It has been said that MIKE BAGGETTA is “a guitarist of slippery proficiency” (New York Times), that his performances are “totally compelling” (Jazz Journal, UK) and that “his melodic sense is truly beautiful.” (JazzReview.com)
Mike’s singular and very personal musical style seeks to blur the lines between song and solo, while connecting a wide range of musical genres that influence him. The press says this approach is “…beguilingly atmospheric…” (Time Out New York) and that “Baggetta’s music is quietly transgressive… Even when he plays a lot of notes, his playing can sound almost static, as though ideas were being snagged out of thin air.” (Hartford Courant)
Baggetta’s most recent release is the album Everywhen We Go, his second album with drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Mike Watt on the BIG EGO label. He also leads the band mssv, is a post-genre power trio featuring the iconoclastic rhythm team of drummer Stephen Hodges and bassist Mike Watt. They have just released their self-titled debut studio album, Main Steam Stop Valve, on BIG EGO Records, following up 2020’s Live Flowers album on Striped Light Records, recorded live in Philadelphia, PA and Northampton, MA (with special guest J Mascis), as well as 3 limited edition 7” releases recorded solely over quarantine, featuring guest artists Petra Haden and Nels Cline. After completing their first full US tour in spring 2022 mssv recorded their second full length album for release next year. This band grew out of Baggetta’s first album for BIG EGO, Wall of Flowers, which featured a reimagining of his music alongside bassist Mike Watt and drummer Jim Keltner.
Everywhen We Go by Mike Baggetta / Jim Keltner / Mike Watt, 2022, Bandcamp on #neuguitars #blog #MikeBaggetta
Everywhen We Go | Mike Baggetta / Jim Keltner / Mike Watt | Mike Baggetta (bandcamp.com)
From the liner notes by Jason P. Woodbury: “There’s a scene in The True History of The Traveling Wilburys short documentary in which the viewer is treated to footage of drummer Jim Keltner furiously smacking his sticks on cabinet doors, refrigerator shelves, and other surfaces in Dave Stewart’s kitchen, trailed by a microphone capturing his every move. I keep thinking about that funny scene while listening to Keltner’s playing on Everywhen We Go, the second album from the trio comprising the drummer, guitarist Mike Baggetta, and bassist Mike Watt.
Everywhen is a much sparser and direct example of Keltner’s rhythmic sensibility, don’t get me wrong, but the same manic spirit is at work across the album’s nine songs. Everywhen is a playful and forceful outing, a sprightly tangle of sand dune guitars, Los Angeles noir, spazzouts and honey-toned pastorales. Like Keltner in the kitchen, these lifers—whose back catalog spans the avant-garde, various Beatles solo albums, The Stooges, and strains of outsider punk and rock expression—are at play on the recording.”
credits
releases November 18, 2022
Mike Baggetta – acoustic & electric guitars
Jim Keltner – drums & percussion
Mike Watt – bass
Produced and Mixed by Chris Schlarb
at BIG EGO, Long Beach, CA.
Recorded November 23rd, 2021
Engineered by Devin O’Brien
Mastering by David Torn
Additional recording at Pulp Arts, Gainesville, FL
Engineered by Lily Ruckstuhl
Cover art by Michael J. Hentz
Photography by Devin O’Brien
Layout by David J. Woodruff
All songs written by Mike Baggetta
Published by Mabnotes Music (BMI) unless noted:
“Yank It Out” written by Mike Watt
published by tHUNDERsPIELS (BMI)
“This Is Not A Euphemism” and “Fearmongers”
written by Mike Baggetta (Mabnotes Music, BMI),
Jim Keltner (OOOEEE Music, ASCAP),
and Mike Watt (tHUNDERsPIELS, BMI)
NeuGuitars 