[Cover photo credit to Karen Allison]

Singer/songwriter and co-founder of the band Love Tractor, Mike Richmond, has released “You Are Not Alone,” a song he describes as “an abstract poem about going on a quest.” It addresses “suffering and change”, but “offers the comforting observation that it’s a journey shared by all of us.”

It’s the second single from his debut album, Without An Audience, an album inspired by “artists who are driven to create, to pursue their craft without the impetus of applause.” Fans of ’80s Athens, GA art rock band Love Tractor will recognize his vocal style.

Love Tractor were part of the musical scene of Athens ’80s indie Rock, along with friends/fellow artists The B-52s, R.E.M., Pylon and more.

The album was recorded over time at Matt Tamisin’s Japanski Studios in Athens, with Richmond recording his vocal and guitar tracks. Then he brought in friends culled from the town’s music scene to flesh them out, including drummer Joe Rowe (the Glands), bassist David Barbe (Mercyland, Sugar), pedal steel player John Neff (Japancakes, Drive-By Truckers), fiddler Adam Poulin (Grassland String Band), Ben Hackett (New Madrid), Jason NeSmith (Pylon Reenactment Society) and Neil Rosenbaum. Together they crafted a dramatic score underscoring Richmond’s love of Country, Blues, and early Rock and Roll. 

Richmond says:

I was asking myself, why am I writing these songs? Is anyone going to care? I’m an old guy who played in a pretty obscure band back in the ‘80s—does anyone want to hear my new stuff? But I’m fascinated by people like William Blake, Van Gogh, Nick Drake and others who did what they did and never got a lot of applause for it. So I kept writing and recording, and I started to grow more confident in my mission.