Mike Younger

Born in Nova Scotia, Younger left Halifax at the age of 17 to see the world and ended up travelling all over Canada as a busker. At the age of 20 he headed for New York City to be a part of the thriving music scene. "I was a bit of a free spirit", he confesses. "A gypsy wanderer living on my wits and my music." It was years later while performing live on WWOZ in New Orleans that he caught his first break with a music publisher who heard the broadcast. Soon after, Younger began travelling to Nashville to record and perform and his recordings reached the ear of Rodney Crowell. When Younger signed his first record deal, Crowell stepped in as producer and together they turned out Somethin' In The Air in 1999. Over the years Mr Younger has had the honor of recording with some of the best in the business including Levon Helm, Jim & Luther Dickinson, Spooner Oldham, David Hood, Bob Britt, Regina McCrary and many others. He has toured with BR549, Asleep At The Wheel, Nanci Griffith, Jill Sobule and many others. In 2001 Jim Dickinson produced Mike's second album which never saw the light of day as the record label collapsed before the record was completed. The tapes from that session fell into a legal limbo and were lost for over 15 years. Now recovered, the original recordings have been completed and scheduled for release in 2021. The timely first single from the forthcoming 9-song release Burning The Bigtop Down was launched just days after the Capitol Insurrection and can be found via www.mikeyounger.com. Currently based in Nashville, Younger has toured and travelled as a performer in support of various causes including the NODAPL standoff at Standing Rock, the Flint Water Crisis and in support of other communities facing environmental degradation by irresponsible corporate actors. "I've always been affected by injustice and the struggle of disenfranchised communities. Being enamored and immersed in some of music's most important voices for social change has been very influencial on my own journey as a writer and performer. I have grown to admire those brave writers who, through their creative work, stood with the struggle for equity in our society like John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye and others too numerous to mention by name. Artists have nothing to lose by speaking their truth, and to do so unapologetically, especially these days. That's what I aim for in my work."

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Artist