LANDFILL RECORDS MIKE FELTEN
UAW NIGHT AT AJ'S 07/13/2010
It looks like we are going to have quite an event at AJ's in Ferndale,MI next month. The more I see of Detroit, the more I like. Maybe it is reminiscent of the industrial Chicago that I grew up in. It could be the survivor spirit that reveals the essence of the American soul. Anyway, proud to be a small part of it.August 12th Mike hosts UAW night with Dignitary Attendees: (subject to change and confirmation) MI Governor Granholm, Butch Hollowell ,Detroit Mayor Bing, Bob King, Pres. UAW, Cal Rapson, ret. UAW VP AFL-CIO. and hopefully lots of union folks. Detroit July. 07/12/2010
Back in Detroit last weekend with four great acts Alan Sturt, Jason Roseboom, Clay Adams Band and the Mantons. Always enjoy Donovans Pub and a new/old place the 1923 Cafe, Hope we all can do it again real soon BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN 06/21/2010
Working my way back. Breathing is coming along, but the voice is good. No tobacco or coffee. A few new codeine driven songs .I'll be back on stage July 2nd.Had another heart test and it's beating fine. So y'all are stuck with me for a while longer. COUGHING UP BLOOD LIKE A COAL MINER 05/28/2010
How awful can I feel. I guess that I'm still learning.It seemed like I was struggling physically for a while. Some of you have seen me perspire on stage. I usually go home with a wet shirt and my clothes are still damp the following morning. I wish that I could attribute that to a dynamic stage show or even nerves, but I am really comfortable up there. There is no place that I'd rather be than performing for you. When I started my museum job, I decided to take the train instead of the car. Walking up the the 'el' steps I found myself out of breath. Out-of-shape? Overweight? I guess, but I never felt any better after doing it again and again.Something was wrong, but I as always, I thought I could work through it . Last Friday it all hit me like a ton of bricks.I thought it was like the pneumonia that hit me about four a five years ago. I knew how to deal with that. This was different. My lungs were clear but I couldn't catch a breath. That led to some retching coughing up blood like a coal miner. Turned out that I have some sort of viral infection. I lost twenty pounds and my right lung isn't functioning up to standard. I have no resistance, so I can't be around a lot of people. I don't know where this is leading.I've looked at the end game before and I have found assurance in my faith, but this experience was darker and without hope. It seemed not like a passage, but an end. I saw the end of thought and memory, a void, an empty hell. A frightening idea to work through. On the physical side, I was forced to abdicate responsibilities that I pursued. I couldn't do a shift at the museum. I had to cancel my Heritage Day performance at the Amasa Historical Society. This was gig that I had to create. I chased the people up there to sell them on the idea and then I had to leave them short. I know that no one is going to sleep at night dreaming of the day that I come to their town. The gigs that I do are probably more important to me than anyone. But....Hope that you can say a prayer for me. Hope that I'll be back in some way real soon. Thanks, Mike   Coming Up! 03/24/2010
Mike will be playing the Second Shift Concert in Detroit, MI. Watch it Live! Friday 3/26 10-11pm EST. http://www.assemblylineconcert.com/watch-online/  No Title 02/02/2010
Johnny Lunchbucket is in the final mix. Cross your fingers, it will be out soon. The December 4th show at Silvie's was filmed for our first live performance DVD. Mike is volunteering at the Chicago History Museum.If you are planning a visit, ask for his schedule. Did a forty minute interview and contributed a couple songs to Whiskey Bender Productions documentary on indie record stores. We are aligned with the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign http://economichumanrights.org/ Lost another good friend - LARRY TRACY -2009. We won't see another fella like that. I'm starting to miss folks daily. The Sooners will always have an empty seat in the stadium and I'll always be turning to it for a joke, advice or some unique perspective on the world. Julius Margolin, labor activist and folk singer passed from our world 8/24/2009. It'll all be harder without him.  ***** Jim Dickinson Passes The unretainable nature of the present creates in Man a desire to capture the moment. Our fears of extinction compel us to record- to re-create- the ritual ceremony. From the first hand-print cave painting to the most modern computer art, it is the human condition to seek immortality. Life is fleeting. Art is long. A record is a "totem," a document of an unique, unrepeatable event worthy of preservation and able to sustain historic life. The essence of the event is its soul. Record production is a subtle, covert activity. The producer is an invisible man. His role remains a mystery. During the recording process there is an energy field present in the studio- to manipulate and to maximize that presence- to focus on the peculiar "harmony of the moment" is the job of the producer. Music has a spirit beyond the notes and rhythm. To foster that spirit and to cause it to flourish- to capture it at its peak is the producer's task. ***** We lost LES PAUL too. My Dad used to work at the Lyon & Healy music store in downtown Chicago. He worked there before the war (he had to pay for a hernia surgery before he could enlist) and after he got back. He was a salesman and didn't care too much about music. He liked putting things together. he was a photographer and a ham radio operator. He built a helluva Lionel train set for me with rat tail plugs that controlled the entire thing through one master box. Later when he worked at Sears he made some lights that would pulsate to the beat of the stereos he was trying to sell and bitched about the morons who wanted to buy the lights instead. This was in the late 50's early 60's. Les Paul would come in and somehow he struck up a friendship with my dad. They talked about electrical switches, capacitors and resistors. My Dad got into it and got a job with an outfit called Carling Switches. He remembered sending Les a bunch of things that he thought he could use. It was pretty secondary to him that Les played guitar. They lost touch, of course. When I started playing guitar and I started to play electric and wanted to buy an amplifier, my Dad said, "Let's make one!" I wasn't having any of that and went out and bought a Silvertone. That, my friends, is one of the biggest regrets of my life. I mourn that decision today as well as the passing of an extraordinary man.  ***** Wondering if this could be my great- grandfather.... HOW MANY CAN YOU DRAW KID? |