MIKE LENZ

SCHEDULE & SHOWTIMES
LISTEN (myspace link)
EMAIL
MIKE SOLO
MIKE LENZ BAND
LESSONS
BOOKING INFO / CONTACT
LINKS

Mike Lenz performs solo on guitar, vocals, harmonica, and amplified stompbox. He is influenced by everything from Delta and Piedmont blues artists such as Robert Johnson, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller to Jug Band stomps and rags of the 20’s and 30’s to classic 50’s and 60’s electric Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf to the raw juke joint boogies of Hound Dog Taylor and modern North Mississippi blues. His live show includes his originals, classic blues and bit of old country, rock, and just about every genre of American music. He also performs regularly with The Mike Lenz Band, featuring Jason Edwards on drums and Dennis Meyers on bass.

Mike is currently playing either solo, with The Mike Lenz Band, with Highway 61, as a duo with Peggy Coyle, and occasionally with The Mostly Blues Band. He teaches private lessons and usually does a few recording projects in the studio or on the road every month.

Mike has been playing music for 28 years and has been making a living as a full-time musician for the last 15 years, playing with the likes of The Burners, Steamboat Owen, Silky & The DGB, The Wanda Hunt Band, Maurer & Lenz, Funhouse, The Immortal Porpoises, The Midnight Movers, Conga Jihad, The Brogans, The Pig Ankle Jug Band, John Turner, Tim Wallace, The Zydeco Kings, The Calypso Gypsies, The Howard St. Blues Band, Moxie, Akimbo, The Gumbo Jazz Band, The John Perry Jazz Trio, Tim Coyne, The Surfaholics, The Hillbilly Varmints, The Hale Hogs, The Pine Ridge Boys, Michael O'Connor's Irish groups, The Patrick Sweany Band, Bill Roth's Mostly Blues Band, Peggy Coyle, Brad Bolton, Ernestine Lane, John Santi, Mike's Hard Blues, Dan Auerbach and The Barnburners, Kip Amore, The Northsiders, The Valley Mountain Boys, Wallace Coleman, The Rubber City Allstars, The Nathan Corsi Band, Highway 61, Jessica Lea Mayfield, and subbing on guitar, bass, harmonica, lap steel, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle in a variety of settings.

Some of Mike's Blues influences: Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Blind Boy Fuller, Son House, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson (I & II), Lightnin' Hopkins, Hound Dog Taylor, John Lee Hooker, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Elmore James, Bukka White, Furry Lewis, Blind Blake, Memphis Jug Band, Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers, Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson, Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell, Charley Patton, Pink Anderson, Leroy Carr, Scrapper Blackwell, Mississippi John Hurt, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Jimmy Rogers, Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, The Mississippi Sheiks, Lonnie Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Mance Lipscomb, Jesse Fuller, Leadbelly, Josh White, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, David Rawlings, Dock Boggs, Clarence Ashley, Jon Mosey, Jack DiAlesandro, Howard Robertson.

everything on this site © Mike Lenz 2008

The Mike Lenz Band (taken from the Mohican Blues Festival )

7th Edition
August 20, 2005

The Mike Lenz Band really put on a great show at last year’s fest. Their set ended much too soon for the crowd that as the band was leaving the stage got to its feet giving them a bon a fide standing ovation. The positive impression they made on the audience was further proven by the fact that they sold out of their entire stock of CDs & merchandise literally within 15 minutes after their closing song. We continue to hear good comments about the Mike Lenz Band’s appearance and the question, “Are they going to be back?” Our answer, yes they are.
For the uninitiated, the Mike Lenz Band is a three piece outfit grounded firmly in American Roots Music and Blues. They play a mix of originals and covers many of which are not your ordinary “standards”. They have a raw and stripped down sound featuring as appropriate vocals, guitar, slide, bass, drums and harmonica. Their sound is Piedmont and delta style Blues with influences ranging from Robert Johnson, Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Blake, Mississippi Jug Band stomps and rags to electric Muddy Waters and the Juke Joint Boogies of Howlin’ Wolf and Hound Dog Taylor. Add in a little spice from funk, swing and rockabilly and you have some unusual and very enjoyable music happening.
This band is very professional, seasoned and polished through years of playing the club circuit and experience playing nearly every type of American Music. This has honed them into an exciting act well on the road to success. If you were there to see them last year, we know that you will be back for more. If you missed them, here is your chance catch this innovative group in the act. Mark your calendar August 20, 2005 and plan to be a part of Ohio’s Blues Invasion at the Seventh Edition of the Mohican Blues Festival.