May 20, 2008

Dear fans and friends,

Good news for you all!
During March, the band and I started recording loads of tracks for a great new rockin’ album that will be released and available to buy at all my shows and my on-line store at www.doopin.com
Four years have just flown by since my last album ’Women & Cadillacs’, so I’m hoping to make a fine return with this new piece of work.
The new album is gonna be packed with high energy rock’n’roll that you will no doubt enjoy! You’ll be hearing from me again very soon.

Love to all, x
Mike


December 14, 2007


Lots of new dates just added! Check it out to see if I'll be coming your way this year!
Also, I just returned from the legendary Ahmet Ertegun Tribute show (aka Led Zeppelin Reunion). Keep checking back for a full update.
Last (but certainly not least), my lovely webmistress has just uploaded a new gallery of images from this past summer of the Hangar Rockin' Festival in Switzerland and the Summer Jamboree in Senigallia, Italy.
Enjoy!

Mike x


Dear friends,

This week I received an invitation to appear as guest vocalist/pianist in Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, alongside Georgie Fame, Albert Lee & Beverley Skeete, for one of the most publicised musical events of the year - the final Led Zeppelin reunion at London's O2 Arena on Monday December 10, 2007, postponed from November 26 due to guitarist Jimmy Page's finger injury.

I've also been told that soul legends Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, Sam Moore and Percy Sledge will be guesting with the Rhythm Kings, among many others at the event--the memorial concert for Atlantic Records founder, the late Ahmet Ertegun (who is universally regarded as the music industry's most distinguished and talented executive.

The surviving Led Zeppelin members - Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones - will reunite with John Bonham's son, Jason, sitting in for his late father on drums, to honour the man who signed the band to Atlantic in 1968 for an unprecedented advance of $200,000.

The show, whose announcement caused frenzied excitement in the rock world with more than 20 million fans registering online to apply for 18,000 available tickets, will also feature performances by Pete Townshend, Paul Rogers, Paolo Nutini and Foreigner.

Mike Sanchez
November 7, 2007
I'M BACK FROM MEMPHIS!
August 31, 2007
I've just returned from Memphis, Tennessee, where I spent the latter part of "Elvis Week 2007"--
the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. What a week that was-- it's estimated that nearly 100,000 people congregated in the Mississippi River blues town for the event. Elvis fans everywhere! We took in the local sights (Graceland, Elvis Presley Automobile Museum, SUN Records, Stax Museum), got to see SUN legend Sonny Burgess perform, visited the Lorraine Motel (the site where my mate Eddie Floyd wrote "Knock On Wood" and Wilson Pickett wrote "Midnight Hour", but more importantly the site where Martin Luther King was assassinated), visid the former homes of Memphis Slim and also Johnny Ace, had some gorgeous BBQ ribs on Beale Street. Accompanying me was Webmistress Tayva, along with Dave Harvey (aka the man behind Riviera Clothing, my clothiers. Now you know where those red suits come from!) It was definitely a memorable experience, to say the least. I can't wait to get over there again. It's amazing how much history-- as far as music goes-- is in that city.

As soon as I returned home from Memphis, I immediately had to catch a flight to Senigallia, Italy, to perform at the Summer Jamboree.
The Portions and I performed, and I also appeared as a singer backed by a big band! Aside from performing, I got to see the legendary Jerry Lee Lewis perform! It was so lovely to be on the shore of Italy and meet so many new faces, and see a few familiar ones, as well!
Any of you out there who went to the Summer Jamboree and have photos, please send them in, we'd love to see them! CLICK HERE to send them!

Mike in front of Graceland

Webmistress Tayva in Marion Keisker's office, at the SUN Studio

Dave Harvey, Sonny Burgess and Mike

Mike in front of the Lansky Bros. store, in the historic Peabody Hotel.

August 03, 2007

Hey friends!
I've recently returned from a very successful show in Cognac, France. We went over very well, and are very happy that we were able to perform for the prestigious French audience.

My band and I also recently performed in Switzerland for the Hangar Rockin' Festival. Guesting with us was R&B sensation Lil' Gizzelle from Los Angeles, California.

I also found myself performing at the Rockin' Fifties Fest III in May. I had a wonderful backing band, Ray Collins' Hot Club of Germany. What a great bunch of energetic musicians! I played a solo brunch session one of those days, and also backed up Marvin Rainwater.

