Product Description

Not many people get to live life on their terms. But that is exactly what singer/songwriter/sailor Mike Aiken has been able to do by combining his three greatest passions in life: music, sailing and adventure. With the release of Hula Girl Highway, Mike's sophomore record for Northwind/Aspirion Records, he continued to cement his place as an authentic voice of a wayfaring lifestyle that most of us will only just dream about. Mike is truly one of the lucky ones, living the life he sings about with his wife and musical partner, Amy, aboard a 42-foot cutter in the Norfolk, Virginia area. He's as adept at tying nautical knots as he is painting musical memories and images of the places and people he's met along his journey. Strangely enough for a die-hard sailor, that journey began as very landlocked. Mike grew up outside of Buffalo in rural Western New York; his love affair with the sea was kindled at the young age of eight when a family friend introduced him to sailing. Around the same time, Mike started developing his natural musical ability, learning to play acoustic and electric guitar. His musical metaphors are a mix of those two worlds: rural and coastal. 'I come from those back roads, dirt under my boots; now I live on the water with a country point of view,' Mike sings in his first single off the new record, 'Find Me.' "I wrote this like I write all my songs," says Aiken, "from the heart and from what I know. This one came to me while anchored in the Bahamas, holed up during a hellacious storm. Amy and I weathered it for three weeks, taking odd jobs to survive. We had wind generators to make drinking water and were better off than most. It was then I knew I was one of the luckiest SOB's in the world to have the chance to live this lifestyle." While luck may have something to do with it, so does hard work. It all started to pay off when Mike began touring all over the country and in Europe. Highlights included opening shows like the Sunset Festival in Newport, Rhode Island for Bruce Hornsby and appearing at the Hampton Coliseum Winter Blast with Ashton Shepard and Chris Cagle. Mike was also invited to participate at the prestigious Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Mike's success on the other side of the pond proves that music knows no boundaries and borders. He toured Europe, including France, and hit 24 on the Euro/Americana Charts, with the single 'No Fishin' Pole' reaching the top spot on the Euro Indie Hot Disc Chart. The song is part of a Universal Records Country Compilation CD along with tunes from Tim McGraw, Joe Nichols, Gary Allen, Phil Vassar, and Trisha Yearwood. Mike's previous recordings were made at sea almost literally, aboard a converted 1941 Navy Tugboat. However, when it came time to track songs for this latest record, a change in latitude but not attitude was in order. "I didn't want to reinvent the wheel and compromise who I am musically, I just wanted to ramp it up a bit. To do that I recorded the project in Nashville with the best players possible. " The result is a twelve track record filled with Mike's signature breezy feel good sound along with his strong song sensibility and musical muscle (Mike plays most of the stringed instruments). Eight of the songs are original compositions, and the rest are covers that he selected with great deliberation. "When writing and picking the music I think of the folks and fans who have supported me along the way. I chose the covers, 'Blowin' Like A Bandit' by Guy Clark, 'Banana Republic' by Steve Goodman, and 'This Here Mandolin' by Michael Smith to reflect who I am and who my listeners are." Like the ever-changing sea that he loves, there are many sides to Mike. Besides recording and touring, he's also a contributing writer for Singer and Musician Magazine and a music producer for Raceline TV (syndicated NASCAR series). Mike's six-string dexterity earned him a Takamine Endorsement and the creation of his signature guitar, the 'Travelin Bone.' A believer in giving back, his philanthropic activities include being a sponsor of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race (benefiting the area's environmental interests) and a founder of the "Aiken and Friends Music Festival," which helps fund music education. Mike continues to tour, work on new songwriting and recording projects, and organize philanthropic activities, most currently the 2011 Aiken and Friends Music Festival in September and October. "I am one of the lucky ones," muses Aiken. "With my music, my boat, and my friends, I am ready for wherever the winds blow." For the rest of us that's a good thing, a chance for us landlubbers to close our eyes and live a life on the high seas vicariously through Mike Aiken and his music. Listeners say: I saw your music on airplay direct and took it for airplay. You are great! - Ginny Foley, Music Director of Neon Productions Radio Greetings from Principality of Liechtenstein... your songs sounds great! :-) - Anna Berghold Hula Girl Highway made my list of top 10 albums for 2008. - Gianni Zuretti, CD Reviewer for Italian roots music website.

