Mike Miz, a Northeastern jam scene troubadour, moved to Nashville, Tenn., three years ago to pursue a new level of song-craft. His relocation came after a decade of playing in clubs from Asbury Park, N.J., and Philadelphia to New York City, performing over 200 shows per year; now the Pennslyvania-bred musician is preparing to release his album Only Human on April 14 via Blackbird.
Before his move to Music City, USA, Miz opened for the likes of Derek Trucks, Jason Isbell, Lukas Nelson, Blues Traveler, Jackie Green, Railroad Earth and more. After settling in, he quickly turned the heads of industry pillars Ted Pecchio, Laur Joamets, Jon Radford and engineer/producer Brook Sutton, who helped put together a band around Miz’s talent.
“My first year in Nashville, I started putting together a super band in my mind,” said Miz. “I started taking notes of the musicians that I would call if I ever recorded an album. I never thought I’d actually get them all to play. Fortunately, for me, that’s exactly what happened.”
The artists in question included guitarist Laur Joamets (Sturgill Simpson/Drivin N Cryin), bassist Ted Pecchio (Susan Tedeschi/Colonel Bruce), drummer Jon Radford (Justin Townes Earl/Jonathan Wilson), Jano Rix on organ (Wood Brothers), pianist Michael Borowski (Steve Kimock Band) and more. The resulting collaboration resulted in 11 new songs, all tracked live over three days at the Wood Brothers’ studio in West Nashville.
Today, we premiere the video for “Six Ways from Sunday,” which also includes additions from Sol Philcox-Littlefield on guitar (Trigger Hippy, Luke Combs) and horns by Leif Shires, Josh Scalf, and Chris Bellamy. The rock-and-roll song was written by Miz and Boo Ray and details the struggles of an active and destructive drug addiction, which the former experienced personally and admits he leaned into during his career. Despite the stark look at destroyed relationships and fear of the law, the musical collective seems to lighten Miz’s load, and the live video captures the feeling of amelioration on a visceral level.
“Six Ways From Sunday” is the first song I wrote when I moved to Nashville. It’s an autobiographical rocker about some of the events that culminated in me moving to the south and starting over,” Miz told Relix. “The recording process of this was a true joy, we did it live to tape at the Wood Brothers Studio in West Nashville, and I was able to get two of my favorite guitar players, Laur Joamets & Sol Littlefield, to lend their sweet chops. I later met Nashville native and session singer/bass player Jarad Reynolds at a show at Dee’s; he agreed to come lay down some fine vocal harmonies. It’s a true analog production and everything you hear other than the vocals and slide guitar was tracked completely live in one take.”
Watch the video premiere of “Six Ways from Sunday” below.
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