The Dirt-Music blog from Frank Migliorelli and The Dirt Nappers

  The kids featured on the cover of Frank Migliorelli & The Dirt Napper’s potentially racist children’s record, “We’re Not Kiddin’ Around”-Rob Steen, Illustrator The Association of Library Services For Children (ALSC) thinks my children’s record, “We’re Not Kiddin’ Around”, contains potentially racist material…I just want to clarify a few things…… The album cover for “We’re Not Kiddin’ Around” ( www.musickideos.com ) Recently I was surprised the American Library Association’s Association of Library Services For Children (www.ALSC.org) informed me that my children’s record promoted some potentially racist and offensive concepts noting a few of the books that we sing about on our new record “We’re Not Kiddin’ Around”. I had submitted a number of banner ads to run on their website, and responded to their initial inquiry into possibly writing a blog post for them. Weeks after submitting the materials, I received this response from their Membership and Marketing Specialist, Ms...

Yea, I don't write to this blog all that much, but this entry is pretty much a guarantee....my top record choices from last year. As a rule, I always wait a month in to give myself a chance to look back, do some thinking, and some re-listening. Easy pickins' this year-by far hands down, Alejandro Escovedo was my fave, and the rest are in no particular order, just good stuff I've heard and really liked. There are a few standard favorites who can do no wrong in my book, but there are a few curve balls for you also.... When it came down to looking back, I realized I didn't probably listen to as much music as I normally do...been in the studio a good chunk of the year working on a new record with The Dirt Nappers , but overall, and looking back there were a bunch of good things that caught my ear. I've also compiled a Spotify list of some songs- feel free to follow me and check it out- Here we go: Favorite/Best Of The Year: Alejandro Escovedo-The Crossing Tim...

We tried to document a number of places we hit on our recent jaunt to Scotland on Instagram, but we figured we'd recap a few photo highlights and videos here. Edinburgh, as we headed over to The Royal Mile Tavern for our first show, we stopped to take a picture that looks like an album cover. The Royal Mile Tavern is right on the main drag, The Royal Mile, with numerous bars, music and food....basically an all day party. After we heard that the tavern had a reputation for serving great haggis, we went for it. Highly recommended. Just a travel tip, when in Edinburgh, stop at The Southern Cross Cafe-  --really friendly joint, great coffee, food and desserts. I think we ate there four times in three days. Here’s our trusty tour bus….we never really knew what kind of car it was. and I’m sure once the car rental place in Edinburgh drops a new clutch in it, it will be fine…..and that burning smell will fade. The Coach and Horses Tavern in Dumfries was your classic l...

So much music, so little time…this year’s list feels a bit incomplete- there are so many records still on “my list” that I haven't gotten to yet-but I’ll let the year fade and draw the line, because I have to start tracking 2018…..But for now in no particular order, except for my "fave" mentioned below, here are  what I think are the best releases of the year (2017)….along with some drink suggestions for you.....just because! To make it even easier, feel free to check out the Spotify playlist that features selections from each pick- My fave for the year: Hurray for the Riff Raff- “The Navigator” -This is the record I kept coming back to to again and again this year. Spanning a host of musical genres, some great recording, and and a wealth of songwriting and story telling make for my favorite album of the year. Alynda Segarra’s songwriting captures a new kind of Americana- traditional sounds with a Latino infused beat that weaves a story that is more relevant now t...

On The Deuce- This song should be that HBO's show theme song Although I haven’t been catching all the episodes,  HBO’s latest series “The Deuce” has done a great job in triggering some memories. Some of us actually sit around and swap stories, romantically looking back at the old Times Square/42nd Street area with a fondness for the grit, smut and drugs that used to permeate the concrete. It wasn’t Kansas, and definitely not Disneyland, and I remember being offered a wad of cocaine in a phone booth once, grabbing a $5 dinner at Brew and Burger with an all you can drink side mug of beer (usually you got thrown out after 7 or 8 mugs) and getting the best movie value a quarter could buy. But I never heard the nickname “The Deuce” until 1989. In ’89, I had the insane idea of starting an independent record label with a buddy of mine, Gene Campanelli, and the first record we produced was a collection of New York City based blues and R&B artists. We really had no idea what we w...

The 2016 Bakers Dozen Ok, so I blew one of my 2016 resolutions last year---to keep an active, monthly music blog…Nice idea, but just didn’t keep up. Not going to make the same declaration, but since I’m almost done with a new recording, which should be out out in the next month or so, I figure I’ll jump start this process again. So now that 2016 is gone, I can publish my “Best of” list. I usually wait until the first week in January just in case someone drops a great, phenomenal record the night of Dec. 31, before midnight. Nothing caught my ear, since New Year’s Eve, so here goes. Usual drill, I’ll give you my absolute favorite, and then in no particular order a loose approximate top musical dozen IMHO for 2016. This was a good year-lots of great stuff-my fave: Peter Wolf-“A Cure For Loneliness” - Just a real simple, rootsy album, with great feel, and great songs. Everyone of this guy’s solo discs have been strong, and this one is no exception. I’ve always been a fan of the Geil...

