Music always filled Mikes house growing up. It was actually that TV group: "The Monkees" that inspired him to learn to play guitar around the age of 4. Or was it Hee Haw? Or maybe the Daltons playing bluegrass on the Andy Griffith show? He'd just grab a cup of Kool-Aide and his guitar and sit by the TV or stereo to play along with whatever was on. When the family got a piano he was thrilled to have another instrument to try figuring out.
The years passed and Mike kept at it, insatiably striving to learn more and try new things. High school bands led to a community production "Jesus Christ Superstar", which led to a college jazz band, another smaller jazz ensemble, which spawned a string of professional and semi-professional groups of nearly every genre since, with a few solo performances thrown in for good measure.
He tried a few other instruments along the way, always gravitating back to guitar and piano. Then around 1997 he received a violin as a gift. "Hmmm....I've always wanted to know how they do that." he remembers thinking. So began a new musical journey.
High Noon © , All Rights Reserved.