Tom Hambridge, Bob St. John and Ender Thomas Join Team for Children's Entertainer
LOS ANGELES - Armed with a degree in songwriting from Berklee College of Music in Boston and a musical quest to make children's music cool, singer-songwriter Evan Michael, a.k.a. Riff Rockit, has teamed with some notable producers, singers, and songwriters to help turn his vision into reality on his debut self-titled CD, due out later this year.
Fresh from a 2011 Grammy Awards win for producing and writing blues great Buddy Guy's "Living Proof" CD, which won the Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy, Tom Hambridge sat down with Michael to co-wrote the Riff Rockit song "Alphabet Rock" from the forthcoming "Riff Rockit" CD.
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"We wrote it the Tuesday after he got back from the Grammy Awards and I had no idea he had just won," says Michael, who's been writing songs since the age of 13. "I was sitting there in his writing room and he asked me how my weekend was. I said, 'Good, it was my birthday. How was yours?' He said, 'Good, I won a Grammy.' Well, I guess he beat my weekend!” Michael laughs. “He's such a cool, humble and talented guy. I was honored that he wanted to be involved with Riff Rockit."
Hambridge has worked with Buddy Guy, Delbert McClinton, Hank Williams Jr., BB King, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, Montgomery Gentry, Johnny Winter, Rodney Atkins, George Thorogood, Keith Anderson, Susan Tedeschi, Van Zant, Shemekia Copeland, Walt Disney Pictures and a host of others, and has been featured as a guest vocalist on the soundtracks for such hit family films as "Cars" and “Ratatouille.” Along with the Grammy win, he has also been nominated four times for a Grammy and is an ASCAP Award winning producer, singer/songwriter, and drummer.
"I think there is a need for it," says Hambridge. "Kids need to rock out and Riff Rockit rocks. It's a very uplifting way for kids to learn about positive virtues like family, being kind, and making good decisions. It was a great experience. I look forward to more like it."
Serving as producer/engineer/mixer for the CD is Bob St. John, a 25-year music veteran who has more than 40 gold and platinum awards, along with numerous Grammy, Billboard and Dove awards and nominations. On the rock/pop side, St. John has worked with chart-toppers like Duran Duran, Collective Soul, and Extreme, among others. On the Latin front, he's worked with Bacilos, which garnered him both Latin Grammy and Grammy Awards wins, as well as Black: Guayaba, for which he won a Latin Grammy award. St. John has also worked with Latin Christian acts, such as Julissa, Rene Gonzalez, Marcos Vidal and Roberto Orellana.
Among the other contributors to the Riff Rockit fold is Ender Thomas, who sang backing vocals on the entire record. Thomas is a Venezeluan singer-songwriter who, like Michael, went to Berklee College of Music. His credits include singing on new-age star, Yanni's 2009 album and the Disney Pearl produced tour, "Yanni Voices”. He was also a member of Dimensión Latina, which is one of the most famous salsa music bands in Venezuela.
"I was raised on a healthy does of MTV and my mom's cool rock music, but I love all types of music. I've been influenced by everything from The Stones to Billy Joel, Michael Jackson to Bryan Adams and Huey Lewis to the Goo Goo Dolls. The list of my influences goes on and on. To get such a mix of musicians and singers to work on this record really gave the music a lot of different flavors," says Michael, who picked up his first guitar at age 10. "Music has played a big role in my life and especially in my recovery in the hospital after my bone marrow transplant for Leukemia. It got me through that time and I just want to make music that can do the same for kids today."
About Riff Rockit (www.riffrockit.com)
Riff Rockit is a live action children’s entertainer who performs music the entire family can enjoy. Best described as part of the growing musical genre, known as “kindie rock,” Riff Rockit’s songs are both inspiring and educational, set to music that is not dumbed down for children and performed in a rockin’ style. Developed in association with experts in the youth market, Riff Rockit and RiffRockit.com aim to capture children's imaginations, promote movement and activity, empower children with self worth, and encourage social development and school readiness.
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