Songwriter Mike Grutka finds hope in loss

Mike Grutka

Howlers Coyote Cafe

Wednesday at 9 p.m.

412-682-0320

It’s… Mike Grutka

Howlers Coyote Cafe

Wednesday at 9 p.m.

412-682-0320

It’s not every day that you wake up and decide to change your life.

For singer-songwriter Mike Grutka, that day came about five and a half years ago. With the release of his newest album, February Sessions, and an upcoming show at Howlers Coyote Cafe in Bloomfield, he hopes to show fans just how far he’s come.

After the death of his mother in 2004, Grutka, who cites musicians like Dave Matthews, Neil Young and Michael Stipe among his many influences, decided it was time to “live the life you’re meant to live” — a slogan that has inspired all of his albums for the past several years.

Growing up in Syracuse, N.Y., Grutka spent most of his childhood listening and singing along to his parents’ records, learning the musical nuances he would use later in life. Although he spent years playing the violin, Grutka truly realized his love of the art when he joined the jazz band in high school.

“It was the first time music wasn’t a lesson,” Grutka said of the experience.

Soon after, he began to study music theory and composition, and with the purchase of a $50 guitar from Sears, he started focusing on learning how to produce as many songs and sounds as possible.

“The first song I wrote happened by accident. I was showing off to my brother, and I just made up a verse in like 10 minutes. And even though it took me about a year to actually finish the song, I got the bug,” Grutka said.

For the next few years Grutka honed his talent, learning to play as many instruments as he could. Aside from the drums, every instrument featured on February Sessions was played by Grutka himself, something mixer/producer Larry Dizizo said sets him apart from other singer-songwriters.

“My job is to make everything sound cohesive, to bring a better balance to all the instruments. So it definitely makes my job easier that he can handle all of his instruments,” Dizizo said.

Dizizo mentioned Grutka’s ability to arrange songs — something the musician attributes to his background in orchestras and musical theater. Grutka also prides himself on providing listeners with a variety of different song styles on each album.

“Style-wise, I’m all over the place. I guess I’m a little bit jammy, a little acoustic. I’m best summed up as acoustic-based funky modern roots rock’n’roll. I like the harmonies of bands like R.E.M., but I also like how Neil Young has all different kinds of song styles on each album,” Grutka said.

His new release February Sessions got its name from  an online event called the RPM Challenge, in which artists compose and record a full album during the month of February. Grutka believes that, lyrically, this album is the most honest and direct he’s ever created, as several songs deal with the death of his mother.

“[After she died] a lot of the songs weren’t sad. It was so sudden, I talked to her on a Wednesday and by Friday morning, she was gone. It inspired a very seize-the-day attitude. I was working on my third album, and after that I got bored with what I was doing. I wasn’t changing,” he said.

In the five and a half years since her death, Grutka believes he has grown both personally and as a musician. Not only did he release two records in the span of one year — Ria, his album before February Sessions, came out on iTunes in September 2009 — but February Sessions is also a new sound for him. It’s tracks are more organic than his previously released material.

For now, Grutka plans on making the most out of his current tour, visiting cities like Pittsburgh and hoping his message of change will resonate.