User:Mike Black 1234

Mike Black is a singer songwriter born into a musical family near Liverpool in 1963. His Mum played piano and guitar, this led directly to his own interest in music. As 2 of Mike's older brothers played regularly in bands there was no shortage of instruments lying around the house to pick up and play. Mike opted for guitar and after writing his first songs formed the band 'Always Caught In Disney' at the age of 15. A.C.I.D. played scores of gigs around Merseyside but split after 2 of the band members went to university. Mike continued his music career by joining Post Punk band 'Hoi Polloi' who helped develop his innovative songwriting and arrangement style. HP disbanded when Mike moved to London in 1981 where his tastes widened and soon influences from Africa, the Caribbean, India and elsewhere were impacting on his songs. Mike headed further South to Brighton in 1987 and soon after joined the Ska/Reggae band 'Skippy the Fridge' who toured the UK for many years. During this time Mike continued to develop his writing style, forming the Trip Hop sextet 'Kronik Opera' who broke new ground combining classical piano and violin with hip hop lyrics and raw street beats. After many years travelling he now lives, writes and performs in Bulgaria, where following his appearance at the Silistra Festival of 2006 Mike featured on the TV show 'Musical Blitz'. He plays at the various musical festivals around Bulgaria and is working on a number of collaborative projects with some of his adopted countries finest singer songwriters.