The musician revels in the hybrid nature of his work with the appropriately titled Chameleon, his fourth release.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published June 19, 2003
[Publicity photo]
Molten Mike likes all four of his CDs, but he’s especially proud of Chameleon.
Singer-guitarist Molten Mike has built a loyal fan base in the Tampa Bay area, and his popularity around the country and overseas continues to grow.
But he'll admit that the bipolar nature of his work has occasionally stood in his way. Some blues fans consider him a jazz musician; some jazz aficionados think he's a blues man.
He tells a story about sending his third CD, The Movie, to a local jazz station. A prominent DJ liked it but had to give it to his boss to get it on the air. Although the CD is almost pure jazz, the boss said it was "too bluesy."
"So now I'm too bluesy for the jazz people," Molten Mike says. "And then when I send my CD to the president of the local blues society, he says it's too jazzy. There's always going to be someone who doesn't like the path you've chosen."
Instead of choosing jazz or blues and settling into a category, Molten Mike has chosen to revel in the hybrid nature of his music. His latest CD, his fourth, is titled Chameleon.
Molten Mike and his eponymous band will celebrate the release of Chameleon with a series of parties. The first is 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday at Gasoline Alley in Clearwater. Future parties are set for July 5 at Ringside Cafe in St. Petersburg ($5); July 18 at Ruth Eckerd Hall's Heye Great Room ($13-$15); Aug. 10 at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa ($5); Aug. 16 at Largo Cultural Center ($10-$12); and Aug. 23 at the Gulfport Casino Ballroom ($10-$12).
The earlier CDs concentrated on one side or the other of Molten Mike's music. Genuine Bluesman was all acoustic blues. Blues Meltdown mixed blues and funk. And The Movie was almost all smooth jazz. But Chameleon is a more-or-less equal mix, shifting from raw Delta-influenced blues numbers to jazz tunes and back again.
Molten Mike likes all four of his CDs, but he's especially proud of the latest one.
"You're going to love this CD," he says. "It's going to make your head spin like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. It's a great record. It really is."
The Molten Mike Band, which also features Frank "Dr. Goodsax" Bowman, drummer "Sticks" Randall Ierna, bassist Dean "Down Low" Wise and keyboardist Bill "Julio" Barrett, will play selections from all four CDs at Gasoline Alley.
They'll also host a "Rumpshakin' Contest" in which women can vie for $50 in coupons for food and drinks at Gasoline Alley.
This fall, after all the release parties, Molten Mike and some of his bandmates will take off for their first tour of Australia. Ierna definitely will make the trip, and Barrett might be able to make it. Other commitments will keep Bowman and Wise at home.
The Australian blues community has gotten behind the band's music, Molten Mike says, especiallyChameleon. So he thinks that finding local musicians to fill in will be easy.
"The talk on the Australian Blues Web site is really great," Molten Mike says. "All these Australian bands are reading the Web site and contacting us saying they'll play with us."
PREVIEW
The first CD release party for Molten Mike's Chameleon will be at 8 p.m. Saturday at Gasoline Alley, 17928 U.S. 19 N, Clearwater. (727) 532-0265. $5.
