PipemanRadio Interviews Michael Cartellone of Lynyrd Skynyrd About Art & Music

0:04 Hey, you love them too, sir. I'm come for c why for you? Wake up America. It's time for the Adventures of pipe Man on W fourcy dot com whist pom beats his number one internet radio station. Here's your host, the pike Man Locher. This is the pipe Man here on the adventure is pipe Man w for c Y Radio. And I'm very excited about our next guest for a couple reasons, because not only great music, but more importantly some great art, which music is art, and I think you know, painting type of art and any other type of art goes hand in hand with music. And so let's welcome to the show, Michael Carloni from Leonard Skinner And how are you. I'm good, pipe Man. How are you doing. I'm doing great. And you know, I did want to start off with that because you said I saw somewhere where you said that music and art have always been two halves of a whole. And I have

1:37 said so much many things like that, Like I think about the old days when you would get an album, not an MP three, but an actual album and it was a whole sensory experience. Yeah, truly, you'd sit there with that with that album cover twelve inches by twelve inches, and you know it's like looking at a painting. Yeah. Hey, listen, most albums I bought were because of the album cover. So the art came first, the music came second. Yeah, And you know, it's in a way of shame that the album cover art has been almost kind of forgotten in a way, it's not as part of the full package as it once was.

2:25 Yeah, and hopefully it's making comeback now. Vinyls making comeback. And so our studio is here in West Palm Beach. I'm going to be at your show at the I Think Amphitheater right here in West Palm. But then you're also having a showing of your new art at the Wentworth Gallery at the hard Rock So tell us more about that, right, Well, thank you for bringing that up. So, as you say, on the twenty first, we're at the I Think and that's kicking off our summer tour, which is celebrating the band's fiftieth anniversary. Of course, in nineteen seventy three, the Pronounced album was released, so this is a big year of celebration for us, and to commemorate that, I decided to do a painting which is called fifty and it is a portrait tribute to the seven band members on Pronounced And this painting will be at the hard Rock Wentworth Gallery in the Seminole and people can actually see it now because it's already online, so they could go to Wentworth Gallery dot com and scroll down to my page and you'll see the image there. And we have created fifty signed and numbered canvas prints of this

3:55 painting that are going to be available now. Also another new painting which I'm very very proud of, is called Ringo, and it's a tribute to my favorite drummer from my favorite band, and that painting portrays the very famous rooftop concert that was the Beatles last live performance. And what I wanted to do with this one is I wanted people to see what Ringo saw. So you the viewer, our Ringo and the painting is what it looked like that day, sitting behind his drums, looking out over the top of the drums and the symbols and seeing the other three Beatles there and then beyond them the London skyline. And I spent a full year working on that painting because it's big, it's five feet across. It has a crazy the amount of detail to it. I'm very very proud of that painting, and that one can also be seen online now as well as at the Wentworth exhibit on the twentieth.

5:13 So first of all, I just want to say that one of my first favorite bands was the Beatles, and because a Ringo when I was in first grade, I started playing drums. Of course, I never got as good as you or him. I probably sucked, but he was the reason I got into it. So yeah, well amen, right back at you. And you know, it doesn't matter being whatever level of skill at a drum kit. It's just about the expression, and as is the painting. That's why both of those things are just so integral to my daily life because I just I can't imagine doing one without the other, right, I think it does go hand in hand. I've said that for a while, and I think that's the part I think kids today it does sound like that guy that kids today but that they're missing out on, because I just remember buying an album, sitting there and just like consuming it, putting my headphones on, looking at every piece of artwork, and you know, it's interesting, and we're going to talk about the detail that you put in your paintings. But what's interesting about that is in relationship to the Beatles, I used to buy all the Beatles albums because of that nineteen sixty nine radio show where they did that Paul was Dead thing. And I used to buy all the albums to find the clues in the artwork. So absolutely, and you, from what

6:47 I understand, like that's what you're known for is detail like you study it like I mean, as if you're just you were there, not just looking well well truly, and you know, regarding the Ringo painting, you know, I spent I spent quite a while doing research before I even began painting. And I should mention pipe Man that I had this idea about fifteen years ago and I just kind of filed it away. And then last year when the Get Back documentary came out, it reminded me of that idea and I thought, oh, yeah, maybe now it's the time to paint this.

7:31 So I looked at tons of photos, I watched films to really study and get get the reference that I needed before I started painting, to the degree that when you see this painting, the drumheads look exactly like they did that day. They are aged and discolored, and the logo is kind of faded, and the symbols are tarnished. And you know, I mean even as far as as studying the brick and mortar patterns of the buildings across the street.

8:18 I went to that degree to truly make it feel like you are there in the moment. Who knows, maybe one day Ringo will see it and he'll say, yep, that's that's how it fell. Well, we'll have to get him to see it. Sounds good to me, and so tell us and tell us how this journey all started for you, that this intertwining road of art and music. Well, the art actually happened. First. My kindergarten teacher had seen that I was really enjoying painting and drawing, said something to my parents about, you know, they might want to encourage that, and they did so that the summer in between kindergarten and first grade, I was four years old, my parents enrolled me in a summer art course at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohios, where I'm from.

