Guitar Bio

Mike first became interested in music performance at the age of 10 (5th grade), joining the elementary school band as a drummer and continuing in that role through 8th grade. Midway through that period, one of Mike’s boyhood friends, David Brunsma, got him intrigued in another form of musical expression – the guitar!

Mike’s first guitar came at Christmas when he was 12 years old. It was, as expected, an off the shelf acoustic steel string (Montoya), complete with the full beginner’s package of spare strings, picks, tuning pipe, etc. Taking right to it – he immersed himself in studying theory and learning songs from the rock bands of the day: AC/DC, Def Leppard, UFO, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Journey, Iron Maiden…

Throughout junior high and high school, Mike kept at it – learning more about music, songwriting, and himself along the way. His love for music continued to grow the more he learned about it. Soon he was dabbling in bands & jam sessions, covers & originals, lyrics & melodies, etc.

Attending college at Western Illinois University opened Mike up to the experience of regular live performance and collaborative songwriting sessions. Around this time, he was also introduced to the world of home recording. As a result, his songwriting abilities were quick to improve with the aid of multi-track recording technology now at his fingertips. Imagined ideas could now be realized.

The college years also saw Mike begin to focus more on developing his true love – writing instrumental music.

Having spent the last few years quietly composing and producing a wealth of new material, Mike has emerged with a band of musicians focused on creating and performing dynamic music with equal parts grit & grace, served up as a concoction often referred to as 'Three Machine'.

 

Enjoyable Bands:

 

Black Sabbath

Caroline’s Spine

dada

Dio

Filter

Frost*
Giant

Hardline

Karmakanic

Naikaku

OSI

Planet X

Porcupine Tree

Primus
Rush

Sixpence None The Richer
Sponge
Static-X

Tool

UFO

Uncle Moe's Space Ranch

Vertical Horizon

 

Enjoyable Guitarists/Musicians:

 

Jeff Beck

Brett Garsed
Paul Gilbert

Guthrie Govan

T.J. Helmerich

Allan Holdsworth
Greg Howe

Eric Johnson

Shawn Lane

Tony MacAlpine

Alex Machacek
Gary Moore

Michael Schenker

Neal Schon

Derek Sherinian
Steve Stevens