Mike Blackhurst

A co-worker found out about my site, and immediately began to try and sell this "Mike Blackhurst" guy to me. His story was, " I have this friend. He's an engineer, but he's just finished recording, and is putting out a CD. I think he's really got something. Maybe this music thing will take off for him." I know plenty of people who are part-time musicians, hoping to make it big. Many of them are really dreaming because there is a lot of competition in Austin, and if you don't have the chops, you're going to find yourself in misery's company more often than not. Checking this guy out meant I was potentially going to have tell my co-worker that his friend was mediocre in the grand scheme of things, but in the search for talent, I was willing to take that risk.

Fortunately, I didn't need to have that uncomfortable conversation. I went out to Mike's website and listened to a couple of samples. It was impressive enough to get me out to his CD release show at the Saxon Pub. As Mike set up with the band, I saw some familiar faces--Mark Addison, Nina Singh, Josh Gravelin... Didn't I just see all these musicians playing with Guy Forsyth? Apparently, some established musicians saw enough talent in this guy to risk getting on stage with him. I could tell that Mike was a little nervous, but he had a good overall performance. He spent half of the time behind the keyboards, and half of the time with a six-string in his hands. The levels could have been better on this sound board. On some songs, I had trouble hearing Mike over the instruments, and the keyboard wasn't as prominent as it should have been. I was happy to take home a CD and listen to each track as it was intended.

The CD, An Account of the Life of Something, starts off strong with a tune called Cold Feet Sweet Love. The groove is established with a repetitive piano intro with a pop/jazz flare. After the first verse, the piano kicks into a series of rolling keys, then back to the familiar groove. Mike proves himself as a talented pianist, not only on this song, but also on Nostalgia and Ice Cream & Disappointment. He sounds much like Ben Folds sans the angry dwarf and expletives.

When I happened upon the third track, Elizabeth, where Mike finds himself on guitar, I could have sworn that I was listening to Weezer. Similar chord progressions and harmonies. Although this particular track did not sound original, it was cool nonetheless. And considering that the rest of the CD did sound original, I consider the track inspired by Weezer, not a rip-off.

The CD in its entirety varies from mellow, jazzy, and sentimental to mainstream pop to edgy rock. It's an impressive debut that should give him solid footing in the Austin music scene. I expect to see much more of Mike Blackhurst as time goes on. And I've thanked my co-worker Bob for turning me onto his friend.

Check out AustinExperience.com's musician/band links.

Related links:

Mike Blackhurst's website