I feel like we left out a lot of backstory in this podcast and there isn't a lot online to find out about Alex Baker.
Alex Baker is Cincinnati's hidden gem.
The first time I heard Alex sing at Bubba Budan's in Clifton Cincinnati I was blown away. We (Rosedale) were a little early to the venue and Alex was hanging out trying to get some free drinks, jamming a simple piano rendition of one of his new songs "T". We got talking and he offered to help load our gear into the venue and asked if he could open the show. Luckily I was in a position to make that happen as we were the only act playing that night (basically for tips). Also, a few people at the bar were already fans of his.
Alex played a few songs on my acoustic and all 10 people in the room were into it. Afterwords, Alex helped load our gear out and told us about his old band; Dewey Decibel.
The next time I came through Cincinnati I searched high and low for Alex Baker. Eventually I reached him through a friend of a friend and asked if he'd like to open my next show- another stellar performance! We hung out afterward and he told me his story of getting arrested and going to jail. He was assaulted pretty brutally by the cops and was at a low point of his life when he got out.
Then the third time I came through with Virginia Beach's Zawacki Brothers, we had a couple days off so I offered to record some songs for Alex. We crammed my recording gear and blankets into his 100 square-foot apartment and recorded the 11 songs that make up January Blues onto my laptop in just one 14 hour day. I took the sessions on the road with me and finished up all the production in different venues and in the van with the Zawaki Brothers (Brian Zawacki actually tracked the Bass-cello at a DIY art venue in St.Louis for the track Windy Nebraska).
January Blues was an interesting passion project where I could take Alex's catchy folk songs, make any structual changes I found necessary, and add however much production I wanted. Alex is so easy going and down for whatever. He's very appreciative for the help and is a great friend.
People from all over ask me about Alex quite a bit. They love his music and enjoy helping him out. A couple years after January Blues came out Alex finally put together a band called Coconut Milk with some local Cincinnati musicians. They recorded some more of Alex's songs, sold a bunch of CDs around town, and won a contest to open for Jimmy Eat World that they didn't even submit for! (Taylor Helm from Gloucester submitted them!)
It is pretty amazing how just turning your most painful, raw emotions into beautiful art can create so many great opportunities, friends, and repair a lot of damage. Alex has been a big inspiration. His talent really motivates me to put my phone away and get to work on my songs and music...I guess, in a content creating way, I feel a little like the dog rescuer that clames 'the rescue dog rescued me'. https://alexanderbaker.bandcamp.com/
Live music: "T" (available on Bandcamp) by Alex Baker and "Popular" (available soon) by Alex Baker
Intro/Outro Music: “Do It All Again” by Rosedale
Produced, Edited, Animations, and graphics by: Mike Liorti
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