For The Louisville Music COVIDiary today we have Michael Haera who is known as The Waning Tree. Michael has had a tough time as of late but continues to make music and every musician must. Here's his story and his song "My Town Has The Blues Like Me" which is a love letter to Louisville:
My name is Michael Haera. I'm a singer songwriter born and raised in Louisville. This is my tribute to my fellow citizens of Louisville and the city itself. I wrote it last night in my room at the Extended Stay in St. Matthew's. A few weeks ago I was evicted from my apartment as was my roommate. He has AIDS and essentially no immune system and I was isolating myself to the point of extreme cabin fever and cleaning the apt we shared in the highlands so he would not be compromised. But even though we were up to date on rent our landlord put us out. That's why I'm in the hotel.
But with that being said this quarantine has had its ups and downs like the rest of the world. I've yet to receive any unemployment or stimulus check. But it'll be here soon enough I'm sure. I'm signed to a label out of Lake Charles called Civilized Music And Entertainment. I was signed the week the WHO proclaimed a worldwide pandemic which also happened to be the week of my 47th birthday. I have two singles currently out. One is called Girl From Tennessee and the other one is called Roxy's Cameo. I recorded both at my old studios on Lake Herrington just outside of Danville, Ky. using a $30 guitar, a 13 year old laptop, an earbud with a mic that was spliced together with tape, a free editing program, a $6 harmonica and a Guero I found in a box of old belongings that was given to me almost 20 years ago. It was mastered by my cousin Jon Moore, who was Ben Sollee's drummer for a time. The songs were written and performed by me and produced by myself and Randy Thurman. They can be found on all Spotify, YouTube music and other streaming platforms. The Covid 19 pandemic has delayed the recording of my debut solo EP which is to be done in Houston, TX. But it will be finished soon enough.
I hope you enjoy my tribute to me hometown and maybe I will see you around.
Michael
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16FYGyWNEbs&feature=youtu.be
Welcome to The Louisville Music COVIDiary, a web series that highlights our City’s amazing and talented musicians as they deal with the effects of the COVID19 Pandemic. Because of the forced closure of our music venues and other places for artists to perform, many musicians are left without much needed income and disconnected from their audiences and each other. In this series, we have asked musicians to send us their homemade music videos as a way to stay connected in this strange and uncertain time.
If you'd like to participate please upload your video to Youtube then send the link to Laura Shine at lshine@wfpk.org.
