New album
“living is”
Releases March 7th!
“living is” album performance - SOLD OUT!!!
Wow! Thank You, Thank You!!! Deepest gratitude to everyone who came out for our show at The Back Room in Berkeley, CA!!! It was an incredible evening of music and community that is now a part of my heart.
Thank you to my incredible "living is" show live band, Graham Patzner (Whiskerman), Sarah Larkin (The Real Sarahs), Tony Glaser, David Johnson, Brandon Watson, Skot Christopherson, and Angelo Tomandl!
Deep gratitude as well to Brady Blade (Lucinda Williams, Indigo GIrls, Dave Mathews), Ben Andrews (Hot Buttered Rum, Tracorum), Megan Slankard, and Gawain Mathews (Mickey Harte), for their amazing contributions to the “living is” studio album!!!
Thank you for the feature, East Bay Times!
"The part of my musical consciousness that was nurtured by the likes of Simon & Garfunkel, Flatt & Scruggs, and even Leo Kottke donned a warm smile while listening to Mike Rufo's recent album, Helsinki.
Gaelynn Lea, Winner of NPR Music's 2016 Tiny Desk Contest
New Day
“To my total surprise, the uplifting gospel-tinged, bluegrass chorus for ‘New Day’ was playing in my head when I woke up one morning after months of deep grief and sadness after losing my parents. I had always been an incurable optimist but had been laid low by grief. Somehow, that part of me appeared again through that chorus like an old friend.
I think of 'New Day' as a high-energy, indie bluegrass blast of sonic renewal in the wake of loss. Hopefully, its lively, up-tempo, gospel-tinged chorus uplifts listeners and sends them off with an inspiring ear worm to conquer what ails them. When life knocks us down, a spark is waiting inside, and that new day might be today."
“New Day” is the seventh single release for Mike’s upcoming album, living is. The living is album will release March 7, 2025. living is will be Mike’s fourth album and follows his well-received 2021-22 album, Helsinki. (NACC Top Folk Add, week of April 26, 2022)
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THE RECKONING
Speaks to the poignancy and power of humanity facing itself, and the climate crisis. Part awakening, part confessional, part plea, The Reckoning conveys the many layers of emotion underlying this moment in human history as we seek to re-understand and reshape our relationship to our fragile planetary home.
A percussive acoustic guitar begins an imploring self reflection in which humanity begins to understand how it roiled a now ill planet whose grace had been previously taken for granted. The urgent drumming of Brady Blade (Indigo Girls, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle) and soaring vocal accompaniment of Sarah Larkin (The Real Sarahs) propel the final plea. “Her eyes are wet, her seas are on the rise…”
“The Reckoning” release includes a high impact video and was the first release off Mike’s upcoming album, living is.
HELSINKI album
(2021-22) It was a two year process of shaping this music and shepherding it through the pandemic. These Helsinki album songs reflect my inner and outer journeys across many phases of my life.
Helsinki tries to capture the feelings you get when you look inside and outside, yourself. It’s facing the present, in all its complexities and nuances, and the past, with all its ever-lingering resonances, as delightful or painful as they may be. It's looking out from the different vantage points of life’s journeys, whether from the lofty heights of unshakeable self-assuredness, or the depths of irrevocable loss. It’s walking to the brink, it’s picking oneself up and starting over, it’s stepping back and having a laugh at taking it all too seriously, it’s preparing for what may be next.
Helsinki is a place along the road less traveled. It’s a place to explore laughter and lightheartedness and to linger in the feelings of longing and awe that come from life’s inevitable heart aches and delights.
Mike Rufo - Songs, Music, Change
Mike Rufo's songs and poems arc across the waves of life. His music is gripping and eclectic, reflecting his impassioned engagement with the world. Mike's musical language builds upon powerful lyrics, soaring vocals, driving rhythms, and melodic riffs that explore emotional depths and transformation. Mike’s repertoire moves seamlessly across a range of original and re-imagined traditional and contemporary songs, from poignant to powerful, from rockin’ to refined, he will take you on a journey of the heart, body, and mind. He also mixes things up with a knack for the well-conceived parody, with a dash of political punch.
Mike’s new album, “living is”, will be releasing March 7, 2025. “The Reckoning” his ode to earth, featuring renowed drummer Brady Blade (Emmylou Harris, Indigo Girls), released on April 19th, 2024.
On November 12, 2021, Mike released his recent acoustic album, “Helsinki”. Helsinki, has been heard on dozens of radio stations throughout the US (NACC Top Folk Add Week of 4/26/22, Roots Music Report Top 15 Folk Rock album April-May 2022) and was featured on Radio Helsinki in Finland. The album includes choice contributions from Joe Craven (David Grisman & Jerry Garcia), Sharon Gilchrist (Tony Rice), Gawain Mathews (Mickey Harte), Tomas Salcedo (Fantastic Negrito), Sarah Larkin (The Real Sarahs), and Erik Yates (Hot Buttered Rum) who also co-produced the album.
Mike's prior album, Nothin' But Now, featured a return to his early folk roots. As noted in The Prelude Press: "The songs on Nothin' But Now weave together in deeply resonant and beautifully conveyed stories of uplift, loss, transformation, and connection."
Streets of Plenty, Mike’s initial album, captures his alt-rock-focused repertoire. Mike plays his rock songs, and those written by band-mate, David Johnson, with the Bay Area rock group No Exit.
Mike's songs have been featured on a variety of radio programs and he has played with a number of top artists, including 2016 NPR Tiny Desk Winner Gaelynn Lea, at venues throughout the country.
You Don’t Have To
One of my favorite song lines is Tom Waits’ “Come down off of the cross, we could use the wood.” We’ve all played the martyr at some point, no? It takes this guy a little while but he finally comes clean that maybe all his relationship troubles are not the other person’s fault. Every relationship is different, but I think there are a couple of essentials needed to make them last a long time, being able to apologize being one of them. Saying I love you doesn’t hurt either.
Come Find Me
This one is for the artists, the dreamers, the nature lovers, the ones who can’t be tethered, the ones who roam, the ones who seek, no matter the cost. In a culture that can be overwhelmingly conformist and rigid about how to live one's life, those that don’t conform are often a threat to those that do. It has probably always been thus. Here the wanderer reminds us that something is inside of all of us, waiting for space to be listened to, waiting to be danced with, waiting to be free from judgement.
After I wrote this I thought about Eden Ahbez, who wrote the Nat King Cole hit, “Nature Boy”. The more I learned about him, the more I thought Come Find Me could be an ode to him and his message in that famous song.
ALBUMS
Helsinki
Apple Music | Spotify | Lyrics
Nothin’ But Now
Apple Music | Spotify | Lyrics
Streets of Plenty
Apple Music | Spotify | Lyrics
The Satires…
Mike Rufo Live on KPIG
You can learn more about Mike by listening to this interview with him on the great Americana program, "Please Stand By" on the famous KPIG-FM. Mike was interviewed by the wonderful Santa Cruz writer, Wallace Baine, played some new songs, and discussed his musical journey…
