Loose Salute As A Concept
"Michael Nesmith's music is some of the greatest music never heard."
- Rolling Stone Magazine, 1974
"My only regret with Loose Salute is not being able to experience it for the first time again."
- Maria Xavier,
Monkees Superfan
Mick Lawless founded Loose Salute in the spring of 2004, out of his love for the music of songwriter, musician, and creative visionary, Michael Nesmith. The concept of Loose Salute was to bring into focus the musical compositions of Nesmith, most of which went unnoticed to the average music consumer during the late '60s and '70s. Many people remember Nesmith as the wool hat-wearing guitarist from the '60s television show, The Monkees; But few understand the impact Michael Nesmith made, not only in pop music, but as a pioneering prophet for the genre known as country rock. Loose Salute performs material from two decades of Nesmith's catalogue, giving fans a great dose of nostalgia, playing his most popular songs from The Monkees - including Mary, Mary; Papa Gene's Blues; and Sweet Young Thing - as well as deep cuts only found in the deepest archives of Monkee folklore, as well as a vast array of his greatest songs with The First National Band and as a solo artist.
Mick Lawless & Michael Nesmith, 2018.
The Band
The Loose Salute band is made up of seasoned musicians - some of whom were support musicians for the Monkees live acts and hold the moniker of Monkee band alumni. All within the group hold a strong passion and love for the project, and understand the magnitude of carrying Nesmith's torch forward.
The band performs at M60, 2026.
Mick, Spike, Dave, and Brian, 2026.
Peter Tork and Bobby Hart (Boyce & Hart) performing with Loose Salute, with Tom Yates on guitar.
Mick Lawless with Micky Dolenz.
Guitarist David Robichaeu with Davy Jones.
In 2018, Mike Nesmith reformed the First National Band under the name First National Band Redux.
Loose Salute did a radio broadcast to the world in homage to Papa Nez and his accomplishments, including surviving some health issues that year. The Happy Nez Year Broadcast took place on January 1st, 2019.
Here are some highlights from this highly-acclaimed session.
Tapioca Tundra
The Kind Of Girl I Could Love
Hear Loose Salute's arrangement of this Michael Nesmith classic: Papa Gene's Blues with guest vocal, Lynsey Moon.
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