Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Northwind Records/ Aspirion Records Group) - Americana/Country artist Mike Aiken is set for the April 24 release of Just Add Salt on Aspirion/Northwind Records. Aiken is currently heating up the radio airwaves with his single, "Hillbilly Beach Bum," in anticipation of the warm summer months ahead.
Aiken has the lifestyle most people only fantasize about. He lives on a boat, christened "Ocean Girl," a 42-foot cutter named for a Neil Young song, and travels the world performing the music he loves, scoring loyal fans wherever he goes. A modern-day guitar playing troubadour, his songs are like tonic for the work-a-day world - filled with musical influences that stretch from Newfoundland to Cuba. His captivating sound is rootsy, Americana/Country, influenced by Celtic, Folk, Maritime, Calypso, and Caribbean music. Charles Doane, of Sail magazine refers to Aiken as "Something of a floating John Prine - crossed with Ry Cooder."
Aiken wrote, or co-wrote 10 of the 12 songs on Just Add Salt. At first glance, the CD is filled with pure escapism, and images of surf, sun and fun in faraway places. However, Aiken's easy-going style belies the adversity of real life on a boat, and the album includes glimpses of the ocean's dangers - lightning, hurricanes and gale force winds. Highlights of the enhanced CD include videos for the thought-provoking "90 Miles to Hemingway," where Aiken dreams of visiting Cuba - currently off-limits to most U.S. citizens, and the previously mentioned "Hillbilly Beach Bum," a fun romp filled with margaritas and dark-eyed senoritas. Other standout tracks include "Back to You" a Crosby, Stills and Nash-flavored tune which showcases Aiken's prowess on the acoustic and slide guitar, "No Fishin' Pole" a tongue-in-cheek playful 'boy-meets-girl' fiddle and guitar toe-tapper, and "One More Night" a literary metaphor fraught with danger, and the ultimate desire to return home safely. Aiken also added his own arrangements of two cover songs, the delightful "Friend of the Devil," originally recorded by the Grateful Dead, and presented here with a Celtic flair, and the whimsical "If I Had a Boat," from the pen of Lyle Lovett.
Just Add Salt was recorded on a retired 1941 Navy tugboat named the "Bay Queen," which Aiken converted into a studio. She is moored in his home port of Norfolk, VA. Just Add Salt is Aiken's third CD release, following Travelin' Bone in 2002, and Getaway in 2003.
As an indication of Aiken's broad-based appeal, instrumental versions of four songs from Just Add Salt have recently been adapted for the popular syndicated NASCAR television series, 'RACELINE.' Aiken's playing abilities have been endorsed by Takamine Guitars, and the company produces his signature guitar, aptly named, "The Travelin' Bone."
For more information about Mike Aiken go to: www.MikeAikenMusic.com
