About SONG

As I approach the release of my tenth full-length record and my 60th birthday, I reflect on my life as an artist and the time I have left to continue being one. I’ve gotten to the point where I will not let anyone or anything slow me down or interfere with the momentum I’ve built. In “Jump Off the Earth”, I say there’s no time to waste. We must let go of the negative things we face and move beyond them. Or try at least – ha!

I’d been searching for a new upbeat song to write on the banjo. The chorus riff was around for a couple of years then when I experienced an unpleasant incident in my personal life, I felt that I was wasting precious time ruminating over it. The lyric “Every minute is a minute gone.” came to mind and the rest of the song fell into place.

I wrote and demoed the song in my studio in the Bay Area. When we toured the UK last February, we went into Earthworm Studios in Swindon, England which is owned by my keyboardist Jon Buckett. We had the opportunity to record the drums with our drummer Lee Moulding. This was the first time the three of us had ever worked together in the studio. In our previous single “Only Grey Matter Boiling In My Head”, everything was done remotely as we live on different sides of the ocean. Jon Buckett then sent me keyboard parts. I finished tracking and mixing in my studio.

Credits:

Scott Mickelson – vocals, banjo, guitar, bass

Jon Buckett – keys

Lee Moulding – drums

Written/Engineered/Produced by Mickelson

Mastered by Bob Weston – Chicago Mastering

About the VIDEO

My degree is in illustration and I had an earlier career as an illustrator and fine artist. This wave of AI visual applications fascinates me. I’m well aware that there is controversy with AI being used for writing, political ads, etc. but I see it as a creative tool not unlike ProTools or Photoshop. It all comes down to the person utilizing the technology. I was intrigued by Stable Diffusion in particular and envisioned a storyline to accompany the song “Jump Off the Earth”. I reached out to an animator in Germany named Soundfaenger and sent my outline and scene descriptions to him. We developed around thirty different scenes which I edited and put together in my video editor at home. I think it came out great and is the best music video I’ve ever released.

About the Tour

EU Tour dates

SEP 8 FRI | Stadsherberg Helsdeur | Den Helder, Netherlands

SEP 9 SAT | Schoolhuis | Rijnsaterwoude, Netherlands

SEP 10 SUN | Cafe de Taverne  | Bergen, Netherlands

SEP 13 WED | Bonnefooi | Brussels, Belgium

SEP 15 FRI | Muziekcafé Scooters | Leeuwarden, Netherlands

SEP 16 SAT | Cactus Cafe | Hengelo, Netherlands

SEP 17 SUN | Zum G’Leut | Thiersheim, Germany

SEP 19 TUE | MusicClub Schmölln  | Schmölln, Germany

SEP 21 THU | Hafenbar Tegel  | Berlin, Germany

SEP 22 FRI | Tankbar Nr.1 Biker Bar | Leipzig, Germany