Click HERE to view videos of my performances at both Rockin' Fifties Fest III and also Viva Las Vegas!

Click HERE to view me at the Hangar Rockin' Festival!

Oh wait! HERE is a video I dug up from Hemsby!

Also, the Doopin' online music store (the place to buy all my albums) has gotten a major renovation, thanks to Webmistress Tayva. Make sure to click the "SHOP" link above (or the dodgy animation of me to the right) to check out what she's done!

-Mike


Left: Mike at the Hangar Rockin' Festival. Above: Lil' Gizzelle on stage with Mike and the boys.


Mike on stage with Ray Collins' Hot Club - Rockin' 50s Fest III

...after the gig with Ray Collins' Hot Club!

Mike with Rockabilly legend Marvin Rainwater

Webmistress Tayva, Soul legend Barbara Lynn and Mike

R&B legend Big Jay McNeely, Mike and Torch of the Hollywood Combo

Mike and Rockabilly legend, Glen Glenn.

04 May 2007 - The photo gallery has finally launched! At this time, there are three separate galleries -- one containing vintage Mike-related articles from Now Dig This and another featuring the photographs from the talented Latvian photograher, Aigars Lapsa. Photos from the Viva Las Vegas weekender have been posted into a proper gallery (which include a couple of new shots not yet posted on this website). Many more sub-galleries will be added within the coming months.
With that said... we are looking for photographers who have taken pictures of past shows, so that we can add them to the website. If you are interested, please contact us by clicking HERE.

Webmistress Tayva has taken the time to give my MySpace profile a complete makeover.
You can view it by clicking HERE.

Lastly, there are three new videos of me and my guys on the website, YouTube.
They were filmed at the Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender.
Click each appropriate link below to view 'em!



VIVA LAS VEGAS #10 - APRIL 6, 2007

Wow, what an exciting weekend! This was my first trip over to the United States in 17 years!The Portions and I had the honour of playing the Viva Las Vegas weekender (it was their tenth aniversary). Our set went very well and the crowd response was phenomenal! It was also nice to see a few familiar faces from England amongst the crowd! We played on a Friday night, and Saturday night, I got to meet two of my musical heroes. The first was legendary sax man Herb Hardesty. The second was Young Jessie. The two had played a stellar set alongside Herb Cox (Cleftones), Bobby Lewis and Milton Love (Solitaires).

That night, something really special happened. I was invited on stage by Ashley Kingman and Big Sandy to do a tune with them during Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys' set. We pumped out "Yama Yama Pretty Mama"-- what a thrill that was! I felt very honoured to have shared the stage with Big Sandy and his phenomenal band.

Thank you to everyone that turned up to this gigantic event and showed The Portions much love and support. Please, if you have any photos or video, send them HERE. We'd love to include them on this site.

On a side note, the band bio page is up. CLICK HERE!
Click on thumbnail
to view photo


With Herb Hardesty

With Young Jessie

With Big Sandy

With Restless

 

 

24 January 2007 - A whole bunch of new show dates have been added-- spanning all the way to December.
Additionally, here is a new article that came out in the January 23 edition of the Birmingham Mail. Take a peek!


Click thumbnail to see full image

03 January 2007 - First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! As you can see, my website has been completely renovated for the new year-- something I've been anticipating for a long while! My website is now under the direction of the lovely Miss Tayva. She's done a stellar job, indeed!

You can most certainly expect to see things constantly changing-- not only will new things be added over the course of the next couple of months, but it will also be updated as often as possible!
I'll have an extensive photo gallery set up during February 2007, with more recent photos, along with some real old gems!
A ton of new tour dates have been added... hope to see you out at these shows!
Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard got married, and had a son... -Huh?! Well... See what the December 19, 2006 edition of the Birmingham Post had to say about my performance at Worcester's Hundington Hall!


Click thumbnail to see full image

2005 News

Where do I begin?! It's been such a long time since I last updated this page and so much has happened. Before I start to tell you all about a few of the things that have been going on over the past months I first of all wish to send you my warmest thanks for your continued support by attending shows and enjoying my music.

