Cover Story

from Worcester Magazine April 8 - 14, 2022

by Worcester Magazine

Adoption Option

NOT ‘BROKEN’

Michael Kane & the Morning Afters on rise with new album

Jason Greenough Special to Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Michael Kane is not shy to admit that he is a self-proclaimed “record nerd.” Vinyls, cassettes, you name it – there’s just something about those mediums that give the music a whole new spirit. So, to hold his own record in his hands after pouring his blood, sweat and tears into the project he cultivated with his band, the Morning Afters, over the past few years is just surreal.

With the release of their first full-length album “Broke But Not Broken,” which hits shelves April 8, Kane’s longtime Worcester punk roots have finally found the surface after quite a lengthy cultivation process, and the surrealism of the moment also stems from the numerous forms the album has taken on over the last five years. More than once, between attempts to make the record in 2017 and 2018, batches of songs were created and then scrapped, as it just didn’t feel like the vibe both Kane and the band wanted to put out.

But after a few lineup changes here and there, as well as the addition of a keys section, Kane kept writing and tweaking the ideas until they took another crack at it in early 2020, and something just clicked for the whole group, just in the nick of time before the pandemic reared its ugly head.

However, things outside of the studio hadn’t exactly been copacetic for Kane, and he channeled the whirlwind of emotions he was experiencing into the mish mash of love, loss, joy and hope into the final product. While the subject matter may not be all that bubbly and upbeat, Kane still sees the record as a celebration of hope and perseverance, and he’s excited to see how listeners, old and new, connect to it once they give it a spin.

SeeKANE,Page17

Michael Kane peruses the album collection at That's

Entertainment. CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Kane

Continued from Page 16

“When I was writing the bulk of this record, I was going through some medical issues, and I was also going through a divorce at the time, and a lot of the songs have that vibe where the lyrical content isn’t exactly dark, but they do deal with love and loss, and that whole thing,” says Kane. “I really feel though, at the end of the day when the record was done, and I sat down and played it back, it feels like a very hopeful record. It’s a very ‘you can get through this’ type of record, so I am pretty proud of that. It has an optimistic feel to it, even though the subject matter is a little daunting, and I hope people get that from it.”

While Kane’s not-so-easy go of things at the time were a major driving force in the record’s minutiae and he does bring the collection of tracks through rollercoaster ride that visits the highest peaks and deepest valleys of human emotion, he was adamant that the placement of certain songs would be vital to the album’s vibe and flow, a-la Springsteen’s “Born To Run.” The foundation of it, though, was simply Kane’s unwavering sense of determination, or rather stubbornness as he puts it, that fully fills in the record’s sound, where nothing was going to stand in the way of delivering this batch of songs to the masses.

What further helped deliver this record, obviously, was the top-tier musicianship by guitarist Franklin Siplas, bassist Timmy Weagle, drummer Jeff Hoey and Joe Ferraro manning the keys, and Kane is quick to not only acknowledge, but nearly gush at the amount of artistic precision the band displayed during the process.

“We ran a Kickstarter campaign at the start of this, which I really went back and forth on a bunch, but we decided to do it, and that really bought us the time in the studio,” says Kane. “So, although it seems like we banged it out quick, because we did, we also had a little bit of extra time to take a breather and throw some additional things out there to see if it sticks, thanks to everyone who supported us. The band was just on top of everything. Everyone in the group was just so focused on what they needed to do, and worked to serve each song as best as they could. It was such a fun record to make and not stressful in the least. Everyone brought their A-game and absolutely killed it.”

Although the musical expertise of everyone in the band needs no assistance, there were a few bits and pieces that Kane outsourced to a few friends. Offering his own swaggering six-string twist on the album’s opening track was Dropkick Murphys guitarist James Lynch, with whom Kane goes way back, while Helen Sheldon of Helen & The Trash Pandas lent her vocal range to a pair of tracks, and Roger Lavallee chimed in on guitars while also manning the producer’s chair.

While short in duration, the additional contributions were not small by a long shot, and Kane can’t help but feel lucky for the folks he calls friends.

“I called James up and told him that I had this solo in my head (for ‘Tear This World Apart’), and I thought it would be a great fit for him, because he’s a great guitar player, and he really sunk his teeth into it,” says Kane. “Now, with Roger in the studio, he’s a genius. Not only does he know what I want to hear if