Michael Lombardo (born March 30, 1988) is an American former piano rock musician. He was known for writing piano-driven rock songs and posting them on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

under the username "MikeLombardoMusic", until his 2013 conviction on

child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...

charges. He was previously signed to

DFTBA Records DFTBA Records, commonly known as DFTBA.com, is an e-commerce merchandise company that was co-founded by Hank Green and Alan Lastufka in 2008. Originally a record label, the company now focuses on selling merchandise for prominent YouTube content ...

through which he released one LP, ''Songs for a New Day'', and one EP, ''The Alchemist''. Lombardo posted music videos, song tutorials, and personal updates on his YouTube channel which had over 20,000 subscribers before its closure. As of August 16, 2018, Lombardo was released from FCI Fort Dix, having served a five-year sentence at the facility after pleading guilty to child pornography charges.

Musical background

Lombardo frequently states that he has been making music since he was two years old. He graduated a year early from Berklee College of Music in 2009, earning a degree in songwriting. He first started uploading original songs on YouTube as a way to post his homework for class assignments.

Child pornography charges

On February 16, 2012, it was announced by

The Smoking Gun The Smoking Gun is a website that posts legal documents, arrest records, and police mugshots on a daily basis. The intent is to bring to the public light information that is somewhat obscure or unreported by more mainstream media sources. Most ...

that Lombardo "is the target of a federal child pornography investigation focusing on his alleged exchange of naked photos with underage female fans." Two days after the release of the article,

Hank Green William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...

, one of the co-owners of

, put up a statement on his

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

blog stating that the company had removed Lombardo's music from their website because they "didn’t feel it appropriate to continue our business relationship given the situation." On July 20, 2012, a complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York alleging four counts of child pornography related crimes. He was arrested on July 25, 2012, but released from custody after five days. On September 18, 2013, The Smoking Gun published another article announcing that Lombardo had pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. According to the plea bargain, Lombardo solicited pornographic images from six different minors. On February 28, 2014, Lombardo was sentenced to five years in federal prison. He was released on August 16, 2018.

Awards, achievements, and appearances

* Lombardo won 1st place in the jazz category of the 2008 Upstate NY Songwriting competition. * In March 2010, Lombardo earned the title of Master of Song Fu after winning

Quick Stop Entertainment Fred Entertainment (formerly Movie Poop Shoot and later Quick Stop Entertainment) is a pop-culture website. The site was founded as Movie Poop Shoot by director Kevin Smith to promote the 2001 movie ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back''. The site serv ...

's Masters of Song Fu songwriting competition with his song "This Song Is Meta (And So Is This Title)". * Lombardo wrote a parody of

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

's ''Viva La Vida'' in homage to

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

called "Viva La Fry," and it garnered Fry's attention. * Lombardo, along with his band, The Mike Lombardo Trio, opened for pop musician

Ryan Cabrera Ryan Frank Cabrera ( ) (born July 18, 1982) is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album '' Elm St.'', he released ...

on his US tour in Hamden, Connecticut on December 6, 2010. * Lombardo's video "Mike Lombardo Smackdown," about Internet

file sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...

and piracy was awarded Video of the Year 2010 by the website MusicTechPolicy.com. * Lombardo has collaborated with many artists, including Meghan Tonjes, on Sara Bareilles' song "King of Anything," which Bareilles watched and commented on. * Another video, titled "Songwriting on the Floor: Rhyme (And Why Eminem Is Awesome)," was featured on CBSnews.com in May 2011. * His cover of

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a ...

' song "My Man" was included on the "Mink Car Cover" project organized to raise money for the New York Fire Department, in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the release of They Might Be Giants' album '' Mink Car''. This album featured work done by other artists such as

Molly Lewis Molly Lewis (aka Sweetafton23) is an American musician who is known for her ukulele playing and who rose to prominence on the Internet. She plays both covers and original songs. Her original music consists of comedic songs that deal with relevan ...

MC Frontalot Damian Hess (born December 3, 1973), better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. Hess began releasing music as MC Frontalot in 1999. His first successes came through Song Fight!, an online songwriting and ...

, and more. * During the late summer of 2011, Lombardo toured with

nerdcore Nerdcore is a genre of hip hop music characterized by subject matter considered of interest to nerds and geeks. Self-described nerdcore musician MC Frontalot has the earliest known recorded use of the term (to describe this genre) in the 200 ...

rapper MC Frontalot as his keyboardist under the stage-name " 56K." This tour saw Lombardo play live in front of the sold-out crowd at

Penny Arcade Expo PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX w ...

, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, sharing the main stage with other artists, such as

Paul and Storm Paul and Storm are an American, Arlington, Virginia-based comedic musical duo, consisting of Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo. They are best known for their humorous songs about geek culture and for amassing an internet fan base. They ...

and

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are " Co ...

. *In the fall of 2011, Lombardo opened a handful of shows for comedy duo,

. *In October 2011, Lombardo traveled with

as the band's Front of House

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproductio ...

.Frontalot Fall Tour 2011: Days 1–3, Austin, TX
Ken Flagg (2011-10-22). Retrieved on 2012-02-18.

Discography

*''The Fordham Sessions'' (2010) *''Songs for a New Day'' (2010) *''The Alchemist'' (2011) *''Alive in Philly'' (2011) – Live album recorded at Milkboy Coffee in

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 12,455 at the 2010 census and had risen to 13,566 in the ...

References

External links