2005 now looks like the year where I get to focus on my own projects properly. As some of you may be aware, Bill Wyman is now semi-retired from the kind of Rhythm King touring schedules that were so prominent throughout these last years. Bill is also keeping busy with the release of his new book 'Bill Wyman's Treasure Islands'. You can find out more on his site at: www.billwyman.com
©PATFRACA

I'm very happy to let you know that both the 7-piece Mike Sanchez and his Band and the The Mike Sanchez Rhythm & Blues Revue (featuring the Extraordinaires & Imelda May) are on top form. Andy Silvester's guitar playing has never sounded better, Mark Morgan, Al Gare, Al Nicholls and Pete Cook are a joy for me to share the stage with and Imelda has moved on so much these last three years, she's one of the finest female vocalists and a complete star. So please, good people, watch out for us because right now we want all the support you can give us.

I've had two album projects on the go since my 2003 release 'Women & Cadillacs' which has received superb reviews from across the world.
One album I'm currently working on involves Grammy award winning country rock guitar legend Albert Lee and features many original songs as well a mix of Nashville and Memphis rock'n'roll and rockabilly.
The other album is planned as a 'Revue' double album featuring some of the cream of the vintage style rhythm & blues artists from the UK.
More news on both of these albums and their release dates will be available later this year.


Imelda May and Mike Sanchez


Mike Sanchez and his Band
Bill Wyman - 2004

2004 was a busy year mainly spent touring with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings across the France, Germany and the UK. The year kicked off with a UK tour together with the film crew for Classic Pictures Entertainment, who filmed some shows and backstage interviews for a DVD called 'Let The Good Times Roll' that was released at the start of summer 2004.
Towards the end of February Bill and some the Rhythm Kings were invited to the Irish World Awards in Cricklewood, London, where Bill received an award for his contribution to music.
The following month saw the Rhythm Kings as house band for an annual Lord Taverners charity event held at the Royal Albert Hall, London, where I was thrilled to have been involved in performing with non other than Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Peter Green and Roger Chapman as special guests. It had been the second time in a year that we had played at this beautiful venue and it felt very special to me as I always had strong memories from the stints opening for Eric Clapton during the 80s and 90s with my old band. The Rhythm Kings' summer tour took care of June, July and parts of August.

One big highlight was our involvement in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the official birth of Rock'n'Roll (it was 50 years to the day since bluesman Arthur Crudup's 'That's All Right (Mama)' had been re-recorded by a young Elvis for Sun Records on July 5th 1954).
We performed a televised show from a massive marquee on the Albert docks in Liverpool. Georgie Fame, who had not been involved in the rest of the summer tour was there to join us alongside Roger Chapman, Andy Fairweather Low and ex-Rhythm King and Jazz guitar legend Martin Taylor. The Zombies opened up the evening.
You can check out the event at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/music/2004/07/wyman/index.shtml

Both the DVD and the latest Rhythm Kings album 'Just For A Thrill' came out before the European summer tour began. While 'Let The Good Times Roll' DVD features me heavily in the way that most of you would have seen at every show, the album 'Just For A Thrill' features a more diverse selection of Bill's friends (Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Andy Fairweather Low and German boogie pianist Axel Zwingerberger all on different tracks). The proud point for me on the album was recording a 70s funk track in the form of the late Johnny 'Guitar' Watson's 'Booty Ooty' (Man!! when I play that track nice and loud it makes me wish I'd tried the funky pop boy band thing, such a shame that blues and rock'n'roll took me away from all that, ha!!)

Two further highlights I enjoyed with the Rhythm Kings in 2004:
In September we performed as a suprise for the 60th birthday party of the BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson who I had the pleasure of meeting; I have always admired his world famous journalism and bravery. If you would like to know more about John Simpson then just listen to one of his speeches here:
http://www.krugercowne.com/streams/kc_john_simpson/js_bband.wmv

In the early part of December the Rhythm Kings were involved as house band for a specially filmed tribute show for Elvis' original guitarist Scotty Moore. Scotty actually played on most of the tracks with the Rhythm Kings on this session while an assortment of 'household name' guest singers joined in on the fun of trying out their favourite Presley numbers. I had the great honour of singing 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy' and 'All Shook Up' while Scotty Moore stood beside me playing his guitar. A day to remember indeed. I believe the DVD of this show, which was filmed in front of an invited audience, will be released worldwide over the coming months.

