Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Always a tough singer and a white-hot guitarist, Hart keeps the sound on "Showdown" somewhere between Otis Rush and Freddie King
with a dash of Big Walter Horton harp thrown in here and there. Try as he might, Hart can't help but pepper some tracks with more jazz strut than the urban Blues deserve." - Folio Weekly
"One of the few indie discs that somebody actually tried to swipe" - JAM
"Mike Hart's reputation with area musicians in unassailable as a guitarist and as a writer with a good melodic sense and lyrics that are so telling and true that you don't know whether to laugh or cry or both" - First Coast Entertainer
"Mike himself has a great voice for the Blues, rather rough hewn, like the music itself"
"Mike shows a great proficiency on the guitar, as do all the group members, on their chosen instruments"
"My favorite cuts include "Laughed Like A Jackass", with its "Moondance" rhythm, a la Van Morrison., and a great break on flute by Dick Kraft, and "Doing Me Wrong" featuring extremely nice harp work by Jerry Norris"
- The Audiophile Voice
Discography
I've released 5 albums. The first two under the name "DECOY" -"Target Area" and "On The Level", each containing 15 Hart Originals. Two under the name "Mike Hart & The Bonetones" - "Showdown" and "Everybody's Human", each containing 17 Hart originals. The latest is under the name "Mike Hart" called "Too Many Secrets", containing 19 Hart originals. You can visit my website mikehartband.com. It has a few sound samples. And they play me on WFCF in St. Augustine. The phone there is(904) 829-6940.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
My music has been described as James Brown meets Bob Dylan meets Weather Report. That's pretty close to my intent, because it incorporates R & B, intelligent lyrics in songs that last, and Jazz that's not afraid to take chances. Influences include the Blues greats - all the Kings; B.B., Albert & Freddie, T-Bone Walker, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Horace Silver, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Weather Report, and many others too numerous to mention. What sets us apart from other bands is a fierce originality. We're really hard to categorize. The songs could vary from a Blues based funk to an off the wall mood piece with intelligent lyrics. The closest comparisons would be Tom Waits. Greg Brown, Mark Knopfler, and Van Morrison, with a little Captain Beefheart thrown in.
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