This summer we started working on a follow-up to City Eastern Serenade, with the intention of getting it out sometime in the fall of '16. During the recording of the record, I thought I would put up a few shots of what goes on during the various sessions. This footage is from a tracking session with Tony Tino and Phil Cimino, two great players who have done a bunch of live gigs with me. Tony played on a number of tracks on the last album, and we thought recording the two of them together for a number of tunes would be fun. City Eastern Serenade took over a year to make, with various stops and starts, but this album is going to be a bit more spontaneous, and more "live" sounding- We tracked through six tunes over the course of the day. Many of you may have seen the end of the day bourbon shot on Facebook. Here are three clips from the session- I don't really know how to write a proper chart. I just kind of lay out the tune and these guys figure it out.  I would...

So last month I quit my gig at the NYPL- sometimes you just have to make some changes, but all that aside, it was a great excuse to head to the Ginger Man with my amazing staff and quaff a final beer together. At the bar they laid a serious bottle of Mexican cactus juice on me, and an official going away card built by Kang, one of my developers- Kang had been running some workshops with the staff on how to make pop-up stuff, and this is by far in my humble opinion, his greatest creation to date. Thanks dude! Adios.....y gracias.

So as you may or may not know, I have a strong connection to public libraries these days, and this came across my desk the other day.... Check out this project “Volume” by the Denver Public Library- https://volumedenver.org/ The library invites local musicians to submit their recordings/albums to a curated website that is sponsored by the institution, providing an accessible, excellent, locally driven collection of music. Indie music is more regional again, and having a local library step up and create a channel for independent music is actually pretty cool. I’m not sure what the response has been, but from the site it looks like there is some really good activity. I love the fact that they don't censor, present a range of music, and have a solid selection process. Presenting under-served, less popular types of music in this arena has some great potential- especially since a huge part of the library experience involves browsing- Imagine a parent who wants to find some kids mu...

OK- Here goes- Not sure how many of you actually read this, but I’ve been doing this the past few years, and I hope you dig it….kind of a top 10 list, but it is pretty hard to keep it to 10, so we spill over a bit...and I usually don't point out things I didn't like, but there's a few notes of disappointment here.....but here it is, my look back at '15. Comebacks that worked- Sleater/Kinney and Blur! Comeback we didn’t need- Electric Light Orchestra Best free album of the year- Star Wars- the album from Wilco …not the movie soundtrack. A really great album. This year I leaned a bit more to the country side more than the rock n’ roll side, and by far, the two albums that got the most play through my earbuds were “Something More Than Free” by Jason Isbell and Second Hand Heart by Dwight Yoakam. Isbell’s album is just one great crafted song after another- the kind of stuff that stops you in your tracks and say “damn, what did he just say?” - and Yoakum sounds like ...

Decided to try and start creating more updates through this Blogspot site, more on a monthly basis for 2016. Figured it's a good place for some rants...and maybe some musical resolutions. Last year I made two musical resolutions- one to get that album out (in a format that wouldn't make me wince), and to try to play out at least once a month. Both pretty much done, thanks in part to the Growler, where I host a monthly songwriter series. .. So just to air them out in public, because it will make me get them done, I'll throw up a few musical resolutions in the next week or so, and because some of you actually read it, my top albums for the year (which I'm sorting out now....)  Will keep you posted, and if you haven't done it yet, like that idiotic Facebook page- it actually helps in the getting gigs department. Back to the homepage.

First Reactions to City Eastern Serenade-Nov/2015 I have to say, it’s kind of weird tossing your music out there and seeing how people react- especially the radio and the press. You bust your ass packing envelopes, folding press releases and bios, and drop tons of envelopes into the mailbox…then you kinda hope…It was nice to get some good early radio bites the first month- you forget that everyone and their mother is sending radio people CDs and MP3s, but it’s nice to get a few blips of airplay across the country- got some nice hits in California, Tuscon, and Maine- and we’re  hoping for more as people make their way through the mail piles. Got a real nice write up  from a great music blog called The Daily Country- you can check it out here-     which was totally unexpected- loved it! If you know anyone who runs a blog, radio show, or podcast that might give it a listen, let me know and I’ll send a press package out. Thanks-fm ...

Recording City Eastern Serenade-Oct/2015 City Eastern Serenade is a collection of 8 original songs- some newer than others, some never recorded, or recorded properly. I just wanted to get these tunes out there, and get themn out in a format I thought was right- the right feel, the right mix, and overall sound. It took a while to get done, but I’m pretty happy with the way these turned out. The folks who played on this recording were great- I had some of the steady, long-time musicians who have been playing with me for a while, and some new blood adding percussion, backgrounds, and other pieces to the puzzle. I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel to have such a group of talented people come in and make something out of a few chords, lyrics and melodies. I have to confess, I stole the name of the album from Sterling McGee, (aka Mr. Satan). Mr. McGee was playing at a festival and someone asked him what kind of music he played- he replied, “Some people have labels for music, like...