A couple months ago, I had the honor of being asked to participate in an awesome local project called Have Mandolin Will Travel. It was started by Matt Juliano, the mandolin/guitar player for the acoustic Americana band Beemo, in Orlando, FL. Each episode features a local songwriter and together they perform one of the artist's original songs. Matt arranges a (really awesome) mandolin part and gives the song a whole new twist!
The song of mine that he requested was “Sweet Lemonade.” I was thrilled to record this song with him. It’s a cute little summer bop about how we can never plan relationships in the timeline of our lives. What we can do is take something from each of them and never stop trying to find the person who will “catch life’s lemons and make sweet lemonade with me.” Here’s the song! Audio by Mike Walker of Dreamwalker Music Productions, video by Cam Freeman.
Then he interviewed me about my inspiration for the song, writing multiple styles of music, and my musical endeavors. See the video below! For his full blog post, click here.
Since then Matt has played alongside me for a couple performances around town and become a good friend. He is one of the kindest and most hilarious people I’ve ever known. While you’d never catch him boasting, he has a great ear for music and adding the perfect touch of his instrument to the mix. He literally tunes his mandolin down a half-step and just transposes everything he plays...
Nowadays he is often one of the people I ask to give feedback on my new music whenever I’m stuck on a lyric or need a fresh perspective. Occasionally I’m lucky enough to play upright bass with him and Amanda Lyn around town.
There are so many artistic adventures to be found right here in Orlando. It’s amazing how rich a musical community can be right in your local area. Even in such a huge city, the world can be surprisingly small. It’s exciting to hear about the other songwriters that he’s recording with whether that’s recognizing familiar artists or being introduced to new artists. I can’t wait to see who else gets involved and where the project will grow from here!
Seriously follow this guy’s projects. Matt has some beautiful gifts to share with this world. Don’t miss them!
Until next week!
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Cover Photo by Cam Freeman