Mike Waring

I know Mike through our friend Aundra.  Aundra and I sat next to each other in Spanish class almost 25 years ago.  The two of them had come out with Mike’s two boys to watch Tinyboatsession on the Rio Grande. 

One of the things I decided when putting tinyboatsession together is that they were out in the world.  Most of them are these beautiful secluded moments because they happen on the water, and by and large water is a place that is often either ignored or hard to get to.  If folks were drawn to watch or happened to be out and about at the time of filming I decided to embrace that like I would the weather and for several of these New Mexico Tinyboatsessions it meant an audience, and it was delightful.

After a few tinyboatsessions, Aundra whispered that Mike might like to do one.  It jogged a memory.  Mike had told me he’d grown up in a family of musicians and they would often perform together.  He was also in the Navy and spent a lot of time in the Pacific.  Now that he’s out he’s designing and building furniture under ‘Mustang Home Goods’. 

I told him I didn’t want to put him on the spot,  but if he had a song he wanted to sing in a tinyboat, then I wanted to capture it. 

He said yes.   While we got him into position in the boat I picked up a small plastic sailboat that had made its way down the river.  It seemed appropriate because the first song he sang was a shanty.  The song was ‘Away, Rio, about the Rio Grande river, but not the one we were on.   Tinyier boats in a tinyboat?   Songs about big river, but not the river we were on?  Songs where I didn’t expect to find them?  It seemed like that was what tinyboatsession was all about. Instagram: @mustanghomegoods