Mike Dillon & The Bad Decisions - Suitcase Man (2021)

Vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon has spent the last three decades playing well over 200 shows a year with both his own band, as well as a sideman with artists including Rickie Lee Jones, Les Claypool and Ani DiFranco. So when the pandemic hit in early 2020 forcing Dillon off the road, he instinctively directed his perpetually restless creative energy to writing and recording. Residing in Kansas City after spending 15 years in New Orleans, Dillon and producer Chad Meise would track a trilogy of albums: 'Shoot The Moon,' 'Suitcase Man' and '1918.' Collaborating with his record label Royal Potato Family, they would release these records exclusively via Bandcamp just days after they were mixed and mastered. In 2021, those albums will now receive the full vinyl treatment, as well as complete digital release across all streaming outlets.

The second recording in the series, 'Suitcase Man' is a nine-song cycle through which Dillon examine his life and choices made over the past 55 years. It's a distinct entry in his extensive discography, notable for its strikingly honest lyricism and minimalist arrangements that incorporate sparse vibraphone and percussion with a handful of background vocals by Tiff Lamson of Givers. Songs like "Empty Bones," "Turkish Rose" and "Matthew" represent Dillon at his most creatively daring, while confirming his ascent into the upper echelon of cult outsiders in the lineage of artists like Tom Waits, Harry Partch and Captain Beefheart.