Thanks so much to everyone who voted for us for the Memphis Popfest. We made it! Without even being on the ballot we came out of nowhere as a write-in and it's all due to YOU guys! Kudos and a hearty round of applause for you all.

The Top of the Memphis Pops show at Memphis Popsfest will be at the Hi Tone in Memphis July 25th. Check 'em out at www.memphispops.com or http://www.myspace.com/memphispops and friend them up! Last year's show was great (you can see video on their page) and this year's should be even better!

Hello everyone,
Just a reminder that you can buy your copy of "Beautiful Escape - The Songs Of The Posies Revisited" from the great folks at Burning Sky Records now.
Just click the link below and buy your copy today!
My version of "Flood of Sunshine" is featured on this 3CD, 45 song release.
It would be shame for you to miss out!

Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow weigh in on "Beautiful Escape"!

Founding Posies member JON AUER has this to say about Beautiful Escape: The Songs of The Posies Revisited:

“I’ll have to own up to being suspect when I first heard the concept of forty-five different artists recording new versions of Posies songs. I guess at my core I feared polite, cursory renditions of our relatively ‘best known’, the proverbial ‘skating on the surface’ as they say in the vernacular or at the very least folks just ‘phoning it in’. Still, as skeptical as I might like to portray myself, and after lending my ears to the procession, I couldn’t deny the ultimate conclusion I arrived at: a lot of Beautiful Escape… truly manages to surprise me and I’m really touched that it does. At its best, if you will, I’d liken it to diving headfirst into a sonic mirror from a slightly alternate universe, a place where clusters of tone, choices of instrument, and phrasings of word are reinvented enough to render me able to enjoy something I originally created as if never considered possible in the first place. Wow. In a similar sense, perhaps it’s like a stranger finding one of your old photo albums and restaging your favorite pictures in ways and with colors you might never have visualized. Colors that look and feel somewhat familiar, but upon closer inspection smell like a fresh coat of paint on a house you barely remember building. Double wow. Who would’ve ‘thunk’ it possible? Not me, I assure you. I suppose until now, that is.”

Founding Posies member KEN STRINGFELLOW adds:

“Though I don't think we're as important as the Velvets or Big Star, they say that everyone who heard those bands formed a band soon after--and thus, despite not achieving the high water mark in terms of sales, they profoundly influenced the course of popular music. Are the Posies the next band to join that list? Well, drop the word 'profoundly' and we're getting somewhere. So, in a sense, this collection is a nice cross section of the breadth and depth and global diversity of the people in whom we've struck a chord of inspiration. And it's true for all of us who make music, once you put something out there, you will be surprised how far it travels, and whose day it might make better. An inspiring thought, and I'm honored to contribute anytime to the inspiration to create.”

Good news! I just got word that my version of "Flood of Sunshine" was accepted for "Beautiful Escape: The Songs of The Posies Revisited", coming from Burning Sky records later this year. This is one of my favorite bands and songs and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to cover it.

In other news, I've been in the studio lately recording tracks for the first full-length CD. The date's just kinda lined up for this one. The only time I could get was December 27th and 28th, which happened to be very important dates to me. Dec 27 was the 29th anniversary of the death of Chris Bell from Big Star. He was one of my all-time idols and, to me at least, the heart of Big Star. I highly recommend his album "I Am The Cosmos", soon to be re-issued with extra tracks if the rumour is correct. Dec 28th is Alex Chilton's birthday from Big Star, so the spirit of the band never left my thoughts for long during the sessions.

I recorded at Memphis Independent Studios and highly recommend them for anybody looking for great equipment and production in a laid back atmosphere. Chris Swenson over there will hook you up right! Tell him I sent you.

On the 27th we laid down basic tracks for 17 songs in a whirlwind session. My brother and best friend came down to witness the event and lend moral support, which was much appreciated. On the 28th I did guitar and vocal overdubs and invited in Jobu Babin (One of my favorite Memphis artists) and local power pop legend Tommy Hoehn to contribute background vocals. Tommy even threw in some keyboards! They were really making some magic that night and I appreciate them immensely. I head back into the studio tomorrow and next week for more overdubbing, but it's really starting to come together finally.

Lately I've been sitting in with people and enjoying the spirit of collaboration. I'm usually not one to even try that stuff, but I'm loving the heck out of it. Jobu Babin, Dave Nicar, David Twombly, Davy Ray Bennett, and Rich Wagor are a few of what is becoming this great little community in Memphis. Check all of them out!

Hey peoples! Long time, no blog. So what's been going on?

I have a few new pages up at Last.fm (http://www.last.fm/music/Mike+Dees), Virb ( http://www.virb.com/mikedees), and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=676706213), so hit me up there if you're so inclined.

I've rotated the songs on the MySpace music players a bit. First up is a demo of "Supervillain", a rockin little number that celebrates all things nerdy. Then we have "Tamed", which shows that all men are dogs and sometime we're treated as such. Over on the other profile (http://www.myspace.com/door23 if you haven't checked it out yet) are "First In Line" and "Living Stereo", two songs showcasing the more laid back, 70's California rock vibe.

I also posted 5 new live videos from back in the days when I fronted a band called The Jaspers. You can see them in the MySpace video section or on my YouTube account (http://www.youtube.com/user/23alhazred23)

We just finished recording a version of The Posies "Flood of Sunshine" for "Beautiful Escape: The Ultimate Tribute To The Posies" from our friends at Burning Sky Records. New pics from the sessions are up now. The featured solos by Tracy "Thunderjack" Chappell (guitar) and Roger "Sonny" Johns (keyboards) a freaking amazing! We recorded it at Memphis Independent Recording and Chris Swenson did an excellent job engineering it. I highly recommend them to any musicians looking to record. Signs look good for inclusion on the album, so keep your fingers crossed!

Enjoy!
Mike Dees

I'm proud to announce that Mike Dees debut CD "Buried" is finally available.