Singer-songwriter Mike Mangione joins Lake Effect on a semi-regular basis to talk about some of the big questions he explores with people in his podcast, Time and the Mystery. But the Milwaukee-based musician continues to create music, and he recently teamed up with SistaStrings - a cello and violin duo made up of sisters Monique and Chauntee Ross.
The Ross sisters joined Mangione and his brother Tom to form the aptly-named group Mike Mangione and the Kin. Their new album is called But I've Seen the Stars.
This is the first album Mangione has released in 4 years, something he attributes in part to focusing on other projects like his podcast, spending time with family, and his desire to do something different with his music.
"I wanted whatever I did musically to be thoroughly thought out and I didn't want to continue a version of what I had been doing, I wanted [the next album] to be something new and fresh," he says. "I didn't pressure myself, I took time."
Mike Mangione and the Kin will perform at Anodyne Coffee in Walker's Point Friday, November 17. The event is a launch party for their new album, But I've Seen the Stars.
