Uncommon Ground ^ Michael Jantz

Michael Jantz
Washington, DC— Singer/songwriter Michael Jantz earned his skills the hard way, working the open mics in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio and wandering through Europe to perform on street corners. He built his reputation up song by song, eventually becoming a top local draw, and subsequently landed on tours with Paul Simon and Brian Wilson. Jantz was also voted “Best Male Singer/Songwriter” in the Cleveland Free Times Reader Poll in 2004 before relocating to Washington D.C.

"It's kind of like starting from square one," Jantz says. "You have to prove yourself all over again; build relationships with bar owners, critics, the people who come see you perform. I went from being a top draw in my hometown to being a complete unknown.” Eventually he won over his new home audience, building up a large DC following in a short time. Jantz appeared in Entertainment DC magazine’s “Best of Local Music” in 2005, placed high in On Tap magazine's 2006 Texas Road trip Competition’, and was named “Artist to Watch” in 2006 by radio station Z104.

Now Jantz is back with his second album, Snapshots of the Universe. Engineered by Tom Schick (Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright, Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono) and mastered by Fred Kevorkian (the White Stripes, Ryan Adams, Dave Matthews Band, Iggy Pop), Snapshots reveals an older, wiser, and more polished musician than on his self-titled 2002 debut, ranging from rollicking acoustic-based rock to mellow storyteller blues. The album features drummer Steve Bowman (the Bittersweets, Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind) and contributions from Bittersweets singer Hannah Prater, producer Jerry Becker, and Scott Barkan of Barky and Hypnotic Clambake.

Jantz will be touring in the coming months to promote the new album, and currently holds a Sunday night residency at the Wonderland Ballroom in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. He has taken the high-energy atmosphere of his new stomping ground, and the shock of being dropped into a bustling, unfamiliar city, and channeled them into his songwriting. “For the past year, I put every single moment of joy, grief, anger, and love into this album,” says Jantz.

He’s also a long way removed from the street corners, but that experience helped to shape Jantz into the artist he is today. “Climbing my way up from playing in subways and city parks for pocket change was hard enough the first time,” says Jantz. “Doing it twice has taught me more than I can describe.”

For more information, please visit www.michaeljantz.com and www.myspace.com/michaeljantz

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Uncommon Ground Past Show Dates

2007-06-17 (384 days)