Michael Mayo | "Bones"

NYC-based rising vocalist, songwriter and instrumentalist Michael Mayo has released his genre-defying, highly personal debut solo album Bones on via Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Records about embracing his truth of being bisexual. Though classically trained, Mayo’s original music is a seamless blend of alternative and neo-soul elements, as evidenced on the album’s introductory singles “The Way” and “You and You,” released in 2020, and recently released single “20/20”.  Each of the songs on Bones represents a learning experience for Mayo, the building blocks (“Bones”) that made him the person he is today.. In many ways, the collection serves as a letter to himself after years of lying to others about who he truly was and felt. Bones affirms you can live authentically, and not be afraid to express it. Having no black bisexual role models growing up, Michael hopes he can be that person for someone now and that one day we won’t have to “come out” but coexist with our differences. 

A diehard New Yorker for the past five years, Mayo was born and raised in Los Angeles surrounded by music, and love, as the son of “first-call” session and touring musicians. His father, Scott Mayo, currently the musical director for Sergio Mendes, was a saxophonist for Earth, Wind & Fire, while his mother, Valerie Pinkston, now a back-up vocalist for Diana Ross, has also sang with Beyonce, Luther Vandross, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston and Morrissey. The final track on Bones, “Hold On,” features his mom, who wrote the lyrics, singing on the first half and his dad providing background vocals, bringing Michael’s life full circle. In addition to his influential parents, Michael also studied at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute -- now named after Herbie Hancock, who mentored Mayo, helping him discover the link between sound and technology through a looper pedal, while showcasing him as a featured vocalist on a tour of South America in 2018.