I started playing out solo acoustic almost three years ago and one of the first people that really caught my attention was Mike Vial. His guitar playing was a eye-opener and his songs were great. I made a point to keep in touch with him and one thing lead to another and over time we started playing shows together. One night, on a long drive home from the Acorn Theater, he was talking about recording his next record totally live, with no overdubs or edits, and I absentmindedly said, “I think I could record that”… We spent three days and a hundred and fifty takes in a cabin up north and he did it! He made a fantastic, heartfelt and authentic record. Mike has been encouraging me to make a record of my own, and so here I am, at Rooftop Recording, closing in on final mixes… He also has set up a couple of tours for us this summer taking us through six states and to some amazing venues. None more amazing than the first show of our first tour, July 10th, The Ark – Ann Arbor! It will be my record release party and I could not be more grateful to everyone that has helped this happen. Thank you, Mike, for your tireless work and endless enthusiasm. This is going to be a great show! Photo – Doug Coombe