Last fall, Northampton-based singer-songwriter Mikey Sweet hitchhiked around the Northeast for two weeks, busking with a cardboard sign that read “Broke Musician Need Money to Finish Album w/Big Shot Producer and Hot Band! God Bless.” After paying an Albany outlaw a jar of pennies and a sandwich to drive him home, he came back with $2,200 in Kickstarter donations. In return, his sophomore album Road Dog Gospel was birthed.
The “big shot producer” he landed was local engineer/producer Danny Bernini, who has worked with acts such as NRBQ, Blondie, Martin Sexton, LuxDelux, and The Notorious B.I.G. Along with his band Ryan Hommel (pedal steel and guitar), Jeff Lynch (bass/guitar), Riley Godleski (drums) and Zack Cross (keyboards), Sweet recorded the album live, raw and to tape at Spirithouse Music in Northampton. Not generally the way people do things.
I sat down with Sweet for a brief interview to get to know him better. Sipping on my Earl Grey, I listened to the stories of his journey that led to this album, envisioning his words like a scene from a movie. I left feeling like I had just met an inspirational, confidant, poetic soul, someone who will endeavor to great things in the near future. You can make it happen in “the miraculous reality that is life, not really having a clue,” Sweet said. “When you have a vision, it can be walked out.”
Sweet’s vision came to life while he was driving around in his car. He realized he had to do something that was going to grab people’s attention. Hitchhiking with a cardboard sign, he thought, would help his brand and show his roots. He would eat with the money thrown into his guitar case while he was busking (this turned out to average $100 a day), while the money raised through Kickstarter would take care of the recording,
Getting tips from people in the industry on how to do a successful campaign proved helpful. He networked and asked people to come see him play at the location he arrived to that day. Throughout his short trip, he ran into friends from his past, and met up with new ones.
Stinky Pete Irving from the band Hot Damn Scandal mentioned he was playing at a private party in New Hampshire, and that Sweet should come play as well. Sweet thought it was a perfect way to kick off the trip.
The hosts of the party soon became friendly with him and became supporters of his shows later on. It was a short trip. Sweet wanted to keep on the move while traveling, all the while forming new fanbases.
Every artist finds drive in the influence of others. Sweet’s number one influence in his “soul, heart and spirit” is Townes Van Zandt, the Texas blues, folk, and country songwriter. Later in life, Sweet got into Bruce Springsteen and realized: “Holy shit, this guy might be the greatest songwriter in the world. Seventy percent of his stuff I just don’t listen to, but the stuff that I do like, it just touches me so deeply that I can’t help but say that it’s my favorite.”
Personally, I can hear a hint of The Boss in Road Dog Gospel. Mary Gauthier, a New Orleans folk singer-songwriter, is also pegged as one of his biggest influences.
Sweet’s new album is nothing short of beautiful. There is a hint of old-school country and folk that sounds like it could have been released in the era of Dylan. It is a real hard-hitting album, equipped with chills. It’s hard to pick a favorite track, and tempting to put songs on repeat.
Road Dog Gospel also captures the vibe of his soulful live performances. If you close your eyes, it sounds like it’s being performed in front of you on stage. “What we did,” Sweet said, “was we got a beautiful album that captured the live vibe and really articulated what I was trying to do and trying to convey through the songs.”
You can feel the emotion in his voice when you listen to each song — especially “Truth Hurts,” which is loaded with the feels. These seem the true sentiments of a man who has been through hell and back and lived to tell you the story. “I try to end all of my songs with a sliver of hope, because in my life that’s always been what’s kept me going,” Sweet said.
The first single, “Brick Wall,” is an upbeat folk song that gets you moving the second it starts playing. It’s the only song on the album like it, and it’s currently in heavy rotation on Lazer 99.3 FM. Signature Sounds and The River also have been supporting the song.
The funny thing about “Brick Wall,” Sweet says, is that he had Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” (the Run-D.M.C. rap part) in his head while he wrote it. “Did I totally just rip that off from Run-D.M.C?” he joked. But without knowing that reference, you wouldn’t have guessed that. It melted together perfectly.
Sweet uses the term “road dog gospel” to describe his music — “gospel” meaning “good news.”
“There’s something about the road, especially hitchhiking, where you see pretty miraculous things happen,” he says. “Things that are completely out of your hands. It’s just like life. You have a vision — I’m gonna get from point A to point B — and you have no idea how you’re going to get there.”
Sweet’s latest good news is the successful outcome of his hitchhiking journey. “You throw yourself up to the wind and let the wind carry you, and that’s good news, because it usually works out.”•
Contact Jennifer Levesque at jlevesque@valleyadvocate.com.
