Description
Vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon has spent the last three decades playing well over 200 shows a year with both his own band, as well as a sideman with artists including Rickie Lee Jones, Les Claypool and Ani DiFranco. So when the pandemic hit in early 2020 forcing Dillon off the road, he instinctively directed his perpetually restless creative energy to writing and recording. Residing in Kansas City after spending 15 years in New Orleans, Dillon and producer Chad Meise would track a trilogy of albums: ‘Shoot The Moon,’ ‘Suitcase Man’ and ‘1918.’ Collaborating with his record label Royal Potato Family, they would release these records exclusively via Bandcamp just days after they were mixed and mastered. In 2021, those albums will now receive the full vinyl treatment, as well as complete digital release across all streaming outlets.
The first of the three records, ‘Shoot The Moon,’ is a ten track collection which Dillon describes as “Punkadelic-Funk-Psych,” focused heavily on the current political climate in the United States. Assembling an assortment of stylistically uncompromising musicians to contribute, its lineup features Matt Chamberlain, Steven Bernstein, Nicholas Payton, Robbie Seahag Mangano, Jean-Paul Gaster and Nick Bockrath among others. Highlights include the apocalyptic road warrior anthem “Drivin’ Down The Road,” a swirling New Orleans jazzraga “Further Adventures in Misadventures” and the snarling punk rock diatribe “Quool Aid Man” with its indictment of white supremacy or in Dillon’s words “old men and their guns.”
