A
fter a 26-year hiatus from song writing, Mike McCauley
never thought he would create his own music label.
McCauley fell in love with roots music growing up in
West Virginia. He remembers listening to adults playing
the banjo and singing. McCauley learned to play the
banjo at age 10 and picked up the guitar as a teenager.
“Music is in my blood,” he explains. “It was always
something I enjoyed listening to and doing. I think it was
embedded in my nervous system. You can never get rid of it, no
matter how far you run from it. It’s always there.”
McCauley continued playing guitar and writing songs while he
went to college and later completed a Ph.D. in philosophy. After
receiving his doctorate, he went to Nashville where he achieved
some success as a songwriter. However, in 1983, he decided to
pursue a more stable career. “I just got tired of the ups and downs of
the music business,” McCauley explains.
He had become interested in computers and went back to school
to study information technology. McCauley taught computer
science at La Roche College and gave up on music. “I think I just
rejected the whole idea,” he says. “I got so busy that I more or less
focused on a normal career.”
Twenty-six years passed before McCauley played the guitar again.
He was at a party and saw a guitar sitting against the wall. McCauley
picked it up and started playing. “It was almost like riding a bicycle,”
he recalls. “I remembered quite a bit. The feeling was so natural. It
struck a nerve. It took me back to my youth. The first thing I knew,
the evening was gone. I was hooked again.”
McCauley started writing songs again and began to meet a lot
of other musicians. He decided to create his own music label and
publishing company because there were so many talented musicians
who were overlooked because they didn’t conform to commercial
music standards.
“These people should have some outlet, some way to get their
work exposed to the public,” McCauley says. He launched the
Howlin’ Kitty label at an event at the Collier Township Municipal
Building in August.
Technology has made it easier to record and publish music.
McCauley has already released several albums, including an EP
of his own. He had to re-learn how to work in the studio and is
shocked he finished it after abandoning music for so many years.
“Ten years ago, I would have said that’s impossible,” McCauley
says. “I guess you have to be careful what you say.”
He hopes to release several more albums before the end of the
year. McCauley wants to build a “critical mass” of performers who
can collaborate. “There is so much wonderful potential out there
that remains submerged and isolated,” he notes.
McCauley also wants to start selling cigar box guitars on his website
and might even open his own venue someday. He named his label
Howlin’ Kitty as a memorial to his cat Woodstock. “He used to run
through the house howling,” McCauley remembers. “It was cute in a
way.”
He invites aspiring musicians to visit the website and submit a song
for consideration. McCauley is interested in working with musicians
who play blues, folk, old country, rockabilly and bluegrass. He
compares the sound of Howlin’ Kitty to that of the iconic Sun Records.
Music is in my blood. It was always
something I enjoyed listening to and
doing. I think it was embedded in
my nervous system. You can never
get rid of it, no matter how far you
run from it. It’s always there.
“Those genres are the roots of Americana,” he explains. “They
are the roots of everything we understand as American music
today.”
McCauley detests the emphasis on special effects and dramatic
spectacles in the popular music industry. “They almost cloud the
music,” he laments. “I would say the music has lost its purity.”
His goal is to create a community, not make a profit. “The music
is our primary aim,” McCauley says.
McCauley advises aspiring musicians to learn their craft
thoroughly by seeking out informal back-porch jam sessions.
After they have mastered the techniques, artists need to get some
exposure. He also advises young musicians to be spontaneous.
“New ideas can occur on the spur of the moment,” McCauley
notes. “You have to be open to those things. Anything is possible.”
For more information, visit howlinkittymusic.com. ■
Keystone Oaks | Winter 2017 | icmags.com 15