Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Virtuosic guitarist Raul Midón’s new album Don’t Hesitate is currently available to stream in advance of its September 30th release via The Wall Street Journal. As the Journal notes, “The album is a mix of sounds and styles, from the dusty southwestern feel of opener ‘Libertad’ to the folk-pop number ‘Time Machine’ to the Spanish-language reminiscence ‘Mi Amigo Cubano,’ a collaboration between Midón and the soul musician Bill Withers that features dazzling guitar leads from Midón.”
Don’t Hesitate is a musical and personal milestone for the soulful and virtuosic multi-instrumentalist. Despite being blind since birth, Midón took control of every aspect of the album’s recording process. The artist cut all of the tracks in his home studio, playing most of the instruments himself and handling all of the project’s technical elements on his own, utilizing special computer software that enabled him to engineer the sessions. The result is a vibrant and compelling album that clearly reflects Midón’s unique musical character. Don’t Hesitate will be released via Mack Avenue’s Artistry Music imprint.
Midón recently traveled to WBUR’s studios in Boston to record an interview and performance for NPR’s national program Here and Now. Host Jeremy Hobson spoke with Raul about his unique playing style as well as the challenges he overcame to record Don’t Hesitate himself. Listen to the segment here.
A smoothly expressive singer, an emotionally insightful song-writer and an exciting, innovative acoustic guitarist, Midón maintains an expansive musical vision that’s led People Magazine to call him “an eclectic adventurist” and Huffington Post to dub him “a free man beyond category,” while The New York Times described him as “a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus.”
Don’t Hesitate promises to be an adventurous collection of songs from a unique talent expressing the ideas and sounds that come to him naturally. As Midón writes, “I’m just singing and playing and trying to be as honest as I can be. For me, the best recordings capture moments of real life, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”
