Album Review: Michi: Where Your Heart is: A Poet With a Six-String

Artists like Michiko Egger are rare. Perhaps once in a long while- a decade, a generation, something like that. A guitar virtuoso and a young songwriter in the vein of James Taylor and Carly Simon, Egger can captivate in a variety of ways.

Egger is essentially a poet, with amazing skills on the guitar and a voice you’ll remember. At just 18, she already understands music theory and song structure better than artists two and three times her senior.

Her album, “Where Your Heart is” proposes a question, but after a few tours with this album, you know that query is directed right at you. Egger leaves her heart on her guitar strings in what could be one of the best albums to come from an independent artist in years.

This is an album. Not a mish-mash of singles geared to make money. The singular songs by themselves have staying power, but in succession, they have the most power. Songs such as “Mulberry Breakdown” and “Best of Me” tell the story of a young mind experiencing the worst of love. Other tracks the likes of “Warrior” and “He Said” show the other side of love. At other times Egger showcases her classical guitar training. She’s like Pat Travers with the songwriting of a John Mayer or Michelle Branch.

For a teenager to pen tales such as these and to simultaneously shred on occasion shows a natural talent that has been respected and cultured. The brevity and polish of the guitar work and song writing is enough for Egger to gain your ears’ trust. It’s her voice that essentially seals the deal.

Egger doesn’t sound like anyone. Some may classify her high pitch as a condition of youth, but it’s just her. When singing an upbeat ballad, she turns into a lovesick teen, evoking a smile out of her listener. When crooning about the ugly side of love, she’s reflective and relatable in a way that would make Mayer blush. Whether you’re in the middle of a break-up or reveling in unmistakable love, Egger’s tunes can add a soundtrack to that journey.

That is ultimately what these 13 songs represent. It’s up to you to define how her music will affect you, but for Egger, “Where Your Heart Is” is an audio rendition of her formative years that confirms her all but assured future success.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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