{"id":8785,"date":"2023-03-23T11:02:45","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T16:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/?p=8785"},"modified":"2025-01-27T12:19:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T17:19:17","slug":"welcome-back-a-collection-epk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/welcome-back-a-collection-epk\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Welcome Back: A Collection&#8221; &#8211; EPK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It&#8217;s been six years since I released my last record, &#8220;Hey Karma&#8221;. Since then, I&#8217;ve been dropping the occasional digital single. We recorded a few new tunes last year and initially thought about just pressing a three-song EP. Then I realized: &#8220;Wait. I have these other songs that have never been on disc. And we have those live recordings from last Spring. And I&#8217;d REALLY like to get my &#8216;Covid trilogy&#8217; onto one CD.&#8221; That added up to a full CD. So&#8230;here&#8217;s some information about &#8220;Welcome Back: A Collection&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like a copy (digital or disc) for review or airplay consideration, shoot me at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:michael@michaelgaither.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">michael@michaelgaither.com<\/a>. Many thanks for your interest in this new project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CD is now available here on the website, on all your favorite streaming platforms, and of course at our shows. You can also have a listen right here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1752100867\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/michaelgaither.bandcamp.com\/album\/welcome-back-a-collection\">Welcome Back: A Collection by Michael Gaither<\/a><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/finalist-200.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"167\" src=\"http:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/finalist-200.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8817\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>More Kudos for the Record<\/strong><br>\nSeveral on the new record placed as finalists or winners in The Great American Song Contest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2024: &#8220;No More Tequila For Santa, Special Category<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2023:&nbsp; &#8220;Welcome Back (to the Land of the Living) &#8211; Finalist, Americana Category AND &#8220;Cheers to the Road&#8221; &#8211; Finalist, Americana Category AND &#8220;Cheapskate Hill &#8211; Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting, Americana category<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2020: &#8220;See You On the Other Side,&#8221; WINNER, Singer\/Songwriter category<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2019: &#8220;Starlite Drive-In Saturday Night,&#8221; Finalist, Americana category<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About the Record<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since his last full release, 2017\u2019s \u201cHey Karma,\u201d Michael has been regularly releasing digital singles. <strong>\u201cWelcome Back: A Collection\u201d<\/strong> makes those tunes available on disc for the first time, along with several new studio recordings, two live band tracks and two fun bonus songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is Michael\u2019s fifth release of original music. It\u2019s a journey through Michael\u2019s past few years as a performing songwriter AND a look at the world in general on both sides of the global pandemic \u2013 all of this, of course, through Michael\u2019s signature mix of humor, sarcasm, and gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The record is framed by his Covid Trilogy which includes the John Prine-esque \u201cSee You on the Other Side,\u201d which won the Singer\/Songwriter category in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/see-you-on-the-other-side-wins-great-american-song-contest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2020 Great American Song Contest<\/a>, the humorous shelter-in-place country tune \u201cDay Drinking Days,\u201d and the post-pandemic anthem, \u201cWelcome Back (to the Land of the Living)\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w1akA6QY1V0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jzCvQRHd3hs?si=cOnr-VYrPoLloAn4\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re the Elders Now\u201d is an acoustic, tongue-in-cheek look at aging. It\u2019s paired with \u201cCheapskate Hill,\u201d a look back at youth (\u201cwe were kids \u2013 that\u2019s what we did\u201d) and the changes in a small-town hangout. &nbsp;\u201cCheapskate Hill\u201d is also a sequel of sorts to Michael\u2019s \u201cStarlite Drive-In Saturday Night,\u201d a crowd favorite and a runner-up in the Americana category of the 2019 Great American Song Contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Su7FgnsqrxU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a song cycle, \u201cCheers to the Road\u201d comes in as a sort of conclusion to the record\u2019s initial series of studio tunes. It\u2019s piano-driven Americana piece praising life\u2019s unexpected turns and what comes up along the way (\u201cif it wasn\u2019t for the road, I wouldn\u2019t be here with you.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><br>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D2OhBIElKF4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWelcome Back: A Collection\u201d is a band-driven record. It features Michael\u2019s \u201cNew Best Friends\u201d ensemble along with several guest musicians. To showcase the live band, there are bonus live tracks of \u201cStarlite\u2026\u201d and a cover of <a href=\"https:\/\/michaelgaither.bandcamp.com\/track\/forever-young-live\">Bob Dylan\u2019s \u201cForever Young\u201d<\/a>. And just for fun, there two bonus tracks: Michael\u2019s holiday drinking favorite, \u201cNo More Tequila For Santa\u201d and a fun played-for-laughs, fake-drunken remix of \u201cDay Drinking Days\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Interviews and Copies<br>\n<\/strong>For interview requests with Michael or to get a digital or physical copy of \u201cWelcome Back: A Collection\u201d, contact Michael at <strong>831-288-2226 <\/strong>or <a href=\"mailto:booking@michaelgaither.com?subject=Welcome%20Back%20press%20inquiry\"><strong>booking@michaelgaither.com<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelgaither.com%2Fhome%2Fwelcome-back-a-collection-epk%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;&amp;width=800&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:800px;height:30px;margin-top:5px;\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been six years since I released my last record, &#8220;Hey Karma&#8221;. Since then, I&#8217;ve been dropping the occasional digital [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8785"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9747,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8785\/revisions\/9747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}