LISTEN: Rachel Baiman and Mike Wheeler, “Turn It Off”

Artist: Rachel Baiman and Mike Wheeler
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee (Rachel), nomadic (Mike)
Song: “Turn It Off”
Album: Countin on You Sessions
Release Date: February 7, 2020
Label: Tone Tree Music

In Their Words: “I (Rachel) started this song in a moment of frustration, wishing I could just escape from the news of the world. I was lucky enough to be a part of a writing residency in Jacksonville, Florida and the place I was staying had all of these turtles hanging out in the back yard. I think I started five songs about turtles that week, the shell idea was just feeling very appealing.

“Anyway, this is one of those songs which I couldn’t seem to finish. I’ve been a big fan of Mike’s writing and singing for years and one afternoon back in Nashville I asked him to come by and help me finish this one (he was my neighbor at the time). We worked through it and really enjoyed singing and writing together. This song ended up launching this EP collaboration.

“When he told me he was planning to head out to Colorado for the winter (Mike is decidedly nomadic), we both thought it would be fun to record some of what we had been playing together in a really live style, to reflect the inspiration we had gotten from our neighbor jams while he was in town and the magic of Nashville nights spent trading songs with good friends.” — Rachel Baiman


Artwork by Taylor Ashton

3×3: Mike Wheeler on Heavy Thinking, Hopeful Dreaming, and Rural Living

Artist: Mike Wheeler
Hometown: Vermonter living in Owensboro, KY
Latest Album: Sunbeams All Twisted
Personal Nicknames: Wheeler

 

Beauty day for a drive to #nc

A post shared by Mike Wheeler (@micwheeler) on

If Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and Mohammed were in a band together, who would play what?

Jesus on the Flying V, Krishna on the Yamaha Wind Midi, Mohammed on drums (plus heavy-duty earplugs), and Buddha on a Jazzmaster bass.

If you were a candle, what scent would you be?

Miller High Life in New England Basement

What literary character or story do you most relate to?

Marco Polo in Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. I’m often guilty of describing similarities between places and, once in a while, they just blur together. Honorary mention to Ignatius J. Reilly (A Confederacy of Dunces) as the character I most often talk about, but hope in almost every way to not relate to … though I’d gladly live in New Orleans.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day #hugsforall #songfamily #darksongs2016 #troop333 #barrettshiddenagenda #gentletouch

A post shared by Mike Wheeler (@micwheeler) on

What’s your favorite word?

From a hopes and dreams standpoint — impeachability. But more casually, and not too distantly related — jabroni.

What’s your best physical attribute?

My E.T.-shaped second toes. They let me phone home when the road gets rough.

Which is your favorite Revival — Creedence Clearwater, Dustbowl, Elephant, Jamestown, New Grass, Tent, or -ists?

My teenage self says CCR, but after selling my soul to bluegrass and moving to Kentucky, Sam Bush and the boys. If I say otherwise, they might send me down the river.

 

#hotel #campfire #fai2017

A post shared by Mike Wheeler (@micwheeler) on

Are you more a thinking or feeling type?

Feeling, with bouts of heavy thinking.

Urban or rural?

I can’t do one for too long without some relief from the other, but rural takes the cake.

Apple or orange?

Cranberry