Bakersfield, California
26 Years Old
Singer-Songwriter, Lyricist, Producer

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BIOGRAPHY

Singer/Songwriter Mike Cornett hails from the fertile San Joaquin Valley, calling Bakersfield,CA home. Using the stage and recording name Meestro (gleaned from a character in O Henry's short story, 'The Dream'), Cornett taps into a range of influences from Chris Smither, Bob Dylan, & John Prine to the writings of Ameen Rihani, Kahlil Gibran, Naguib Mahfouz, & ancient Persian poets.

A collaborator at heart, Cornett's live performances can take on an entirely new feel, all depending on who might be in the room participating. Past manifestations of the live show have ranged from a simple guitar & vocal stage setup to a lively clapping gospel choir with backing musicians.

Cornett continues this collaborative effort with Meestro's debut EP, "B Sides from B Street", recorded at his home in Bakersfield, CA. Supporting musicians include: Jeff Williams (guitar), Ryan Fergon (bass), Brian Boozer (drums, percussion), Grace Monrian (vocals), & Cassie Pedersen (vocals). All tracks were written, recorded, and mostly performed by Cornett, as he took up guitar, vocal, salt shaker, tambourine, glockenspiel, melodica, organ, bass & drum duties for this release. Fortunately, he maintained most of his sanity by not attempting to play them all simultaneously.

LEVEL

semi-pro

GENRES

Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Soul

PUBLISHING COMPANY

Meestro Music, I own my own publishing

Contact

Management: mike@meestro.com
Publishing: mike@meestro.com
Label: Meestro Music
Booking: mike@meestro.com
Administrative: Mike Cornett

P.R.O.

ASCAP

INSTRUMENTS

b3 organ / drums / acoustic guitar / electric guitar / keyboard / percussion / tambourine / vocals / xylophone

INFLUENCES

Chris Smither, John Hiatt, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Jimmy Cliff, Richie Havens, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, David Crosby & Graham Nash, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine, Bill Frisell, Steve Kimock, Kahlil Gibran, Ameen Rihani, Nagib Mahfouz

DAY JOB

Graphic Designer

I AM INTERESTED IN

in co writing online
in co writing in person
in networking with songwriters
in pitching songs to artist
in pitching songs to tv

I WRITE:

It's my second job

I Also Write:
by myself
for myself
for others

I Prefer To Write:
lyrics

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Cadillac Sky

Cadillac Sky should be a lot more tired. It’s early Saturday afternoon at MerleFest and the band–Bryan Simpson, Matt Menefree, Andrew Moritz, Ross Holmes and newest addition David Mayfield–has already logged two performances on the day....

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Sessions: David Bazan

It was pretty slow. I mean, I played [the songs] on acoustic guitar for a long time, but I didn’t know how to transfer them to the other format. I didn’t want it to be a solo acoustic record. I wanted there to be bells and whistles and full band arrangements even if I didn’t want it necessarily to be electric guitar rock....

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Sessions: Vetiver

“It’s always slightly confounding to me whenever Vetiver is depicted with the same tropes that people have read off of press sheets,” says Andy Cabic. “The same sort of milestones get mentioned but then no one really digs to find out that there are those other things going on.”

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Behind The Song: “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing”

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell sang, it has been remarked, like lovers, although they weren’t. Similarly, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, the team behind one of Marvin and Tammi’s most enduring hits, “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” wrote as if under the influence of amatory forces; even if, in the spring of 1968,