This is the first track from the 2023 album "The Teasdale Album". The lyrics are pulled directly from Sara Teasdale's (1884-1933) poem of the same name.

People that I meet and pass
In the city's broken roar,
Faces that I lose so soon
And have never found before,

Do you know how much you tell
In the meeting of our eyes,
How ashamed I am, and sad
To have pierced your poor disguise?

Secrets rushing without sound
Crying from your hiding places --
Let me go, I cannot bear
The sorrow of the passing faces.

People in the restless street,
Can it be, oh can it be
In the meeting of our eyes
That you know as much of me?

The Teasdale Album

Faces

Christmas Lake

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Elven After Party

Original song composed/recorded on 5/27/2012, inspired by our then 9-year-old daughter excited about Summer vacation coming up! This song was remastered for and appears on my 2016 "Songs Through Time" album.

Songs Through Time

Summer Vacation

Written, performed and recorded on June 2, 2012. This happy tear-jerker (at least for me) ballad reminisces on things our daughter said and did as a 9 year old. This song was remastered for and appears on my 2016 "Songs Through Time" album.

Mind of a Nine Year Old

It’s a true time capsule, yet still feels like yesterday. I recently rediscovered and salvaged several original late 80s pop and R&B tinged songs from a reel-to-reel tape I recorded in 1990 at college. Think Color Me Badd, a little S.O.S. Band, and Madonna’s Vogue in places. You’ll hear naïve 80s lyrics, synth-based sax solos, my insecure 24-year old vocals strategically held back in the mix and swimming in reverb, my “a-ha falsetto” that has since long left me, boy band-like harmony painfully recorded track by track, vintage synths, a few Linn drum fills and a Roland TR-909 drum machine holding it all together. Take a listen to my once-secret contribution to the late 80s if you dare, featuring dance pop, pop/R&B ballad, and a slow jam with some white boy old school rap! One footnote: “River’s Edge” got radio play in Greenville, NC, as it was written about walking along the Tar River.

Give & Take

Michael’s official start as a composer/songwriter came in the summer of 1977, he notated two instrumental piano works instead of practicing for his next piano lesson. He played those two pieces for his piano teacher. She encouraged his creativity and the spark was ignited. He was 11.

Fast forward to the age of the Casiotone MT-70 keyboard and a cassette recorder he received on Christmas years later and there was no turning back. Rummaging through the many cassette “master” tapes in a box recently, he discovered that he had written/recorded well over 500 songs and instrumentals from 1977 to 1989 alone.

He attended East Carolina University’s School of Music and received a BM in theory/composition (electronic music, music business emphasis) followed by a MM in Music (composition). They hired him out of grad school to continue his work as recording engineer. It’s also where he met his wife, Tracy. He spent the next 21 years at ECU, teaching various courses including an online popular music course and serving under the dean of the College of Fine Arts & Communication as instructional designer/coordinator of technology & distance education. In 2011, he received a second masters degree, this time in Instructional Technology, also from ECU. In 2015, took a job at the University of Richmond, returning to his home state of Virginia. In 2019, he took a position in Virginia's Department of Elections (eLearning Specialist) and also teaches popular music courses at 4 area colleges and universities. Michael is a realist: he knows making music for a living is very tough these days, so the “day job” keeps the bills paid while he toils away in the studio…working up new gems and going "Frankenstein" on some of his old unreleased tracks.

Michael did take a hiatus from creating music from 1999-2007. During that time, he and his wife Tracy welcomed their daughter, Abigail. Abigail has even helped her dad write/record a few songs.

In 2008, Michael stumbled on the poetry of Sara Teasdale and was incredibly moved by her lyrical prose. He decided to pick 10 poems and set them in today’s electronic pop genre. The Teasdale project is a long-term project, so no release date is known.

In June 2016, Michael released a compilation album "Songs Through Time", comprised of brand-new songs and remastered or re-recorded tracks from the past 20+ years.

In December 2017, he released the "Christmas Lake" EP, containing four original instrumentals with a touch of holiday spirit.

In June 2018, Michael released the album, "Issues", containing 11 tracks (most new, and a couple previously unreleased songs re-envisioned). The album has a slightly more electronic and 80s nostalgic sound, touching on numerous genres as he is prone to do on albums.

In July 2019, Michael released all-instrumental new age/soundtrack EP, entitled "Aquarium", inspired by a large freshwater aquarium he once owned. 

In 2020, Michael released one single and three diverse albums. "Almost Free" was a single written one year too early, with hopes that COVID would subside soon. The album "Opus 2" was a contemporary jazz release featuring several previously unreleased (and thus reimagined) compositions and a couple of new ones, all paying tribute to famous jazz musicians along with Prince, who often utilized some jazz elements in his music. The album, "Music for Modern Dance" was a remastered compilation of music commissioned by choreographers dating back to the 1990s. Finally, the album "ESCAPE" was yet another compilation of some of my early electronic instrumental work, all performed on (now) vintage equipment. The recordings were remastered from their original analog reel-to-reel recordings.

In 2021, Michael released the follow-up to 2018's "Issues", entitled, "Resolved." This alternative rock album offers a lyrically more positive outlook on life as we emerged from COVID-19 and a politically rough four years.

In 2023, "The Teasdale Album" was finally released. This project started in 2007, with on-and-off again efforts as he carefully weaved the poetry of Sara Teasdale (1884-1933) into current-day electronic pop music.

Faces

Michael Barrett Dixon

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