9:22 And that started the painting and has never stopped. And then I just studied any any course that was offered throughout elementary and high school, and then the drumming began when I was nine. The music interest happened much earlier because my older sisters were playing Beatle records in the house, so that cemented that love very early on. And then when I started drumming at nine, I just realized that I loved both of these things, painting and drumming equally and just continued to do them both. And I mean, truly, pipe man.

10:05 On any given day, I'm either a drummer who's painting or I'm a painter who's drumming. I mean, I cannot separate them in my head. Oh I love how you put that. It's so cool. Well, it's all art, isn't it. Like I think it all goes hand in hand, all of it together. If you're creative. It truly not just one. You know, it truly doesn't. And you know there for that reason, there are a lot of musicians who paint. You know, there are a lot of you know, poets who play instruments. You know, it's it's just kind of endless. I think it's funny you mentioned poet and immediately I thought Jim Morrison because he never wanted to be a rock star. He wanted to be a poet. Yeah, you know. I mean I have a lot of professional athlete friends who are hobbyist musicians, So you know, that's crossing a line of different expression. But you know, if you have that within you and you need to express it, you just have to get it out. I agree, and I think music are anything like that is one of the greatest forms of therapy, not only for the person doing it, but for the person that is the one consuming the content, you know, I like, I even think of my dad. He was a painter, but that not for a living, just to escape life. And there were

11:35 times he would you could relate to this. He would like not sleep for like forty eight seventy two hours and like paint straight through. Yeah, that's incredible, that's incredible. Yeah, it truly is, you know, a way to not only you know, unplugged from life for a minute, but you know, recharge the batteries. And you know, a lot of the paintings that I've done have been while I was sitting in a hotel room during a skinnerd tour, because I would carry an easel in and out of hotels and paint during the day, and that was a great way for me just to kind of have some balance. I thought about two as you were saying that it's a great way for you getting to get into the zone before doing the showcase. You know, you kind of get out of your head.

12:28 Yeah, truly. I mean I literally have done a few drumming paintings of my vantage point, which is probably where the ringo painting idea came from. And you know, while I was working on one of those, you know, drumming vantage points, we would be on stage that night and I would look down at the pedal and go, oh, you know I have I didn't get that boat one bolt in. Oh shit, I'm right in the little show and you know, so I would. I would literally be living both at the same time. Oh that's so funny, but it's so true. It's something it's kind of like how I am. That's why I don't edit my own interviews because if I did, it would take me two years.

13:13 Yeah, then don't start doing that, I know, right. Tell us a little bit about the tours starting here in West Palm Beach for Leonard Skinner. Let's talk about that briefly, real quick I'll be there. It's gonna I'm sure it'll be a great show as always. Yeah, we're really excited. Yeah, So we're taking it off in West Palm and ZZ Top of course are with us all summer and that's going to be wonderful. And we just spent a week in Nashville rehearsing creating a whole new show. We've got a different song list that we pulled some some classics out of the past that we haven't done in a while. We've got new lighting, we've got new video content. It's a great show. We're very excited this year.

13:56 I love it. I can't wait for it. And let's tell everybody how they can. First of all, check your tour dates because you know if they're not here in South Florida, and also more importantly, check out your art and any anywhere that there are other exhibitions besides here in South Florida as well. Well. For the band, they could just simply go on Leonard Skinner dot com and get the tour updates there. And for my artwork, you can visit Wentworth Gallery dot com and Wentworth have about eight or nine locations up and down the East Coast, but you know, the work is also available through the website, and then I have my own art website which is Michael Cardiloni dot com where they could see the artwork as well. Beautiful and are there any other well, how did they connect to you on socials too through the Skinnerd page? Any I know words you want to leave the listeners with that we haven't covered yet that you want them to know. I would just say thank you for the way everyone has supported Leonard Skynerd's music all of these years. And this is a really important year for us. You know, sadly we lost Gary Rossington, so this year is going to be not only a celebration of his life, but a tribute to the band's legacy.

15:24 So we're really looking forward to a great year. Yeah, and it just blows my my. I let's talking about this the other day. It blows my mind. I'm even thinking about fifty if anniversary tour for any band. Yeah, it's really incredible. But it does go to show you that when you have music that is timeless, like these songs are from Leonard Skinnerd, people just will always enjoy it. It will always feed them. I know it feeds us and we get the good fortune to perform it. I remember my introduction was middle school, Like my biggest memory of middle school is Leonard Skynyrd because of Freebird obviously, and I remember gaining the album one More four Crossed out from the Road, you know, And man, it just blows my mind that here we are now in twenty twenty three and we'll get to see you live once again. Yeah, yeah, life is good, life is good, totally well. Thank you for giving us all the art that you do, both music and the actual artistry from painting. And hey, keep doing it and keep rocking us. Look forward to seeing you here at I think Amphitheater and look forward to more art from you. And thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thanks pie Man. Hi everybody, this is Michael Cardiloni from Leonard Skinnerd and you are listening to Pipeman on W

17:00 four CI Radio. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pintment. I'm W four CUI Radio.