An Interview with Mike McLaren 3.31.09 by HolleyHall, 25 Feb 2009 07:47 PM

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Back in 2006 I discovered Mike McLaren on a "Artist of the week" article in the forums. I became a big fan ever since! Mike's Music has such a natural earthy feel. The open tunings on the Guitar and the dobro & banjo all play a part in a tapestry in his vivid spiritual sound! Some of my favorites are "Last Room in Newport" "Soldiers Lament" and "On the Path"  just to name a few.  I Look forward to the opportunity working with Mike on collaborating via the web with some of his songs!

Mike, this has truly been an honor to have this interview!  I know many here on EZfolk will appreciate your music as much as I have!

Name of Artist/Band?
Right now I'm just Mike McLaren, banging out country and slide blues on a dobro, my banjo, a 1956 Silvertone archtop, and sometimes my mountain dulcimer.

EZ Folk profile Link: http://ezfolk.com/audio/bands/1186/

Image URL:
Holley Hall: What is your music background?

Mike: I'm just a fella gettin' older. Every once in awhile I form a band to see whether a certain acoustic genre will catch hold in my area, and if it does I go back to solo blues and country. My latest adventure was a jug band. I'm back to solo. My next adventure will be another jug band, hopefully comprised of my students.

Holley: Do you prefer to play music as a profession or a hobby?

Mike: I do both. I make my living as a music instructor, teaching guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin and music theory from my home studio, and I play professional gigs. I play a lot of benefits and events in exchange for vegetables, fired pottery, or some other thing that I can use or trade for something that I need. I'd say half my gigs are paid, and the other half I play for trade, or just because I want to play the gig.

Holley: When and how did you first become interested in music? How long have you been playing music?

Mike: I spent the first five years of my life in a little dirt town in Texas, with blues and jug band being played on the front porch. The black baptist church was catty-corner from the house, and since Dad loved to sing we attended that church. Boy did that cause a ruckus with the townsfolk.

In the sixth grade I put down my baritone and my trumpet, because I started guitar lessons with a fella named Dave Steckleberg. My mom took me to see him play with his trio at a lodge in Estes Park, Colorado. I knew right then I wanted to do that... played my first gig as the rhythm guitarist for a band that played only for our high school dances. We sucked so badly that we only got to do it twice in four years. Eventually, I got my feet wet as a soloist playing in smokey dives around Denver, while I worked as a dock foreman in the train yards and warehouses of a mercantile chain. Eventually I escaped the city on my way to attend college, and ended up in country western and country rock bands. Going into college, I went solo, playing frat houses, biker bars, and more smokey dives.

Holley:  Does anyone in your family play music?

Mike: Funny thing... I'm the only one in my family who plays music. My daughter, however, learns or teaches herself how to play anything she picks up. Right now she's working on fiddle, jammin' a bit with old-time folks in San Diego.