Chicago Mike Beck
Libertyville, Illinois, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Fusing a variety of styles including rock, country, and bluegrass into a melodic stew, Mike Beck melds a virtuoso technical style with catchy melodies and interpretive panache. He adds a hint of country twang to Charles Segar's "Key To The Highway" and delivers a rousing, classic rock reworking of The Rolling Stones' "Let It Bleed." "One Minus One" is laced with harmonica and piano, while "The Ghost Of Mrs. Adler" shows the influence of bluegrass on Beck's versatile songwriting. (Contact: www.chicagomike.com)
-- Review by Patrick Conlan / Illinois Entertainer magazine - Illinois Entertainer magazine - Review by Patrick Conlan
Discography
"Chicago Mike Beck" CD
Released August 2003 by Big Ugly Music & Media, featuring 9 songs with members of Chicago Mike's InterGalactic Brother & Sisterhood of Big Eyed Beans and special guests Howard Levy, Larry McCray and Nora O’Connor.
"Chicago Mike Beck" has received radio airplay in Japan, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Transylvania, Romania, Macedonia, and the USA.
Available on iTunes, Amazon.com and CDBaby.com.
Photos
Bio
With loyal followings on two continents, “Chicago” Mike Beck’s ecstatic live performances and eclectic 1,000+ song repertoire have carried him through two decades and hundreds of thousands of miles of travel in North America and Europe.
Whether performing solo or with his band Chicago Mike's InterGalactic Brother & Sisterhood of Big Eyed Beans, he delivers hundreds of high-energy performances each year to diverse enthusiastic audiences. Since 2001, Mike has toured Europe 19 times, performing in Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, and Ireland.
He has been a featured artist at the prestigious Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in Lyons, Colorado 4 times, enjoyed official performances at the Sundance Film Festival 12 times, holds a residency several weeks each year at the historic Bright Angel Lodge on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and his band recently headlined the closing showcase of the ÉCU Film Festival in Paris, France.
Mike’s CD premiered in August 2003 and has garnered ardent reviews and airplay on radio stations throughout the USA, Europe and Japan. Musicians appearing on the CD include members of his USA and European Big Eyed Beans bands, as well as harmonica virtuoso Howard Levy, blues guitar great Larry McCray, and folk diva Nora O’Connor. Mike has performed live on both radio and television numerous times, and during the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, NBC’s Amy Jacobson produced a feature segment about Mike and his music which aired on the final Friday of the Olympics. He was recently the subject of “Chicago Mike: The Movie”, a documentary short film screened at the Slamdance Film Festival. He’s currently at work on his long-awaited followup CD, to be released later this year.
Born in Los Angeles but inveigled at a tender age to Chicago’s suburbs, Mike immersed himself in the Windy City’s musical wealth, exploring its rich legacy of blues, jazz, gospel, soul and rock. Following a two year pilgrimage to New Orleans in his late teens, Mike returned to Illinois, this time landing in the southern end of the state, just north of Kentucky. Here, he further honed his aggressive acoustic guitar style, fusing bluegrass elements gleaned from so many of the talented pickers he found in southern Illinois. Three years living in the Blues Mecca of Chicago’s north side was followed by seven years in the wilds of Utah, where Mike first began to perform professionally. When he’s not recording and performing throughout the USA and abroad, Mike now resides just north of Chicago in Libertyville, Illinois.
Possessing a passionate voice and dynamic stage presence, Mike’s performances include forays into rock, soul, blues and country, including compelling originals, classic rock favorites, stirring soul standards, and guilty pleasures.
At Mike’s web site -- ChicagoMike.com -- you’ll find music, videos, an up-to-date tour calendar, and photos from recording sessions and live performances.
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