Review

Climb aboard and set sail. About ten years ago Mike Aiken brought his sailboat into Hampton Roads for repairs and a temporary layover. Turns out this area is the perfect complement to the music he plays. A seafaring musical troubadour, he writes about his experiences sailing all over the world, and his fourth album, Hula Girl Highway, makes you feel like part of the crew.

It is one of the most polished recordings ever put out by a local musician. Virtually every song references his love of the ocean while the arrangements reflect his influences from country-rock to swing, Caribbean, blues, and folk. Eight of the songs are originals and so packed with images of the sand and sea, you could get a tan just listening: songs like "Jump Up," "Find Me," and his ode to the artist he is most often compared to, Jimmy Buffett, "Thank You (My Buffett Tune)." The cover songs he picks are stellar, like Guy Clark's "Blowin Like a Bandit" and "Banana Republic," a Steve Goodman song once covered by Buffett which serves as the album's closer and is so good it makes you want to listen all over again.

It's rare to find an artist who is able to incorporate his lifestyle so seamlessly into his music, much less one who calls this area his home. Anyone who has ever had the wind billowing in their sails will relate, and for those who never have, Mike will take you there. --Paul Shugrue, Out of the Box, WHRV, Norfolk, Virginia

The summer is coming to an end, the perfect time for a CD just like Mike Aiken's. Only one year after the astonishing success with Just Add Salt, the successor Hula Girl Highway follows. It is already the 4th CD from this singer/songwriter and musician from Norfolk, Virginia.

The mixture of honest Americana, dry roots, real old-school country, now and then a little bit of Southern Rock in the way of Marshall Tucker, and a strong breeze of Caribbean feeling can easily be consumed; it always invites you to push the repeat button on the CD player.

The passionate sailor has a reason to celebrate. His dreamlike melodies, playful lyrics, distinctive voice, and supporting musicians - like Joe Spivey (fiddle), Tony Paoletta (pedal steel), Larry Berwald (guitars, dobro, lap steel), and Mike's wife Amy Aiken (vocals, percussion, washboard) - lead to an emphatic moment.

Besides 8 songs written by Mike himself, you can also find 3 covers on this album that have been selected very carefully: "Blowin' like a Bandit" by Guy Clark, "This Here Mandolin" by Michael Smith, and "Banana Republic" by Steve Goodman. With Hula Girl Highway, Mike Aiken succeeded in creating both a masterpiece and an album that followed the preceding one yet was surprisingly new. It is a very fresh soundtrack for a late summer's day, through which you can enjoy the sun, love, and life. The best place to do so is in a hammock, with a fresh fruit cocktail or an ice cold beer in your hand. --Max W. Achatz, Country Jukebox, Germany

My soundtrack for this summer consists of two fantastic American roots CD's, one from Mike Aiken...It's sunny, feel good, summer music suitable for every barbecue, garden party, or pleasant evening in an outdoor café or your favorite bar. Mike Aiken is an American globetrotter and a boats, sailing, and adventure fanatic; in addition, he is an excellent country roots rocker and a lover of Jimmy Buffett's music. At present he stays on his yacht, which is also his house, with his wife in the neighborhood of Norfolk, Virginia. With Hula Girl Highway, he released his second CD on Northwind Records. It contains Southern country pop, country rock like the Eagles, Charlie Daniels, etc., truck driving songs, western swing, country swing, bar room country, R&B, island music, reggae, folk bayou country, songwriter's stuff like Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, and Steve Goodman, and a huge portion of Jimmy Buffett.

In the opening song, "Jagger & Jones," he sings, "He's got to put a little country in his rock'n'roll, put a little Jagger in his George Jones," and there is a lot of sense in this. In the first single from this CD, "Find Me," it sounds like this, "I come from those back roads, dirt under my boots. Now I live on the water with a country point of view." It's really a pleasant way of life, which I would like to have too.

Get off your money? Indeed. Spend it! Buy this CD from Mike Aiken. As I already said, it's the perfect soundtrack for this, at the moment, lingering summer. (BV) --Mark Nolis, MazzMuzikaS Free-zine, Belgium