Originally from New York, Mike Conrad always wanted to be a cowboy. Pressured by his parents to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor, Mike resisted and inspired by the rodeos he attended at Madison Square Garden, he ran away from home at the age of 15 and joined the J.E. Ranch Rodeo. Although he was only with the rodeo for three months (before his parents tracked him down and he was sent home), Mike was exposed to his first singing cowboy, a rodeo clown who played guitar and banjo and sang songs.
With banjo player Derroll Adams, he later toured Great Britain and Europe and had a lasting effect on the music scene there. He had made three folk albums for the British label, Topic. Playing in the small clubs and pubs of London by day, he would then take his act to the smart, West End Cabaret night clubs. Upon arriving back in the U.S., Mike discovered he had become well-known within the folk scene.
Mike's nickname is due not to his travel habits, but rather to the countless stories he would relate before answering the simplest of questions. Folk singer Odetta claims that it was her mother who gave him the name by remarking, "Oh, yeah, he can sure ramble on!"
Mike is well known for his trademark red hat and borrowing facts from other famous bios.
hi friend! hope your holidays went well...if you're around tomorrow i'm playing at COFFiHOUSE 12/27 at 7pm (http://www. COFFiHOUSE. com) hope you can make it out!
Hey Mike...Sorry I missed your show, but I promise I will do my best to make to one really soon! Put me on your email list so I can be in the loop, dammit!
i leave for tejas on the 4th. cry. you should def go see alexis though -she's fab live :) my friends kodiak are playing too - bluesy good stuff. as for monday, i have work and then soccer plus parents are in town for the cb fest til wed, i believe. busy busy busy couple of weeks ahead.
de nada. glad you could come. what i want = same progression as the jack johnson song with my fav lyrics. "i read somewhere that you gotta beware, you can't believe anything you read. " nice song (both of em :)
TN was great - It was really loads of fun, and I hope to go back next time knowing more what I'm doing, but it's just a great opp to hang out and see a jillion artists in a small space and short time. Pretty unbelievable. BTW that sun inlay on your guitar is awesome.
My song "everest" is on a free sampler with artists from the label Ocean Music : http://www.ocean-music.fr/christmas/omc1.zip (zôon, hafdis huld, happily ever after, lisa cerbone etc)
It was great to see you at Red/Black... wore the disguise again at Iota on Friday... forgot a few bobby pins tho, and it was a near-disaster. It's the little things... Anyway, keep in touch! xoceleste
