Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel makes it seven

New album ‘Kokomo Honey’ drops in time for 30th anniversary

Today’s article is brought to you by Marvin’s Auto Repair and Service. Located at 111 E. Gano St., Marvin’s is ready and able to repair vehicles of most makes and models, affordably and professionally. They also can provide service to your vehicle, from oil changes to tire rotations. To schedule a repair or service appointment, call 765-553-7074.

Mike Milligan still has the blues after 30 years. And just in time for that anniversary, Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel is releasing its seventh studio album, “Kokomo Honey.” The new music has been a long time coming for one of the most popular blues acts in the Midwest.

“It has been a long time since our last album,” said Milligan. “’Lucky Man’ came out in 2010. We haven’t been in the studio since. We just kind of rode the wave. We had six albums, and things were going great. We were just enjoying it. I thought I had written songs about everything I wanted to write about.

“But the songs just started coming in. I started writing again, and the next thing you know, we had quite a handful of songs we wanted to record.”

The band began recording in the summer, and work on the new album is nearly completed. The first two tracks on the album already have been released digitally, and Milligan hopes to have the entire album available online in November. CDs of “Kokomo Honey” will follow in December.

Fans of the band should already be familiar with the album’s title track. “Kokomo Honey” has been a part of their set list for more than a year. And it is a song close to Milligan’s heart.

“The title track came off the label of a honey jar I bought,” said Milligan. “The label said, ‘Pure and natural.’ Another one of them said, ‘raw.’ I thought to myself, ‘I think I know her.’ So, I started writing the song. It’s about my wife. She grew up in the city, not far from the tall corn fields.”

Kokomo Honey - Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel

The new album has 12 tracks, though two of them are acoustic versions of other songs on the album. For instance, the title track has a full band version and an acoustic version. The final track, however, was just added to the album a few days ago.

“A friend of ours just passed away,” said Milligan. “Marty Salmon. He was a keyboard player. We did a show in Chicago with him, and he just destroyed it. He hopped up on stage to play with us, and we recorded it.

“The guys said, ‘We should include that on the album.’ It is a tribute to him. The song is ‘Home to Kokomo,’ which is a song off our first album in 1998. So, it’s really not new, but Marty is on this recording. It’s really nice. He had never played the song before, but he got up there and played it like he wrote it.”

A song about his wife. A song about a fellow musician he respected. The new album has some personal ties for Milligan, but that isn’t unusual, especially with the blues.

“It’s always personal,”: said Milligan. “All music should be personal. Even my instrumentals are very personal. They can be fun, too, but I give them titles that have to do with my personal life.”

Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel hasn’t been a full-time endeavor for several years. The band tours regularly, but stays in the Midwest, mostly between Chicago and Nashville, and rarely farther east and west than Cincinnati and Illinois. Things will pick up a bit in 2023, considering the new album and the band’s anniversary. Some tour dates already are scheduled, including two in Kokomo.

Milligan said the band has been tapped to play in downtown Kokomo on New Year’s Eve, and it will take to the stage for the first time in Foster Park next summer.

“I’ve never played there in all the years it has been there,” said Milligan. “T.A. Weber contacted me and said, ‘For your 30th anniversary, we need to do a big show in Kokomo.’ So, we’ll be there in August.”

The band’s limited exposure locally is intentional. Outside of the annual “Rockers for Knockers” fundraising concert, which celebrated 15 years in October, Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel rarely plays in Kokomo. Part of that is due to the strange phenomenon surrounding musical acts: they seldom are appreciated as much at home as they are on the road.

“There is a story about John Mellencamp,” said Milligan. “I grew up idolizing him. He and his band went to Seymour, where he is from, and they were talking to high school friends. This guy said, ‘My daughter went to this concert to see Johnny Cougar. I asked, ‘Who is Johnny Cougar?’ I find out it’s my friend from high school, and my daughter wants to buy a t-shirt with him on it for $25. I have pictures of him at home. He’s no big deal.’

“You get seen as just ‘a guy I know.’ People in other communities say, ‘Hey, this guy is great!’ I have people here in town I’ve known a long, long time. They still haven’t heard my band.”

Those people are missing out on something unique. Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel sounds like a full blues band, but it’s just three members. Shaun Milligan plays bass. Robert “Tiny” Cook is on drums. And Milligan plays lead guitar, though sometimes it doesn’t sound like it.

Milligan creates his signature sound by running his guitar through a Leslie speaker. The rotating baffle on the speaker cone gives his sound the tremolo commonly associated with an organ.

 “When I play, I can make it sound like a church organ,” said Milligan. “We’ve actually been accused a couple times of cheating or playing to a backing track because they think they’re hearing an organ. It’s just a guitar. George Harrison did it a lot. (Jimi) Hendrix did it a lot. Even Culture Club. Their whole title track, ‘Karma Chameleon,’ is run through a Leslie.”

For “Kokomo Honey,” Milligan kept it simple. The three members of the band handle the bulk of the load on the album, though they did make some exceptions for family.

“This time, it’s just us,” said Milligan. “It’s pure and raw and natural. I did bring my dad (Mike Sr.) on for it. He played rhythm guitar. And I recruited a bunch of friends and family to sing with us on a song.

“I wasn’t looking for a choir, but once we got there, I realized that most of the people were choir members at their churches. So, it turned out great, and best of all it was family.”

Heaven Help Us All - Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel

Those looking to get their ears on “Kokomo Honey” can listen to the first two songs right here, and they can pre-order the entire album by visiting bandcamp.com. Additional information about Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel, including future concert dates, can visit the band’s website or Facebook page.