Mike Baggetta

Performance Anxiety

Mike Baggetta has always loved music. It’s been a constant part of his life. His dad was a guitarist who played for years! Some of his earliest memories are of his dad’s guitar case and amp stacked up after a wedding gig, smelling like old cigarette smoke. He still finds that smell nostalgic. But Mike found his own path into music, writing original songs from the start. He went to Rutgers to study music and even played the Montreux Jazz Festival during that time, with George Benson holding court in the front row! But at one point, he quit music and decided to pursue other opportunities (this is where we find our Yellow Pages connection). But the guitar slowly crept back into his life and wouldn’t leave. So he went with it, releasing an album of prepared guitar as his solo debut. Interesting idea. He’s really big on improvisation and that has led to some killer collaborations and albums, like his latest release, Everywhen We Go. It’s the second release from the trio of Mike Baggetta, Mike Watt, & Jim Keltner. The album title came from guitarist Henry Kaiser and Mike is anxious to see how many times it gets autocorrected.

It’s a great album filled with improvisation that is actually listenable.

You’ll hear clips during this episode but the songs have so much movement that you really need to go check them out in their entirety. So I recommend picking up Everywhen We Go wherever you get new music. And follow Mike @mikebaggetta on Instagram, @mabnotes on Twitter. Follow us @PerformanceAnx on both. Reach out there or email us at [e-mail]. Now please give a warm welcome to Mike Baggetta on Performance Anxiety, part of the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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