Feeding the Senses Unsensored - Episode 134 - Mike Delevante - Musician, Graphic Designer, Photographer

Mike Delevante recently released his debut album, September Days, on Truly Handmade Records, a label founded by Guy Clark LLC’s board of directors (including Grammy-winning author, producer, and filmmaker Tamara Saviano, who fell in love with the album at first listen). Not many artists release their first solo record two decades after their debut album but that’s the case for Delevante, who spent the 1990s recording and touring as half of trailblazing Americana duo the Delevantes with his older brother Bob. The duo’s acclaimed releases on Rounder and Capitol records in that era made a splash — Long About That Time (Rounder) was the first #1 debut album on Gavin’s newly created Americana radio chart —and found them touring with like-minded artists including John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Levon Helm and others. So, while it’s hardly the first musical endeavor for Delevante, September Days is an important step for a musician who’d never put the spotlight directly on himself, until now. Produced by Joe Pisapia, whose production credits include work with Ben Folds, Guster, k.d. lang and many others, the album’s shimmering guitars and instantly memorable melodies recall some of the 90’s best guitar pop artists (Matthew Sweet, Freedy Johnston, Ron Sexsmith, The Jayhawks and more).  

That decision was a long time coming. The Delevante brothers were New Jersey natives who’ve made Nashville their home since the ‘90s, along with frequent collaborator and co-producer, Garry Tallent of the E Street Band. Mike had shifted gears, focusing on visual arts. Both he and his brother had studied art in college, with Bob also turning more toward visual projects in the 2000s, but Bob had also made three solo records along the way. It was Tallent who got the brothers back into music. He’d enlisted them to sing on his 2019 solo album More Like Me, then invited them to be part of a live show he was doing in Asbury Park with Southside Johnny and special guest Bruce Springsteen. They had such a blast that “I felt myself getting pulled back into it,” Mike says. The result was 2021’s A Thousand Turns. Its instantly appealing melodies and trademark sibling harmonies were a welcome return to form for the duo, whose mix of country and rock flowed naturally from brothers who came of age in New Jersey before moving to Nashville.

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