A seamless combination of singer-songwriter oriented rock, folk, blues, and country.

8 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk-Rock, ROCK: Country-Rock

Show all album songs: August Moonshine Songs


Details:
Arriving at a perennial street corner while signaling a caution to the wind, August Moonshine blends symphonic soundscapes and masterly woven lyrics into an exceptional debut effort. âI make music that I feel,â explains a seemingly shy but assertive Rich Mikolitch. âThe stuff that my parents brought me up on, regardless of the genre, had passionâ¦and I think thatâs the most important component of any style of music still to this day. Unfortunately, most of what you hear on the radio now is completely devoid of it, almost like it has no soul whatsoever. If nothing else, I think people can hear the passion I have for my musicâ¦itâs the only way I know how to play.â Itâs with that same determination and borderline obsessive behavior that Rich wrote, played all instruments, engineered, produced, and mixed his first E.P., August Moonshine. Recorded in his home in Topanga, CA in 2007, August Moonshine challenges the listener musically and lyrically. From the opening progression of Angels In May to final breathe in Running Away, itâs a snapshot of a burgeoning songwriter whose journey is just beginning.
As with anyone, the road from yesterday to today is rarely an easy one, and Richâs road was no exception. Being raised a couple miles down the road from Newark, NJ, heâll be the first to tell you that he spent a few nights sleeping out in the cold. âYou hear New Jersey and you think oil refineries and concreteâ¦and with the exception of Springsteen, not too much has come out of New Jersey musically.â Throughout those years, Rich developed quite a thick skin and eventually found the strength to chase down his dream. âWhen Tweedy (Jeff Tweedy of Wilco) says in War on War, âYouâve gotta die if you wanna be alive,â that really struck a chord with me and still does today. I knew from very, very early on what I wanted to doâ¦and at that point, nobody really takes you seriously but yourself. So from then on, everything I did had something to do with getting me to this place in one way or another. You really have to be willing to strike out and lose everything to achieve your goalsâ¦and that journey is what shapes you into the person you are now. In my case, itâs what makes my music what it is today, bruises and all. Iâm not where I want to be yet, but at least I know Iâm on the right road now.â
The roots of Richâs passion for music began taking hold at an early age. âI had been playing lead guitar since I was a young teenager, like 13 or 14,â he explains. âSo when I came to L.A. a couple years ago, thatâs what I was looking to do.â However, the music scene was much different than what Rich had expected and not everything went as planned. âWhat I came to find out was that nobody, and I mean nobody, was playing anything that I wanted to get involved in. I grew up studying guys like Clapton, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman and Dicky Betts, Marc Fordâ¦you know, great, great guitar players. Unfortunately, it didnât seem that many people were interested in that style of playing.â Stuck at a crossroad, Rich had to make a decision. âI remember thinking, I can either sit around playing guitar for nobody, or I can start to hone and refine the songs that I had written and do it all by myself.â This was a daunting task that took some time. For starters, Rich had to convince himself that he could sing. Then, after he had made the decision to go for it, he had to learn the recording process on his own. âI didnât have any money to record a proper demo in a proper studio with proper equipment with a proper engineer, so I developed my own methods and ways of doing things on the fly. I figured, I didnât know any of the rules, so in my eyes, there were no rules to break.â The result is a strikingly refreshing collection of songs that can only be described as, ââ¦organic. I think thatâs the best word to describe the album. Itâs all just me in a room with a couple mics, a few guitars, a keyboard, my notebooks, a bottle of wine, and tons of ideas. A lot of things can happen with that combination.â With elements of folk, rock, blues, and country along with his unique, original approach to songwriting, August Moonshine is a portrait of an artist who isnât content to pigeonhole himself. âUnfortunately, the business of music compels a lot of artists to stick to one style. Itâs just too confining for me, and I feel that some of the art is actually lost once you start to consciously cater to a specific genre.â
Having that vision and attitude paid off in 2007 when Touchstone Music contacted Rich and expressed an interest in licensing his music for their upcoming season of TV shows. âIâm not really sure what itâs going to be in yet, but itâs a great opportunity to promote the music and it gives me the sort of exposure you can only dream of. Unfortunately, with the commercial radio airplay route being virtually impossible for anyone who isnât on a major label; I see this simply as another way to get the music out there to people who might want to listen.â