Indy In-Tune

Show #095: Junk Box Mike

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You know, I've done a lot of these little intro/blog posts.  So many that I've forgotten what I've said in half of them.  Like the one that I wrote here, but just erased for because it was surprisingly similar to, and even borrowed a couple of jokes from, a post I made last year for a different band.  So, sorry, Mike.  There will be no contrived story or calculated essay loosely segued back into a description of you and your music.  No carefully crafted joke that will probably fall flat anyway.  No long self-indulgent story that people will merely skim over because I got too personal and deviated from the requisite 450-word limit the "best practices bloggers" unconsciously place on these things.  See?  I'm learning from you already. 

Some artists are storytellers, spinning legends out of characters and situations they've created.  Other artists, are legends and stories unto themselves.  In that analogy, I like to think of Junk Box Mike more as a portrait painter.  The body of his work focuses around people, places, and themes in his life (by themes, I mean fishing) whose broad strokes are something we can all identify with.  They seem real to us, because they are real to him.  Sure, Bob Seger can do an entire album about laboring thanklessly for the man, but we know a day of work for him largely revolves around planning his trip to the mailbox to pick up his royalty check.  When Junk Box Mike performs, you can be assured that, were you to walk up to him after the show and buy him a beer, you'd meet exactly the same guy you pictured in your head while you listened to his songs.  I encourage you to try this.

Jason Wells can be found here: Web Site | Facebook | Reverb Nation | MySpace
• John Bowyer can be found here: Facebook | MySpace | Reverb Nation 
• This episode was recorded at the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel.  I'm pretty sure we were not only the first podcast to record there, but also the first people ever to be "ushered out" of there.
• He originally played in a band called Junk Box. 
• John is a former member of the Cousin Brothers a current member of Strawboss Union (currently on hiatus) and plays regularly with The Lonesome Sharks. 
• They hooked up at Gary Wasson's open mic at the Corner Wine Bar.
• Until the night this show was recorded, Mike's biggest audience was the 8 Seconds Saloon.
• His upcoming album, From My Recliner was recorded by friend of the show Joanne Phillips (Show #075) at Blue Square Sound.
• The CD release party will be April 2 at Birdys and featuring "a girl named Morgan," Jethro Easyfields (Show #054), and possibly the old Junk Box band. 
• You can catch John Bowyer as a solo act and with the Lonesome Sharks regularly at The Bread Ladies in Greenfield.
• John considers The Melody Inn to be the epicenter of the local music scene.  Discuss.  

Darrin Snider is the OCD music nerd responsible for creating Indy In-Tune. By day he's a cloud engineer and business analyst, but he still hopes to someday be an overnight freeform disc jockey married to the local weathergirl who happens to be a former eastern-European supermodel.