Drummer and artist Michael Cartellone has enjoyed a long and successful career, both behind the drum kit and behind the easel. His story is one of a determined kid from Cleveland, Ohio who through hard work and dedication has become a multi-platinum selling musician and highly regarded gallery artist.
We had the opportunity to speak with Michael about both of his passions and an upcoming fine art show from his hotel room, just hours before taking the stage with the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd Band.
As a fellow Clevelander, I have to start by asking you about what it was like growing up on the shores of Lake Erie – including the music scene (were you raised on the Michael Stanley Band like I was)?
Michael Cartellone/Lynyrd Skynyrd: RIP Michael Stanley. You couldn’t have been raised in Cleveland and not been influenced by Michael and his music. I’m also a lifelong Indians (now Guardians) fan. Over the years, I became friends with many of the players during the World Series years (’95-’97). I literally have worked out, in uniform, with the players at Jacob’s Field. And the players used to come out to see the Damn Yankees all the time. To the degree that on one of the Damn Yankees records, on the special thanks, I listed the Cleveland Indians!
I did everything I could have done as a drummer looking for the next big opportunity. By the time I left in 1985, I was just bouncing from gig to gig. So I thought if I was looking for an opportunity as a drummer, I should go to the biggest pond possible, even though I was the smallest fish imaginable. That pond was New York City.
I definitely want to talk to you about your unbelievable music career, but I’m curious if you consider yourself to be a drummer who paints or a painter who drums?
You used one of my quotes! Literally today, as I sit in a hotel room in Evansville, Indiana, looking out the window at the arena we’re playing tonight, I am a painter who drums. But that’s just today. I was at home yesterday in New York City, sitting at my easel and I was a drummer who paints. The music and the fine art have coexisted my entire life. I started painting at age four. I was enrolled in a summer course at the Cleveland Institute of Art, which was wonderful. And I started drumming at nine, so the drumming and the painting have been two halves of a whole my entire life.
On a daily basis, they balance, compliment and enhance each other. In my brain, I don’t even separate the two because I’ve only known them together. And I couldn’t even imagine doing one without the other. It’s a great form of creative expression that I am very fortunate to do and people seem to enjoy it.
Speaking of Cleveland, I know you’ve done some Cleveland-specific pieces. Can you talk about what you like to paint and what inspires you?
The short answer is everything. I’ve gone out of my way to not settle on one type of subject matter or one type of painting style or technique. I actually like painting on a whim. And if people were to look at my body of work, which they can see at www.michaelcartellone.com, they’ll see traditional landscapes to colorful pop art to photo realistic portraits.
The one that I’m immensely proud of is Captain Frank’s Seafood House, which only you and other Clevelanders will know the reference! I did a painting of their sign and I am ridiculously proud to say that painting is now hanging in the Western Reserve Historical Society Museum in Cleveland.
Talk about your upcoming art show in North Carolina.
The date of the show is Saturday, May 25 from noon to 5pm at Phillip DeAngelo Studio, www.philipdeangeloart.com. It’s in a really cool area of Asheville called the River Arts District. Phillip DeAngelo is a very talented and very successful painter in the area. He and I hit it off and realized that we both have Sicilian ancestry, so we created this joint show.
Half the gallery will be his work, half the gallery will be my work. A lot of the art will reflect our shared history – either Italian or Sicilian themed paintings. We both have very different styles, which I think makes it very interesting. So you’re going to see Italy and Sicily from two very different vantage points.
Turning back to music, do you have to pinch yourself sometimes thinking about how a Cleveland boy has played with rock and roll royalty, including drumming for Lynyrd Skynyrd and now touring with legends like ZZ Top?
Once a day! I truly am a kid from Cleveland that as a 7th grader was playing “Gimme Three Steps” in a garage band with school friends. So none of this is lost on me. I realize how blessed I’ve been to have the career I’ve had unfold and continue on. I’ve been in Skynyrd for 26 years now. That’s amazing. How can you ever anticipate how things would go? Even as the Damn Yankees began, I was just knocking around the club scene in New York City. And good fortune blessed me then. It has not ever been lost on me just how lucky I have been.
A classic rock and roll movie is “That Thing You Do.” There are some great moments in that movie that when I first saw it, I felt that someone had looked into my scrapbook. There’s a scene in the movie when they hear their song on the radio for the first time. Well, I vividly remember hearing Damn Yankees on the radio for the first time and it was a surreal moment when I literally just laughed out loud. There are so many little things in that movie that I can relate to because I’ve lived it. It never ceases to amaze me. Not only with my music career, but also with my fine art career.
I’ll apologize in advance for this one because I’m sure you hear this question every day, but like the rest of the world, I’m a huge Damn Yankees fan. Can you offer us any hope at all on the possibility of the four of you ever working together again?
I would say, never say never! The band interestingly enough never broke up. We just went on a self-imposed hiatus that we’ve never circled back from. But I will tell you that we have never lost contact and have remained good friends after all these years. I just got a text from Ted two days ago. So we’re still part of each other’s lives. To the degree that we’re still making money from that band.
The first Damn Yankees album came out 34 years ago. It struck a chord, wonderfully so, and people have not lost interest in it. We have tried many times to get together to do at least a handful of shows or do some recording. But the reality is that you have four people with four very demanding careers with conflicts of schedule. To try and find one month where the four of us have nothing going on at the same time is truly impossible.
Eddie Trunk always floats the idea of Night Ranger, Styx, Skynyrd and Ted doing a show where each band gets a short set and then you all come together at the end to do a Damn Yankees set. What do you think?
Steve, if that ever could happen, I’m ready for it right now! You wouldn’t have to twist my arm and I know you wouldn’t have to twist anyone else’s arm, either. I could not be more proud of what Damn Yankees accomplished. It’s a wonderful period of my life that still smiles down upon us.
Because you’ve played with so many legends, I thought it would be fun to throw some names at you rapid fire and get your thoughts.
Ted Nugent:
The first thing that comes to mind is whatever you’re thinking about him right now, is correct!
Tommy Shaw:
One of the nicest people I know. One of the most important figures in my career story. It was Tommy who brought me into his solo band and we did the first big arena tour I had ever done in my life with the Tommy Shaw Band. And then he brought me into Damn Yankees. He is incredibly talented and has been since he was a teenager – that’s how he got the Styx gig.
Freddie Mercury:
I did a Freddie Mercury record after he passed away. There was an album’s worth of unfinished recordings. A decision was made to finish them off and release them. The album is called “The Great Pretender.” I played on one song called, “In My Defense.”
What was fascinating about that was I was in a recording studio in Los Angeles in a big room with just my drum kit. I was the only one there. I was sitting there with headphones on, listening to Freddie playing piano and singing. I just drummed along with it. It was incredibly cool and otherworldly. But it’s a really cool song. It was an amazing experience.
Peter Frampton
Peter is an old, old friend of mine. He asked me to play on an album called “Twang,” and that album is a tribute to an English guitarist named Hank Marvin from a band called the Shadows. They were the first band to come out with surf-sounding music. Hank was the guitar hero to many English guitar players like Jeff Beck and Peter Frampton. He and I did the arrangement on an instrumental called “The Frightened City.” We recorded it with another famous guitarist, Adrian Belew, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Johnny Van Zant:
If you ask me, Johnny is the ambassador of rock. This is a guy who is the frontman of an iconic American institution, who grew up in rock and roll royalty. He’s like the guy next door. He’s the first one to get into a conversation with a complete stranger and the next minute they’re the best of friends. He just has this uncanny ability to connect with people. Johnny is a wonderful guy to work with. He’s a great friend. He’s family. He’s the quintessential “what you see is what you get!”
This has been a lot of fun for me – thank you, Michael. In my eyes, you’ve done it all. What, if anything, would you like to do next?
Just continuing. I feel like I have a wonderful life as the drummer of Skynyrd and we’re carrying the torch. God bless Gary Rossington who passed away last year. He was the last original member of the band, but the estates of all the previous members of Skynyrd have given us their blessing and we are keeping that music alive. As long as people come out to hear it, we will happily and proudly continue to do it.
Moving forward, I would say keep playing this wonderful music and keep building my fine art career. I’ve been showing in galleries since I was about 18 years old and each passing year, my art career seems to move up another notch.
I hope to continue doing both for as long as I continue breathing!
Interview by I’m Music Magazine Writer Steve Pawlowski
