Mike Andersen
Encyclopedia
Mike Andersen is a Danish
blues
and soul
songwriter
, guitarist
, singer and bandleader
of the Mike Andersen Band.
, rhythm & blues and African-American music had taken a firm grip on Mike Andersen. While everyone around him in Denmark
was listening to a mix of Wham, Duran Duran
and Madonna
, he practiced guitar along with the LPs of Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, Muddy Waters
, John Lee Hooker
, Albert King
, Otis Rush
and many more. Later, as Mike focused on voices and words he ventured into the soul stars and Al Green
, Donny Hathaway
and Marvin Gaye
were added to his collection of vinyl.
At 20, Mike met the blues guitarist Otis Grand
. Otis and his six piece band perfectly framed the music Mike had listened to his whole life, from raw urban blues to sweaty '60s soul. Otis invited the young Mike Andersen to one of his major shows in England
where he participated as a guitarist in The Otis Grand All Star Revue at the 'The Great British R & B Festival in Colne, England. When Mike returned home to Denmark
he had a firm resolve to form a six piece blues
and soul
band of his own.
Knocking around the blues and soul scene of Aarhus
, Mike soon cranked up his Blues Crew band and quickly caught the attention of older, more established Danish musicians. Soon he formed The Mike Andersen Band whose first album, My Love For The Blues was released in 2002 as one of the last 15 years most striking Danish
blues
albums. It was imprinted with the relentless uncompromising attitude which has characterized his career since. Another significant studio album, Tomorrow released in 2004 and The Mike Andersen Band EP of 2006 followed along with hundreds of concerts across Europe, including opening for The Fabulous Thunderbirds
and no less than three times for the legend B.B. King.
The 5th Annual Independent Music Awards
(2005) winner in the blues
songs category was Mike and the band's Stuck With Me.
During the last half of the decade, while honing his skills working with a variety of Danish local and international musicians, Mike was busy creating a new CD to show off his band's new sound. Two plus years in the making, when echoes was released in early 2010 Mike was heralded as "an original interpreter of the old qualities" by the music editor of the nation's second largest newspaper, Politiken
. GAFFA, a leading publisher of music news in Denmark for almost thirty years wrote that echoes "is so far his best. Perhaps because . . . he dares to mix his interest in and enjoyment of the blues with his interest and pleasure in soul music." Three days later the countries leading pop radio station DR P4
named the new CD their Album of the Week. Then noted music journalist Peter Widmer wrote in the Odense Music Library's news about "Mike Andersen's voice that has evolved ... with great range, and is primarily in the center of echoes, with lyrics about love, jealousy and passion as the main themes. In a
bluesinthenorthwest.com review, Grahame Rhodes reviewed thusly: "Echoes comes highly recommended for those who like their music soulful and full of good grooves and top notch songs.
In Trumpet Magazine, a Danish Music Union publication, Mike tells the story of how he was able to connect with the Grammy award winning album producer and mixer Russell Elevado
who final mixed echoes.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, singer and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
of the Mike Andersen Band.
Musical career
Already at 12 years old bluesBlues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, rhythm & blues and African-American music had taken a firm grip on Mike Andersen. While everyone around him in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
was listening to a mix of Wham, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, he practiced guitar along with the LPs of Lightning Hopkins, B.B. King, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, Otis Rush
Otis Rush
Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
and many more. Later, as Mike focused on voices and words he ventured into the soul stars and Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
, Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
and Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
were added to his collection of vinyl.
At 20, Mike met the blues guitarist Otis Grand
Otis Grand
Otis Grand is an American blues musician, best known for his album, Perfume and Grime .-Biography:Although born in Beirut, Grand has spent much of his life in the United States...
. Otis and his six piece band perfectly framed the music Mike had listened to his whole life, from raw urban blues to sweaty '60s soul. Otis invited the young Mike Andersen to one of his major shows in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
where he participated as a guitarist in The Otis Grand All Star Revue at the 'The Great British R & B Festival in Colne, England. When Mike returned home to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
he had a firm resolve to form a six piece blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
band of his own.
Knocking around the blues and soul scene of Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, Mike soon cranked up his Blues Crew band and quickly caught the attention of older, more established Danish musicians. Soon he formed The Mike Andersen Band whose first album, My Love For The Blues was released in 2002 as one of the last 15 years most striking Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
albums. It was imprinted with the relentless uncompromising attitude which has characterized his career since. Another significant studio album, Tomorrow released in 2004 and The Mike Andersen Band EP of 2006 followed along with hundreds of concerts across Europe, including opening for The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American, Grammy-nominated Blues rock band, formed in 1974.-Career:After performing for several years in the Austin, Texas blues scene, the band won a recording contract with Takoma/Chrysalis Records, and later on signed with Epic Records.Their first two albums,...
and no less than three times for the legend B.B. King.
The 5th Annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
(2005) winner in the blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
songs category was Mike and the band's Stuck With Me.
During the last half of the decade, while honing his skills working with a variety of Danish local and international musicians, Mike was busy creating a new CD to show off his band's new sound. Two plus years in the making, when echoes was released in early 2010 Mike was heralded as "an original interpreter of the old qualities" by the music editor of the nation's second largest newspaper, Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
. GAFFA, a leading publisher of music news in Denmark for almost thirty years wrote that echoes "is so far his best. Perhaps because . . . he dares to mix his interest in and enjoyment of the blues with his interest and pleasure in soul music." Three days later the countries leading pop radio station DR P4
DR P4
P4 is the regional radio channel of Denmark's national public broadcasting corporation, DR. The 11 regional stations which make up P4 originate their own local programming and also carry jointly produced nationwide content...
named the new CD their Album of the Week. Then noted music journalist Peter Widmer wrote in the Odense Music Library's news about "Mike Andersen's voice that has evolved ... with great range, and is primarily in the center of echoes, with lyrics about love, jealousy and passion as the main themes. In a
bluesinthenorthwest.com review, Grahame Rhodes reviewed thusly: "Echoes comes highly recommended for those who like their music soulful and full of good grooves and top notch songs.
In Trumpet Magazine, a Danish Music Union publication, Mike tells the story of how he was able to connect with the Grammy award winning album producer and mixer Russell Elevado
Russell Elevado
Russell Elevado , is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City. Elevado's achievement for recording and mixing contemporary R&B recording artist D'Angelo's critically acclaimedVoodoo album, gained him a Grammy award in 2000...
who final mixed echoes.
Discography
- 2002 My Love for the Blues a Five Star CD released by Black & Tan Records
- 2004 Tomorrow CD
- 2006 The Mike Andersen Band CD/EP
- 2010 echoes released by Custom Records as CRCD003