(Fool's Hill Music)
After years straddling the rock and folk circuit in upstate New York, Saratoga songwriter Michael Jerling is getting the attention he has long deserved. With a subtle but encyclopedic command of American styles and rhythms, a captivating melodic sense and incisive, clever lyrics, he is as supple a song craftsman as any riding the folk boards today. - Scott Alarik, Boston Globe
Recorded primarily in his home studio in Saratoga Springs, NY, and mixed at Scott Petito's NRS Studio in Catskill, NY, Little Movies features Michael singing and playing 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, and keyboards. Tony Markellis' acoustic fretless bass line kicks off "Dawn Patrol," a vivid portrait of a gated retirement community. "Old Henry's House" follows with the tale of an old man's passing, as Michael's lone mandolin is joined by Teresina Huxtable's foot powered reed organ and Kevin Maul's haunting acoustic slide guitar. The cinematic theme is carried on in "Angelina," a dark, crime spree flick, "Last Natural Man's" futuristic 12 string guitar saga, the Cold War spy movie setting of "Dirty Little War," and the familiar small town black & white charm of "It's a Wonderful Life." Other notable songs include the funky medieval send-up of "In the Middle Ages," a tongue-in-cheek paean to "The Weather Channel," "Sweet Soul Music," a story set in the Memphis of Stax Volt Rhythm and Blues and Dr. Martin Luther King's murder, and "The Flying Lawn Chair," which tells the true story of a Vietnam-era vet, Larry Walters, and his eccentric flight.
1. Dawn Patrol
2. Old Henry's House
3. Angelina
4. Last Natural Man
5. Dirty Little Town
6. It's a Wonderful Life
7. Sweet Soul Music
8. In the Middle Ages
9. Love at a Certain Age
10. The Flying Lawn Chair
11. The Weather Channel
12. These Old Photographs
13. Last Plane to Paradise
14. Only Time Will Tell
Sweet Soul Music
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