Carlisle has been creating original music on the Nashville scene for more years than he cares to admit. Opening for Muddy Waters, The Allman Brothers’ Band, Canned Heat, and others helped develop his appreciation for rhythm and blues. Off the Beaten Path is his first all-acoustic release. When he's not burnin' highway to play at gigs from St. Louis to Atlanta, Carlisle hangs out with the amazing Billy Anderson at Cumberland Recording Studios in Nashville, cutting his own stuff and setting music to lyrics for other aspiring songwriters. His attitude toward the commercial work could be improved — hear the cut, “What#@*! (ode to the commercial tunesmith)” — but hey, a guy's got to pay the rent! Hailing from Hendersonville, NC, Carlisle (prononunced with a long, flat "I" by his buddies...) is know to his mother as "Mikey". Many of the lyrics on Off the Beaten Path reflect his roots in the WNC mountains (“100 Miles”, “Carolina Blue”) and his indie musician lifestyle in Nashville (“A River Called Music”, “Works Late”) Earlier releases, available only at his gigs, were produced by his own label, Catbird Music, and under his legal name, John Michael Carlisle. Learn more about Carlisle's music at www.catbirdmusic.com. The name, Off the Beaten Path, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the lack of percussion on the CD. Carlisle offers smokey vocals along with guitar and harp. His talented friends from Music City provide bass, flute, banjo, dobro, mandolin, violin,and what percussion there is (like the brushes that so effectively warn of inbound trains on “I Hear It Comin”). The overall effect is a country blues flavor that sticks in your head and sets a sweet, easy-going mood.