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Musician
Michael Skinner has crafted his albums "Train
of Tears"
, "Pirates",
and the new release, "Waitin' For a
Train" the hard way. As a
former member of a number of successful
rock bands,
including American
Train which
toured England in the late 70's, the guitarist/drummer
saw his whole world
change
back in the early 90's with the onset of PTSD (Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder) and depression from childhood abuse, but with
persistence, patience, and hard work he has returned to his musical
endeavors.
England's Banburyshire
Brolly Radio Show Broadcast featuring
the song “Pirates” To
order by credit card, get lots of cool info and listen to snippets
of Darkness to Lightness Presents Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence http://www.ethicalife.com/showsegment.asp?id=59 An Internet radio talk show sponsored by Darkness to Light Dedicated
to providing a safe forum where people can share ideas about
Wednesday,
October 12
REALLY COOL NEWS Please
visit www.Q4music.com.
This is the website address for a major English music magazine
that has interviewed me as part of a feature article on musicians
sharing the same name as famous musicians. The publishing date
is set for April 1st, so hopefully it will be posted at their
website soon. If not, please write/email to Q magazine to request
information on how to get a copy of the interview. This should
be a really cool article that talks of my present and also of
my past endeavors while touring Great Britain many years ago.
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Michael
Skinner
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Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Michael Skinner is fulfilling a long held childhood dream to play the guitar, sing, and write songs. Since first picking up the guitar and learning to play it some eight years ago, his musical adventure has brought him to new heights of achievement with the release of a successful album titled "TRAIN OF TEARS" in 1999, designing and establishing a website in February 2002 that has garnered over several hundred thousand visitors from 40 different countries, and in May of 2003, Michael released his latest album "PIRATES". Great news!!! www.TowerRecords.com is now selling "Train of Tears" so please check it out and order one for yourself or for a friend, hey....order one for someone you don't like and heal the rift. His performances have brought him throughout New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Washington, DC, Tennessee and all points in between. He has received some great reviews about his music from the press, but more importantly, the accolades from those who have seen his performances, buy his albums, and visit the website are indeed proof that he is doing the "right thing". Michael first entered the world of music as a drummer when he was ten years old. Throughout his early teen years his band performed for many school dances, teen centers, and they won their fair share of the Battle of the Bands contests. His later teen years found this success parlayed into being a fulltime professional drummer, performing in nightclubs throughout New England and New York. Eventually his skills as a drummer led him to perform and tour all of Great Britain for two years with the rock band "American Train". For several years after their return home to Boston, MA, "Train" continued to perform and record in New England and New York. Later on, Michael took his knowledge and skills into the business end of things in music and started a highly successful management and booking agency representing rock bands who toured all over the East coast, as far mid-west into Chicago, and from Toronto to New Brunswick in Canada. Some severe health problems and concerns forced Michael to leave the music business for several years. He has now returned full force in living out his long held childhood dream of playing the guitar and singing and is loving every minute of it. |
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"Train
of Tears" signals the rebirth of Skinner on several levels.
The original songs are gritty, touched by the angst his long journey
has led him through, but also by a renewed hope. He has dipped into
a deep well of emotions and brought them to the surface: Mental
Illness is a challenge to be taken on, not a definition of who or
what a person is. The stigma, which can be just as damaging as the
illness in its isolation, is one that Skinner wants to actively
speak out against. The cut "Walk With Me" contains
the lyrics, "So open up your eyes, clean out your ears. Learn
to listen, listen to learn, and then you'll hear...."
It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss "Train of Tears" as just a message incorportated within the music. The original work stands alone as a blend of guitar, vocals and drums that attracts attention no matter what the message. Recorded at Bob Cat Studios in New Hampshire over a period of three months, Skinner and Bob Catalono spent two weeks mixing the tapes. The result is a finely honed 73 minute blend of nine original songs with covers of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," the hopeful "Stand By Me" and "If I Were A Carpenter". Skinner has performed in the New England area numerous times since resuming his musical career in 1999. "The one thing I hope comes through loud and clear is how much I just plain enjoy playing now, I love music. It's a healthy part of me that gives me a pleasure that I want to share. I want to erase the stereotype of mentally challenged people only being capable of doing piecework in a workshop." With "Train of Tears" , Skinner bursts through that stereotype powered by an engine of creativity and talent. When he performed at the Vocational Conference in May of 1999, he was met with enthusiastic response. This is a train that's conscious of the places it's been but is eager to travel new rails. |
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"You
have to count on living every single day in a way you believe will
make you feel good about your life...." Jane Seymour
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The
new album "Pirates"
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| Manchester,
New Hampshire, musician Mike Skinner has just released "Pirates,"
his second full- length album. "I see "Pirates" as a triumph of the spirit," the guitarist said. "Despite adversity, You can get through life's trials. I have found many folks who may not be on the exact same journey as me but are willing travellers. "Train
of Tears," Skinner's first album, released in 1999, was also
recorded at Bob Cat Studios The ten songs that comprise the acoustic pop sounds of "Pirates" still address angst and accountability, love and loss, but anger is replaced by a degree of acceptance. Skinner sings in the title cut: "A sturdy ship from those at hand will help your passage, Deliver you to a new land…Position your ship so that the sun shines in their faces." Skinner trades in his electric guitar for an acoustic one in "Pirates" and the original cuts are complemented by the rich voice of Kelly Ann McCann on several songs. Skinner has worked with different versions of his composition "Walk With Me." The one included with this album is a smooth instrumental by pianist Jay Hovnanian. The musician, who toured Europe for two years in the late 1970s with the Massachusett's band American Train, is looking to reestablish himself in the more intimate solo venue of coffeehouses and other live performances in the New England region. Additional information can be found at www.mskinnermusic.com. Skinner recently addressed the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on issues involving child exploitation and a portion of the sale of "Pirates" will be donated to organizations including SASS (Sexual Assault Support Services;Portsmouth, NH ) and The Healing Arts Studio; Boston, MA. The guitarist recently performed at Manchester's Veteran's Park as part of NAMI Walks, an 11 state nationally co-ordinated walkathon fundraiser for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Skinner has been invited by the Million Dads March to perform "Dear Child," a song from "Pirates," at the gathering in Washington, D.C. this Father's Day weekend. |
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt |