We (The Mighty Pines) are a group of four musicians from St. Louis, MO with big dreams. What started as friendship grew into brotherhood, and what started as a bar band grew into a creative partnership we never imagined possible.
We are: Neil Salsich (guitar, vocals), Gerard Erker (acoustic and electric mandolin, banjo, vocals), John Hussung (bass, vocals) and Mike Murano (drums, percussion).
The past two years have felt like a train that doesn’t stop: we’ve toured from Colorado to Massachusetts to Alaska, performed at festivals including Roots N Blues, Summer Camp and Dark Star Jubilee, and opened for bands such as The Dead South, JJ Grey & Mofro, Fruition, Parker Millsap and Sam Bush. We signed with a booking agency and management company, and even hired a lawyer and accountant. This band thing is for real!
In between trips on the road, we holed up in our South St. Louis homes to write this album together. We were searching for our sound, seeking the creative magic we’d heard in the music of our heroes. What transpired was a collection of songs we didn’t know we had in us.
We hired Grammy award-winning producer Steve Berlin of Los Lobos to bring our vision to life. We had almost a year of pre-production with associate producer, Rob Gordon, and Steve himself, and then recorded over a period of three months at Sawhorse Studios in St. Louis. We were also thrilled to have some of Colorado’s finest mix and master the album. For the first time, we feel like we’ve successfully weaved together our style of roots, rock n roll, funk, country and bluegrass into a story with eleven songs. We can’t wait to get it out into the world!
We were on a high as we entered into the fall of last year – logging miles on the road, wrapping up our new album and drinking whiskey with Steve Berlin. We even bought a new tour van. The high came to an abrupt halt when we almost missed our gig in Indianapolis because our new van (Vanny DeVito) needed a new transmission.
So, here we are. We’re ready to travel across the nation with new music in a new van, but we need your help spreading the word about our new album! Your financial contribution will go directly towards marketing, publicity, a radio campaign and CD and merchandise manufacturing.
As a musician, there is nothing better than sharing the magic of a live show with our fans. This is the reason we spend weeks away from our families and drive endless hours to get from one city to the next. We’re asking for your help to get this album out to as many ears as possible. More listeners leads to more shows, which leads to larger venues and festivals, and then to more new music! If you can’t contribute financially at this time, please stream and share our music with as many people as possible. It helps more than you know.
With Deep Love & Appreciation,
John, Gerard, Mike & Neil
The reality is touring, licensing and selling merchandise are becoming the only ways to make a living as a professional musician in a band. True Facts: We receive $0.003 of every stream on Spotify. The guarantee for new a band in a new market is usually between $300-$500. CD Sales are declining rapidly. Radio is not as popular as it used to be. True Costs: Album Production: $21,000 Van: $20,000 Publicist: $9,000 Radio Campaign: $3,100 CD Manufacturing & Shipping: $2,000 Merchandise Manufacturing: $10,000 We are putting everything we have into this new album. We do not take the fact that you’re contributing because you believe in us lightly. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.