NASHVILLE |DATE: APRIL 21, 2010
FROM: MARCEE RONDAN/MITCH SCHNEIDER/ANGELA VILLANUEVA
NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS RECORDS
ANNOUNCES FIRST RELEASE
AS PART OF DEAL WITH FONTANA/UNIVERSAL
‘MICKI FREE AMERICAN HORSE’
DUE OUT JULY 20
GRAMMY-WINNING ARTIST SERVES UP HIS BLEND OF GUITAR-DRIVEN ROCK, BLUES AND ROOTS
“The man, Micki Free, is a multi-talented maker of mad machinations in a most mesmerizing manner. Mercy!
Git it on, Micki…”
–The Rev. Billy F. Gibbons, ZZ Top
NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS RECORDS proudly announces the release of MICKI FREE AMERICAN HORSE, the new album by Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, musician and mixed blood (Cherokee & Comanche) Native American MICKI FREE. Due out July 20, 2010, MICKI FREE AMERICAN HORSE showcases the fiery guitar and writing skills of FREE and the musical talents of his band, drummer Cindy Blackman (Lenny Kravitz, Rachel Z) and bassist David Santos (Billy Joel, John Fogerty). This album marks the first in a series of NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS RECORDS releases due out in 2010 on Fontana/Universal.
Written, produced and arranged by FREE, MICKI FREE AMERICAN HORSE starts at a gallop with the bluesy attack of “Wounded Knee,” a heartfelt paean to the 1890 battle that FREE reprises at the end of the album with a “warrior version” of the song. “New York New York” and “Lucky #7” are blazing, straightforward rockers, while “Drowning Pool” recalls the droning ambience of Robin Trower and certain Led Zeppelin songs. FREE delves into Texas-style slide playing on “Black Moon Rising” and visits the Mississippi Delta on “Angels in the Room,” and then changes the pace with the melodic, rootsy gentleness of “Heather's Arms.”
FREE also pays tribute to his hero Jimi Hendrix with a coupling of the little-known “Hey Baby” with “New Rising Sun” and a ferocious, 17-minute “Voodoo Chile Blues” that was recorded in one take at Nashville's Quad Studios.
“This is a real rock album, and I'm very proud of it,” says FREE. “I was just inspired to write some cool rock stuff again. To me, rock 'n' roll is dead as we know it; there's some cool music out there, but it's not rock 'n' roll, classic stuff like we used to know–Zep, Hendrix, Cream, all of that. That's what I do. My heart is in rock 'n' roll, and that's what's on this album.”
FREE, discovered by Gene Simmons of KISS, has written for or performed with them all, including Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Janet Jackson and Wendy O Williams. He achieved mainstream success with Shalamar's Top 20 smash “Dancing in the Sheets” from the Footloose soundtrack, the Grammy Award-winning “Don't Get Stopped in Beverly Hills” from Beverly Hills Cop, and with Crown of Thorns, the hard-hitting band he and the Plasmatics' Jean Beauvoir fronted during the early '90s. FREE then released several solo albums–both rock and traditional Native American flute music–earning him multiple Nammys (Native American Music Awards) and worked with LA & Babyface, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Queen's Roger Taylor, the late Tony Thompson of Chic, former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin and others on various projects.
Throughout his music career and successes, The Seminole Tribe of Florida, Owners of the Hard Rock Brand, took notice and asked FREE to work with them in promoting Seminole Tribal members and Native American Music and musicians. The NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS Program (www.nativemusicrocks.com)–sponsored by Hard Rock International and The Seminole Tribe of Florida—is being developed as a forum to showcase the diversity of musical talents within the Native American community. Today FREE works as the Director of Seminole Heritage Events & Promotions making him a worldwide ambassador for Hard Rock International, The Seminole Tribe of Florida and NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS.
Track Listing for MICKI FREE AMERICAN HORSE:
1. Wounded Knee
2. Lucky #7
3. Hey Baby/New Rising Sun
4. Black Moon Rising
5. The Drowning Pool
6. Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
7. Angels In The Room
8. New York New York
9. Heather’s Arms
10. Voodoo Chile Blues
11. Wounded Knee/Warrior Version
http://www.mickifree.com/
http://www.myspace.com/mickifreeexperience
http://www.nativemusicrocks.com/
For more information on NATIVE MUSIC ROCKS and MICKI FREE, contact:
Marcee Rondan 818-380-0400 x248 marcee@msopr.com
Angela Villanueva 818-380-0400 x232 avillanueva@msopr.com
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