Michael Behm “Saving America”
The good times are rolling for Michael Behm four months after releasing “Saving America,” the first single off his forthcoming album of the same name. One major cause of celebration for the singer-songwriter and concerned citizen: Barak Obama has been elected to the White House and Americans have begun the job of saving their own bacon following eight years of the Bush presidency.
On a personal level, Behm is absolutely pumped over the response to the meticulously crafted “Saving America” – a stirring, guitar-fuelled call for change, renewed optimism and fresh hope from a Canadian to his friends and neighbours south of the border.
Positive reviews, on-line streaming via services like Australia’s mp3.com and Reverb Nation, and now a rush of adds from U.S. community radio stations are building momentum for a melodic original bristling with memorable hooks and a historic sample from one of John F. Kennedy landmark speeches.
“Bless the man, he delivers,” writes Notlame Music’s Bruce Brodeen in comparing Behm to such U.S. rock-pop icons as Jason Falkner and the Rembrandts. “Really smart power pop,” adds a reviewer for Sweden’s Melodic.net website. “Saving America takes the listener back to the heyday of E.L.O. (Behm) might not save America, but he could easily save your day!”
Radio promotion by Plug Music in Canada and the Sutton Music Group in the U.S. has produced spins. The latest reports reveal that stations in St. Louis, Olympia and Tucson, among others, are playing the song. GK Radio Europe has also added Behm’s music in recent weeks. The artist has tasted success over the years as a solo act and band leader, most recently with the 2007 single “The Art of Letting Go.”
Working in his state-of-the-art home studio on Vancouver Island off Canada’s west coast, Behm sang, played guitar, produced and handled the multi-tracked instrumentation on the Saving America album. The drummer for the sessions was Pat Steward (The New Odds, Bryan Adams).
“Saving America” was mixed in Vancouver by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Elvis Costello, Metallica, Sam Roberts) and mastered at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Los Angeles by the legendary Brian “Big Bass” Gardner. The latter has put the final touch on classics by Blondie, the Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas and Blink 182, and that’s just a few of the Bs on an awe-inspiring list of A to Z credits.
Other irons are burning bright for Behm this year. His U.S. publishers Rumblefish and Scorekeeper Music are actively promoting and exposing his deep catalogue of song titles in America. His bluesy original “Take Me Down to the River” is now the theme for Campbell River, B.C. adult contemporary radio station 99.7 The River. And Vancouver’s Rock 101 has selected a Behm original as the theme for the Bro Jake Show, the popular morning show hosted by Canadian DJ legend Jake Edwards.
