“Songs utilize a broader palette through the power of imagery, poetry and mystery,” Mike Mangione, Americana and acoustic folk artist, argues, “to create a complete picture that is accessible to each individual from where they are at in their lives.” Each song is a form of communion between artist and audience. Mangione writes every song with that target in mind, as each song is a “dwelling place you can enter.”
Mangione will release his sixth full length studio record, Blood and Water this month. The album was produced by three-time Grammy winner, Larry Campbell. Mangione first became aware of Campbell when he was touring with Bob Dylan for seven years. Mangione continued his appreciation of Campbell’s work when he became musical director and collaborator for many years with Levon Helm, another of Mangione’s musical idols. For the album Campbell arranged a stellar band with Justin Guip (Hot Tuna) on drums, Byron Issacs (The Lumineers) on bass, Tom Mangione on electric guitar, and Will Bryant on keyboards and accordion. Larry Campbell also played on the album with guitars, pedal steel, and fiddle.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for “You Didn’t Come Here Alone,” a standout track that bounces along with soulful fervor. The organ adds a carnival vibe to the music and complements Mangione’s feisty spoken word vocal delivery that seems to flow out of him like a stream of consciousness and finds him offering sharp commentary on today’s culture. There is a sense of exuberance to the music as Mangione and his band blend Americana, rock and roll, and soulful boogie into a song that pulls you into its orbit. The video also succeeds in capturing the energy of the music.
Magione describes the inspiration behind the track:
“I wanted to put together a collection of verse vignettes that exemplified the broken, self indulgent and merciless state of today’s culture; Tied together by a hopeful chorus that acknowledges that we are all in this thing together. Our human dignity outweighs personal ideologies. Acknowledgment and reverence of this reality is the necessary first step towards communion.”
WATCH:
