Mike Delevante’s Solo ‘September Days’ Finally Released on CD and Vinyl
When Mike Delevante’s solid solo project, September Days, came out last year, it raised eyebrows as it was released only digitally. After all, Mike and his brother Bob, as The Delevantes, had the first #1 on the fledgling Gavin Americana Charts in 1995 with their Long About That Time debut—produced by E Street bassist Garry Tallent—for the prestigious Rounder label out of Massachusetts. The Brothers, now in Tennessee, came out of Rutherford (Bergen County), and formed The Delevantes in Hoboken. Tallent also produced their 1997 Major Label debut, Postcards From Along The Way, on Capitol Records, which features keyboardist Benmont Tench from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. (The last song on that second album was “John Wayne Lives In Hoboken.”) After settling in as successful commercial artists, Tallent convinced them to do a third album resulting in 2021’s A Thousand Turns (Moon River Records).
After sharing stages with Steve Earle, John Prine. Levon Helm and Emmylou Harris, and after brother Bob’s three well-received solo albums, Mike’s September Days was picked up by New Shot Records/Redeye Worldwide and released last week on CD and vinyl. Produced by Joe Pisapia (Ben Folds/k.d. lang/Guster), who also plays guitar, keyboards and pedal steel, with Tallent on bass, brother Bob on harmonica and Bryan Owings on drums, Mike sings lead on 13 tracks of carefully crafted Byrds-influenced jangly guitars, strong melodic invention and personalized lyrics.