For musician and soul stylist Raul Midón, life is about overcoming obstacles
some are physical, such as the blindness that occurred soon after birth.
Others were placed in his path by people … including himself.

The critically acclaimed State of Mind, his debut on EMI, might not have
happened if he had remained content with session work in Miami, collecting
easy checks while ignoring his artistic goals.

“I thought it was heaven at first; I’m blind, making a living working with
some of the biggest names in the industry, getting my check and going home.
Why the hell should I do anything else?” the thirtysomething New Mexico
native says about his session work with Shakira, Ricky Martin and Enrique
Iglesias, among others.

Besides working in the studio, he says, “I was doing my songs in restaurants
and bars, but it was no more than background music there. Miami doesn’t have
the venues like New York, where people go to listen to just original music.”

Finally becoming bored and restless, the University of Miami graduate moved
with his wife, Kathleen, to the East Coast in 2002, honing his skills in
places like Joe’s Pub and Arthur’s in New York City’s West Village. His
sleek vocals and virtuosity on the acoustic guitar did land him a track on
Spike Lee’s She Hate Me soundtrack (“Adam n’ Eve n’ Eve”), but the producers
clamoring to work with him also seemed too eager to erase his artistic
imprint in favor of their own.

“I love great R&B, but what I’ve found is that the producers that I did
demos with wanted to make the tracks sound like what’s on the radio. To me,
that would’ve been the wrong thing to do, because then I wouldn’t have stood
out as much. I play, write and sing my own songs, so I had a very good idea
of how they should sound, and a lot of producers couldn’t deal with that.
They’re trying to earn their next gig saying, ‘My last artist had this hit
on the radio,’ but they don’t think of what would serve that particular
artist.”

But when a musical scout pointed him out to Arif Mardin (famed for his work
with Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Phil Collins and Norah Jones, to name a
few), they immediately clicked. The Grammy-award winning producer helped him
secure a contract with Manhattan Records and, along with Mr. Mardin’s son
Joe at the helm, co-produced State of Mind, a beautiful blend of jazz, soul,
Latin and flamenco influences with a lively pace and brimming with passion
and positivity, with all of the lyrics either written or co-written by Mr
Midón. The Grammy-winning producer helped him secure a contract with
Manhattan Records. Mr. Mardin and his son Joe co-produced State of Mind, a
beautiful blend of jazz, soul, Latin and flamenco influences that has a
lively pace and brims with passion and positivity. All of the lyrics were
either written or co-written by Mr. Midón.

The artist acknowledges the influence of soul legends such as Donny Hathaway
and Stevie Wonder, who lent a harmonica solo to the tender “Expressions of
Love.”

“I wrote him a letter in Braille, about the track; we didn’t hear from him
for about a month, so I didn’t think he was gonna do it. He was in L.A. and
I was in New York. We ended up doing it live together from two different
coasts; he recorded it in his studio and sent us the track. I was really
surprised.”

What also amazes him is some critics’ negative reaction to his
life-affirming songs and his overall resilience. He learned early to roll
with the punches. After his African-American mother died, his Argentine
father raised him and his twin brother (now a NASA engineer) to always
believe in themselves.

“That’s the whole theme of the record, that everything is a State of Mind.
Some press people are so freakin’ jaded; they say my music is too positive.
But you know what? This is my experience. I’ve endured plenty of negative
things, but overall, you can be surrounded by great people, find yourself in
a tough situation and come out of it.”