Big Night in Byzantium, the album, was written, produced and performed by Charlie Midnight and Marc Swersky, under the artist name, BlueMcSaws, a name created by combining the names Solomon Blue and Kerry McSaws, two itinerant musicians created and written by Charlie Midnight in a series of vignettes that will accompany the album.
Big Night in Byzantium, is a raw journey through an emotional landscape of magical realism. It is a story that takes place from the Blue Hotel where everybody is nobody, to Jesse James being gunned down while eating soup at a local cafe, to a journey with God and an Apostle to Byzantium, where a big night to end all big nights awaits. The music of Hotel Blue was recorded with a lot of help from friends, lovers and the kindness of strangers with no agenda except to let everyone’s creativity propel the sessions and with no expectations except to…have no expectations.
Charlie Midnight: A Multi-Grammy® and Golden Globe® award winning and nominated Record Producer/Songwriter, Charlie has been involved in the writing and producing of albumsthat have sold over 60 million copies. His Grammy® nomination for James Brown’s “Living in America” earned Charlie a place in music history with James Brown receiving his first Grammy® for Best Male R & B Vocal Performance. In Charlie’s storied career he has written and produced for a wide variety of artists such as: James Brown, Joni Mitchell, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Cher, Idina Menzel, Barbra Streisand, Hilary Duff, Seal, Joe Cocker, Billy Joel, Jamey Johnson, Andrea Bocelli, Chaka Khan, The Doobie Brothers, Sheena Easton, Jon Waite, and Dan Hartman, amongst others, as well as having songs in over 40 films, including co-writing and producing Joe Cocker’s “Trust In Me” for the film, The Bodyguard, the all -time best-selling soundtrack album.
Marc Swersky: Marc Swersky is a Grammy® award winning songwriter, and has collaborated with some of the top artists, writers, & musicians in the music business. As a Songwriter/Producer his albums have sold in excess of 50 million copies. Over the past 5 years Swersky has developed three artists who have landed finalist/runner up spots on NBC’s The Voice. His songs have been featured in the recent blockbusters Creed, Get Hard, Barbershop 3: The Next Cut and shows such as Showtime’s Shameless. He is a two-time Grammy Award Winner, featured on: The Bodyguard Soundtrack for the song “Trust in Me,” sung by Joe Cocker, and Thanks And Giving All Year Long (Executive Producer, Marlo Thomas) for the song “I’ll Give Anything But Up,” sung by Hilary Duff. His songwriting and production repertoire encompasses a range of genres, including pop, rock,indie, soul and Americana.
