Mike fell hard into the acoustic blues as a 16-year old in the early 80s, when he saw John Cephas and Phil Wiggins play for the first time. (Mike’s life is divided into two eras: “BC”—before Cephas—and AC!) That encounter sparked a lifetime of learning from players on the Piedmont blues circuit, including Cephas, Wiggins, John Jackson, Paul Geremia, Ann Rabson, Roy Bookbinder, and others, and of immersing himself in their influences such as Blind Boy Fuller, Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Blake, Reverend Gary Davis, and Skip James, to name a few.

Cephas would become a close personal friend, and Mike would head down to John’s house near Bowling Green, VA, at least once a month during that period, coming back days later, tired and inspired, with new stories and songs. And despite John’s status as a pillar of the Piedmont blues community, John was always supportive when Mike took Piedmont guitar stylings in different, eclectic directions. 

A decade later, Cephas sang the first dance at Mike’s wedding (the Nat King Cole tune “When I Grow Too Old to Dream”). John and Mike stayed close until John’s death in 2009. 

After playing in groups over the years in the DC area, Wisconsin and Illinois, Mike connected in 2024 with talented and likeminded musicians Cynthia Stockstill-Vierria (vocals/percussion) and Steve Woods (bones/vocals) at local jams. They formed The Piedmonsters to recreate the joy of Piedmont blues house parties, adventurously mix its syncopated grooves with other styles, and play original Piedmonsters music.