Mike Rychlik and Songwriting

In this video, John Owen (a singer/songwriter and Galactic Musician founder) engages in some serious gum-flapping with Mike about various techniques and approaches to both the art and craft of songwriting. Be sure to check out the Galactic Musicians Website to find other wonderful shows about other Tallahassee songwriters and performers.

Our Buddy Fred Chester

The Labamba Brothers met Ready Freddie Chester back in ’71 after the band rented a split level house on Atkamire Drive perfect for crafting the new sound they were creating to begin their journeys as songwriters. An accomplished songwriter and sound engineer, Fred lived two houses down from Labamba along with Kent Phillips–who owned Zorch Audio a local live sound company. Around the corner on Jackson Bluff Road was Norton Audio which later became Sweetbay Studios which is where both Labamba and Flipside recorded their LPs with Freddie at the helm. Featured below is an interview Fred did with the good folks at Galactic Musician (a website devoted to chronicling panhandle musicians). Over the course of the interview Fred talks at length about his days as a Tallahassee performer, writer, a Sweetbay studio sound engineer, and a Flipside and Labamba buddy.

Big Sky Life

Mike started writing “Big Sky Life” several summers ago when he and his wife and granddaughter were visiting Glacier National Park. At the time half of the park’s famous Going-to-the-Sun Road was closed because of wildfire damage. To boot there was a smoky haze wafting over the park all the way from Washington state where monstrous wildfires were blazing. The sacrifices firefighting men and women make to protect our forests, our wildlife and our communities from such devastation is nothing short of amazing, especially since the starting pay for these brave folks is $15 an hour. With all the natural disasters happening in our country, it’s time for the US to create a special branch of service that specializes in protecting our homeland where these cataclysmic “100 year” events keep happening over and over again. Mike’s buddy, Tripp Bloodworth, helped him finish the lyrics, and the old buddies dedicate this song to the brave firefighters everywhere who risk their lives fighting these endless battles.

Make Love Stay

For 30 years Mike was a public school teacher. On December 14, 2012, he had a bad cold and took the day off. He turned on the tube to catch up on the daily news and watched in horror as the reports of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting unfolded. It was the deadliest mass shooting at an elementary school in our nation’s history. Twenty children between six and seven years of age and six adult staff members were murdered by a 20-year-old with severe mental health problems. In the aftermath of this tragedy, Sandy Hook Elementary parents lobbied federal and state legislators to ban the sale and manufacturing of semi-automatic firearms and magazines that can hold ten rounds (or more) of ammunition. The parents also pleaded with government officials to enact gun control laws to make background-check laws universal. Sadly, nothing changed. It’s odd that only 34% of the people in our country even own a gun, but somehow the pro-gun lobbyists continue to control our legislative branches of government. Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” It was in that spirit that Andy Davis, and Mike wrote this song.

We Can Walk on the Water

“We Can Walk on the Water” was written by Mike and Tripp Bloodworth. The song is dedicated to the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in honor of their efforts to make this country a safer place for us all. Thanks to Elizabeth George and Jan Descosmo for use of their photos from the “Never Again” rally in Tallahassee on February 21, 2018.