Cameron Mizell

When I find an album I like, I listen to it repeatedly for a while. Here are three albums that got a lot of spins from me this past month. Bill Frisell has been one of my favorite guitarists for quite a while now, and East/West, a double disc live album from 2005 featuring Kenny [...]

Here’s a little idea for guitarists out there trying to execute consistent phrasing.

Tributary is one step closer to being completed! Graphic designer and artist Philip Manning has been working diligently to finish the album artwork, and what you see here is some of the final product.

The Meters are THE classic example of New Orleans funk as far as I’m concerned, and a huge part of that was their drummer, Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste. Their big “hit” was Cissy Strut, and it’s a prime example of Zig’s ability to syncopate a back beat. He’s constantly playing variations on these beats, but this will give you a taste of his style.

One of my new tracks is now available for download! “Junior’s Swamp Sauce” was one of the first tracks I wrote for Tributary, so I felt like it was appropriate to to release it a little early while I wrap up the loose ends on the full album.

I recently joined a band called the City Billies (wait for it… the name will grow on you). They needed a mandolin player, and a mutual friend had passed my name along because I’d played the instrument on a few recording projects. The City Billies play a somewhat unexpected blend of bluegrass and reggae. It might be difficult to imagine, but the two styles actually work pretty well together in a set of live music. The audience never blinks when we go from playing a one-drop reggae beat to a two-step bluegrass tune. Both styles influence many jam bands, though I wouldn’t call the City Billies a jam band.

Little Grey Girlfriend, one of the bands I play with, has just released a new EP titled Green-Wood. It was produced by Erika Lloyd and Brad Whiteley, two musicians anyone familiar with me will already know. It’s extremely well done in every way, and I’m proud to have been a part of it. Click on the album cover for more info, and keep an eye out for the release show towards the end of July.

This video is from last week’s show at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC. The first song is a Lauren Zettler original called “Love”, followed by the Beatles “Something” off Abbey Road. Lauren and I are joined by Craig Akin on bass and Elliot Jacobson on drums.

Here’s one final track to preview before the music on Tributary is finished. “The Return” is the musical response to the title track, which you can hear as a work in progress in this previous post. Much like the title track, this isn’t a funk tune, and there are no open improv sections. The tune serves as a compositional anchor for the rest of the album, and many of the musical elements you hear in the song are pulled from the tunes that precede it (it’s the penultimate track).

With the increase in social networking, fan generated content, reality TV, and the pressure to have a consistent presence online, many musicians try to share as much of their creative process as possible. It’s one thing to keep a blog, or regularly update your social networks with the usual “I’m playing a show tonight!” dialog, but pulling the curtain back on the truly creative work is an entirely different beast.