That's it for now, take care and see you all again soon. x Mike


Jerry Hall and Mike



BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson and Mike

Women & Cadillacs

I have two new releases to let you know about. The fabulous album ‘Women & Cadillacs’ and my debut DVD release 'Red hot..Live!'. Both products are now available on-line at www.doopin.com so please order your copies now.

‘Women & Cadillacs’ (DOOPIN 01) is my first collaboration with Swedish band Knock-Out Greg & Blue Weather. This release features 16 new recordings, including a bonus 20 minutes of ‘hidden’ too-good-to-waste leftovers.
Recorded at Real Music Studio, Bromma, Stockholm, where Greg and the guys regularly record their own albums, we pulled out originals and cover ideas from my list of all time rockin’ favourites by Wynonie Harris, Roy Brown, Young Jesse, Big T. Tyler, Gatemouth Brown, Billy Emerson and T. Bone Walker. We also recorded a wonderful Percy Mayfield track ‘The Voice Within’. Needless to say we’re more than proud with the results. It’s a great follow-up to my own band’s album from 2001 ‘Blue Boy’, and it’s one of the most authentic-sounding records I’ve ever been involved in.
I’m hoping to make this the start of an ongoing series of quality recordings for rhythm & blues fans everywhere. The album’s UK release features a six-page digi-pack format, lavishly designed by the reputable Chris Wroe at Wacksworks, while also being available in a regular plastic packaging from the Swedish blues label Last Buzz Records.


Women & Cadillacs’ is now available through our secure World Pay on-line store at: www.doopin.com and is also available by mail order.‘

To order your copy by post within the UK, please make cheque/postal order for £12.50 incl. p&p. payable to:

Doopin Music
P.O. Box 143
Kidderminster
Worcs. DY10 1YU
England

Overseas orders - Please send international money order in UK sterling.
Europe: £14.00 per item incl. p&p.
Other continents: £15.00 per item incl. p&p.



Mike Sanchez and his Band

You can also find the album through these outlets:

UK – Red Lick Records – www.redlick.com
UK - Bim-Bam Records - www.bim-bam.com
GERMANY – Cross Cut Records – www.crosscut.de
USA – Hepcat Records – www.hepcatrecords.com
USA – Pacific Blues – www.pacificblues.com

UK Distribution – Swift Record Distributors
email: swiftrd@btinternet.com

The Swedish release of ‘W&C’ is available from Last Buzz Records – www.lastbuzz.web.com

The Madman is back!
My schedule doesn't leave much time to promote the new album with Greg and the guys as I'm busy being a Rhythm King throughout large sections of the year. Last summer we completed a hugely successful tour of France and Spain that started in June in Roubaix and ended in Monaco at the start of August. We then toured the UK in November 2003 ending the tour in January 2004. Bill & the band also have plans for more extensive trips throughout Europe during June and July. The UK tour this year will being at the start of October for two months.

November 12th last year saw the band perform a special night at the Royal Albert Hall, London, with special guests Mark Knopfler, Peter Frampton, Sam Brown, Chas & Dave and a host of Bill's friends.
Reviews from some of these shows have been recently published by the French magazine Classic-Rock.
Take a look at: http://www.classic-rock.be/article.php3?id_article=527

Bill Wyman also has a new Ripple Records ‘Bootleg Kings’ release out now titled ‘On the Road Again’ recorded during last year’s tour that features me singing on 5 tracks. You can order this album from www.billwyman.com or buy it direct from my on-line store right here at Doopin.

Other news: Guitarist Rick Vito (ex. Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger band) has released a new album ‘Band Box Boogie’ featuring a fabulous version of the Mike Sanchez/Andy Silvester composition ‘Hungry Man’ from our 1989 Blue Horizon album ‘Now Appearing’. Rick became a friend and fan while he was touring as a member of Fleetwood Mac back in the late 80s. Check him out at www.rickvito.com

Lastly, I’m very proud to announce the addition of Dublin-born beauty Imelda as a full-time vocalist with my 8-piece band.
Already a star of my R&B Revue alongside The Extraordinaires, Imelda is adding her golden voice to the debut Revue album for Doopin Music to be completed during the year.

So check out and order my new compact waxing and DVD and I'll be seeing you all at a show real soon. Until then, hasta muy pronto. X Mike
All content © Mike Sanchez 2007, unless otherwise noted.