We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mike T. Lewis of the Twangtown Paramours. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mike Lewis below.
Mike Lewis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Our new album, Double Down on a Bad Thing was released in February. We worked on it for a year in our studio in isolation during the pandemic. The purpose of the project was to cheer up ourselves and our listeners during a pandemic and in a disconcerting political environment. We thought back on the music we truly loved, much of which was on the radio during the early 1960’s. That music was fun, melodic, positive, and uplifting. The musical vibe is evident in the early and mid-career Beatles, Motown, and a lot of American pop/rock bands. Those songs came out during optimistic times when America and Europe were doing well economically and the overall outlook on life was positive. We wanted to remind people of the optimism and musical dynamism of that time.
Mike Lewis, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I can best answer that by giving you our bio summary. It goes something exactly like this: The Twangtown Paramours are a national touring soulful retro blues and rock band based in Nashville. The core of the band is the award winning husband and wife duo, Mike T. Lewis and MaryBeth Zamer. Mike is a songwriter known for writing the #2 female pop ballad of all time in Korea, who also produces, plays guitar, and sometimes plays bass for Jimmie Dale Gilmore. MaryBeth is a fantastic singer who used to sing background vocals for Eva Cassidy. Mike and MaryBeth are Kerrville New Folk 3-time finalists and winners of Texas’s Wildflower contest. They have an album and two singles that went to #2 on the FAI Folk charts. Their latest album, Double Down on a Bad Thing, came out in February, and went to #11 on the UK Indie Blues chart and to #18 on the U.S. RMR Contemporary Blues chart.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Our goal is to write, record, and perform music we truly enjoy and to share it with as many people as possible.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I’m not sure what a creative is or a non-creative is, in fact I think those words are misnomers. Everyone is creative. I believe that doing work that pleases oneself and helps or connects others is more valuable than making as much money as possible at the expense of others. Life is short. I believe in finding something meaningful to do and to leave this world a little better off or happier than the way you found it. In any way you can large or small, help create a kinder, more compassionate, more joyful world. Everyone can do that if they want to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thetwangtownparamours.com
- Instagram: @TheTwangtownParamours
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Twangtown-Paramours-116074338549/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/l1NPVbP8Nok
- Other: https://youtu.be/cbSE7XvD1jA
Image Credits
Scott Simontacchi