelson Smith on several instruments, the most prominent of which is a singing Western-style guitar. The three met in Chicago for a week in March of 2007 to play in the studio of another dear friend Ryan Staples. The sessions there were at once urgent and timeless, puzzling and deeply satisfying. People who have this disc commonly leave it in their CD player for days on end. We think you will love it too.

"Dragonfly" is a beautiful ballad, "Make It Right" is fun fun fun. "Erica's Song" is a perfect love song and "Mean Ol 'Dog' is brutal but also testifies to his great love... Do not expect too broad or complex melodic orchestrations on this album. Michael Waite likes to keep things simple so the listener can understand his lyrics. In choosing the subjects he seeks simplicity. Songs like "Ice Cream", "Cold Black Water," "New Love, Old Love" and "Bedtime Prayer" are very easy to relate to.
Some songs feature horns and that contributes to the handsome creation of the perfect atmosphere for those songs. A textbook example of this is "Cold Black Water" in which I think Amos Lee and Ray Lamontagne can be heard slightly. "Arizona Bill" aims to be funny and it succeeds effortlessly: we think that a lyric like "The dog said" woof "and the cat said" meow "" says it all. The swinging-calypso tune "Spread The Love Around" is so catchy that you really can not sit.
Serious songwriting is a gift that Michael Waite completely controls, judging by the song "Black Television" with a solid serving of social criticism. A cover on this album: "A Satisfied Mind" was written in 1955 by Joe "Red" Hayes and Jack Rhodes and later appeared on the album "Saved" by Bob Dylan from 1980 and the Kill Bill soundtrack performed by Johnny Cash. Michael Waite delivers such a beautiful voice you hear in "If I'm Not Strong Enough" and the laid back singing "Wake Up". Very nice album.
-www.rootstime.be