Listen to Chapter 1 of J’s album: If It Hurts My Head, If It Breaks My Heart here!
22 songs on Musical Bead NFC card + 95 page album book with lyrics, pictures and stories…
Music Simplicity and Literacy in the Age of Machines
Pre-release copies of my book 5ths First String Theory are now available. You can only get them directly from me at markets I am visiting, shows or on my website. The Workshop Edition features spiral binding for laying flat on a music stand, when it hits Amazon in the next few months those copies will not have spiral binding.
This book is about learning music, ear training, harmony through playing instruments tuned in 5ths like mandolin, violin, cello etc. I believe music is simpler thanmodern society makes it out to be, and simpler than our institutions would have us believe. After years of playing mandolin and teaching my kids I decided to write this book as an introduction to playing in 5ths tuning for students at all skill levels. From experienced players who want another tool in their kit to music educators to songwriters to total beginners. 5ths tuning is not a curiosity, its is not just another “alternate tuning system”, it is the native language of many instruments throughout history and is a powerful educational tool. Order a copy today, or pick one up at a show!
Order a copy J’s new book: 5ths First String Theory
Songwriter, author and mandolin player, J. Carmichael writes and sings about love, faith and the crazy times we are all living through. Defiance, perhaps to a fault, echoes in his music, and his books from the way he writes, to the instruments he plays, to what he writes about. J grew up on Nashville Now, 90’s punk and indie and he is influenced by the songwriting giants of many genres. Just as comfortable at a fiddle festival as he is at a punk rock show, never content in the confines of a genre. J has released 3 full length records and a handful of EPs with another album coming in 2025. J spent 2008-2013 recording albums and playing shows from Washington State to Texas playing as an opener for: Lucero, Tumbledown (Mike of MxPx), Scott Biram, and yet to break out alt country sensation John Moreland. After becoming a father J took several years away from performing and recording and served multiple communities in Idaho and Washington state driving ambulances and fighting a few fires. Some souls however, are bound to roam and share stories and songs along the way. In 2024 and 2025 J set out on the road again with a pile of new songs and looks forward to doing even more of it in 2026
See J in Bristol, VA/TN in September!
