|
"Mike plays the
guitar like a Byrd. His strings do things that mine could never do.
They obey the slightest finger-touch commands like a fine Reining
Horse"
Check these tunes out - Oildale John Steinbeck Drank in Here
|
|
"Mike plays the
guitar like a Byrd. His strings do things that mine could never do.
They obey the slightest finger-touch commands like a fine Reining
Horse"
Check these tunes out - Oildale John Steinbeck Drank in Here
|
After spending over 20 years living in the Bozeman area, Mike packed
his bags and made his way back to his childhood home in Monterey, CA
and in 2003 he was jointed by The Bohemian Saints. The Saints are
comprised of lead guitarist Tom Ayers, bassist Marty Lydon and
drummer Joe Wedlake. Tom currently has a record deal with Sony
Columbia. Tom also plays with his wife’s band Persephone’s Bees and
recorded the theme song for the recent Hollywood release
‘Bewitched’. Mike's new CD "Rooted" was recorded at Ridge Top Sound
in Aptos and features 11 new songs!! Rooted is a new sound for Mike
as it diverges from his other, more traditional home on the range
recordings. Mike as an individual has changed quite a bit over the
years, but there is something about him that will never go away.
His song,
When writing music, Mike doesn’t limit himself with certain rules.
As he goes about his day-to-day life, he always keeps a keen ear for
certain phrases. Working with horses allows a writer extensive
opportunities to think of stories to tell. Mikes Americana songs
send a variety of messages from how the country scene has changed to
the drinking history of John Steinbeck to more serious world issues
such as a young female translator who joined the Marine Corps to get
a leg up in life and was sent to risk her life in Iraq. “I like to
write early in the morning over a cup of coffee,” said Mike. “I
think of concepts and write in the mornings, then play my B Bender
during the day. Playing and writing separately makes for an
extraordinary anthology.” Mike is influenced by legends like Bob
Dylan, Tom Petty and Woody Guthrie. Mike new release Oildale
shows the morphology of his life experiences as they are transposed
into music and lyrics. Since the birth of Merl Haggard, the
adjacent towns of Oildale and Bakersfield had decades of the country
vibe. One day Mike stopped by the Blackboard, also known as the
Ryman of the West Coast, to find Buck Owens and get a signature on
his custom Parson’s White B Bender guitar. To his surprise, the
whole country scene had vanished just as quickly as it originated,
thus inspiring the song. Mike says that one of the biggest lessons
he’s learned is that in order to write a hit song, you have to write
a hundred bad ones first. His compositions are a poetic conveyance
and expression of feelings. 
“Rooted”
is tied w/ Eric Clapton’s new album as receiving the most airplay on
a series of California country stations. For the most part the band
plays around Mike, but together they try to uphold a Led Zeppelin
mindset. Mike tells them his ideas after he writes a song, but then
each member is free to run with it and add their personal touch.
This allows the music to have a very real vibe. Their live shows
tend to be much more energetic than the studio recordings because
the crowd always gets into the music and magnifies the energy back
and forth. The band will be touring California over the summer to
include the 40th Anniversary of the Monterey pop
festival. They will also be playing Billings in August and are
looking to set up a gig in Missoula. Check out their music and
visit
