The Grateful Heart

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The Grateful Heart Band was created to bring people together, awaken hearts and inspire a loving and compassionate world through the gift of music. Accomplished through the presentation of highly crafted original songs and dynamic live performance the band is a unique step forward in rock, jazz, soul and world beat curated by project visionary Michael John Ahern. Michael is an Emmy nominated California songwriter, music producer, recording artist, and former NASA Mission Specialist with 4 decades of songwriting, studio and live performance experience. The members of the Grateful Heart Band are skilled music professionals, each with a reputation for on stage performance skill and studio session work. 

The Grateful Heart members include Michael John Ahern, Tommy Miller, Michael Israel, Bob McBain, Roger Volz, Dennis “Dino” Cordellos and Christian Pepin.

 Genre: Jazz Rock, Adult Contemporary, Yacht Rock, and Americana

 Influences: Steely Dan, Ambrosia, Boz Skaggs, Sade, Michael Franks, Christopher Cross, Toto and Genesis

Heart Shaped World

Michael John Ahern

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As the title track of Michael’s latest original album, Heart Shaped World serves as the emotional anchor for the project. The song introduces a universal truth—that our world is ultimately defined by the presence or Read more

As the title track of Michael’s latest original album, Heart Shaped World serves as the emotional anchor for the project. The song introduces a universal truth—that our world is ultimately defined by the presence or absence of love. This track sets the stage for a nine-song journey exploring how simple acts of kindness, generosity, and gratitude can reshape our daily lives.

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Michael John Ahern

vocals & guitar

Michael John founded the Grateful Heart Project, a blend of philanthropic and commercial musical enterprise dedicated to inspiring a more loving and compassionate world through music and community service. The late Rolling Stone Editor Ben Fong-Torres  described Michael as a "singing, picking, shredding embodiment of Americana music".  Michael’s musical career spans 40 + years with career highlights including cast member in the original stage production of Down From The Mountain, a finalist Nashville Bluebird Café National Songwriter Competition, music producer for the 2005 Jerry Garcia Amphitheatre Dedication Ceremony in San Francisco, and opening for Alan Holdsworth, Sara Evans, Tab Benoit, Railroad Earth, String Cheese Incident, Charlie Daniels, Jefferson Starship and Toad The Wet Sprocket. Michael currently serves as the Director of Entertainment for Sonoma Botanical Garden, the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival and Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival. Michael is the President of StompLight International, an innovative portable stage lighting system built for gigging musicians. StompLight.com 
  Listen to Michael's BarnFly Podcast  LISTEN

dennis cordellos

guitar

Dennis “Dino” Cordellos was born in San Francisco and raised in Sonoma from the age of three. In elementary school Dino was playing trumpet and guitar in school bands and by high school performing at school dances. With strong family support Dennis attended Bear Wallow School at Westerbeck Ranch studying music theory alongside academics and outdoor survival skills — an experience that greatly shaped his life.

After college Dennis made a living for 10 years playing music across the U.S. with his band, The Pacific Coast Highway. Along the way, he landed a guitar gig at the Playboy Club in San Francisco and later the Phoenix Playboy Club. In the late '70s Dennis returned to California to focus on songwriting and performing around the San Francisco Bay Area. Like today, during this time Dennis worked as a session guitarist, working on numerous recording projects at studios including Wally’s Heider Recording Studio in San Francisco.

Carlos Santana and Albert Collins fueled Dennis’s love of blues, while Wes Montgomery and George Benson deepened his passion for jazz — two musical styles Dennis brings to the music of the Grateful Heart Band.

ELectronic press kit (EPK)

Upcoming Shows

Michael John Ahern Presents | (650 ) 533 -1408 | Hello@MJAmusic.com

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