Licking Guacamole and Other Tasty Licks

I am SOOOO excited to bring good news to my readers!

I have just released my ninth album. After seven months in the studio, I have 15 new songs to share with you and the world. With a lot of help from my old band, Aggressive Pedestrians (AggPed), especially Jim Prather, we have created new songs and brought in some old ones never released. Let’s take a look at the tracks…

• Licking Guacamole (title track) – It simply came to me on the piano one day living in Mexico. First song written down here. I like the simplicity and its amusing sound.
• The Jennifer Song – Like many tracks on this album, this one goes way back. Aggressive Pedestrians (our band) made a lot of early tracks before we got serious about making albums. This was a sensational track written by James Prather. It is a haunting love song to his wife, Jennifer. The band produced this in a live session in the studio. Sooo much energy!
• She Believes in Me – Speaking of wives, this song I wrote for my wife, Carrie, when we lived on the river. We selected this song for the album because it showcases the kind of sound Aggressive Pedestrians were building towards in 2004.
• Your Eyes – Jim and Gary Sako were goofing around one night fifteen years ago and recorded this song I wrote it in the early 2000’s. It’s a beautiful song for a beautiful wife. I loved their energy so much that I added a trombone and trumpet to it. Then Jim and Mark Brownd added some excellent backup vocals.
• Sail Away – I can’t believe that I wrote this song and left it on the shelf for twenty years. There are times when music comes to me faster than I can write. This is one. I finished it in eight minutes. Then I took it into Jim’s studio and AggPed produced this little ditty. I hope you like it.
• The Shape of Your Sovereign Soul – I will tell you the story of this song, but you probably won’t believe it. Some 15 years or so, Jim and Gary got together and did a jam session. They went home and left another piece of music on the shelf. With a new album idea surfacing in January 2024, Jim picked it up and threw it at me. “Mike, what can you do with this guitar/drum thingy I had forgotten about?” Two weeks before that moment I had added yet another item to one of my many lists that I constantly update. This list was song titles for future songs that may or may never birth. I added “The Shape of Your Sovereign Soul”. I liked how it looked and how it sounded, but there was nothing to move it forward. Then Jim put this two track piece of music in front of me. After 24 hours of contemplating it I woke at four in the morning and wrote all of the lyrics. I went back to bed and at eight am I rose to find the lyrics on a piece of paper at my desk. I cancelled my whole day, put on my headphones and made a new song. I hope you enjoy.
• Who’s Been Paddlin’ Madeline? – If there is one song you absolutely have to listen to it is this one written by my very close friend and musician, Allen Webb. He has a very natural John Prine like rhythm. And trust me I know, it is hard to write humor into music, but Allen totally nails it on this song. You will find yourself laughing as he wanders you through his little story about good girls going bad. Enjoy!
• Watching You – The oldest song on the album. I wrote this in 1988. It was lost to time. But AggPed picked it up and played it a few times to warm up a session in the studio. When the new album idea came into light, Jim suggested that I rework the music and try to get back to the original feeling some 35 years ago. “Okay, Jim that should be easy.” I said knowing how hard that would be. However, with an open mind (thanks retirement) and lots of time at the piano, I unlocked the mystery to how I had built it so many years ago. Again, I cleared my calendar and just went at it for three days. Jim and I talked about maybe stretching it into a house-music piece. Would love feedback from those listening to this one. It’s a different direction for us and we would like to know what fans are thinking.
• Grateful – OMG! It’s 3:30am and I am climbing out of bed because I have finally convinced myself that I will not be able to memorize and retain these lyrics that are swirling inside of my head. Another eight minute exercise of scribbling at my desk and then back off to bed and finally let the mind rest and find sleep again. I wake and find these lyrics sitting on my desk (this happens more than you would believe) and I print the words and give it to three friends that had recently lost their soul mates. Their tears brought me to the piano where I found the music. It’s a song that builds and offers hope to those who are mourning. I hope you like it.
• Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen classic and first song we have covered. The lyrics are stunning and Jim’s backup vocals are haunting. I hope you like my arrangement of this classic song. I played this song for my father when my mother was suffering with dementia. He cried so hard that I still feel the heart strings pull when I listen to it. I hope it has a message for you too.
• Seed – I wrote this song in the early 2000’s and brought it into the studio for AggPed. My lyrics were starting to really come in. I like how we recorded it. Jim’s vocals align with me seamlessly. Gary’s drums push the song through to the strong ending. And Mark Johnson’s guitar work is sensational. I hope you enjoy the song.
• Mr. Someone – Can you write a protest song without offending anyone? I wondered, so I wrote one. This song was written back in 2005. I rebuilt it this spring in my home studio with the same energy. I hope you like it.
• It’s What A Mother Does – This one is for my mother and my sister, Karen. I tried to capture the heart and soul of a mother’s life in the lyrics. If there is one song on the album that often makes me cry, it’s this one.
• Breathe Life (A Fallen Soldier’s Rhapsody) – Epic in style and progressive rock in architecture. I wanted to tell a story about a young man contemplating joining the service for his country. He would be leaving his family and girlfriend behind, but honor was important. Follow the progression of the story and the supporting music and decide if you like it. I would love feedback on this song.
• Keep Me In Your Heart – A final brilliant song from Warren Zevon before we lost him. I gave this song tribute to my late brother, Charlie, at his celebration of Life gathering in an Irish pub. The song has deep importance to me. It’s a great album closer!

I hope you enjoy the album and remember that there is much more music to listen to. Just go to your favorite online music source. Search on “Michael Hemphill” and you will hear eight more musical projects that are worth listening to. And as always, you can find everything about me at hemphillwritings.com/.

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And a very special shout out to Mark Brownd who came in at the last moment and added vocal tracks to some of the songs. He totally gets the sound we are looking for and has been invited to come in for the next album. Spoiler alert here, we are back in the studio working on a Christmas album. Yeah!

Here are some links to get right to the music:

Buy this on iTunes!
Buy this on Amazon!
Listen on YouTube!
Listen on Spotify!

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