Mike Munson

Mike Munson has established himself as an adept slide guitar player and a member of the next generation of bluesmen to carry on a tradition some feared was dying out. With his fourth release, <a href="spotify:album:1CC4V878cswi6Kq59eaT1e" data-name="Rose Hill">Rose Hill</a> (2018) Munson traced the tradition to its roots, recording at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi on the Blue Front Records label.


Throughout his career Munson has continually sought out teachers and mentors, most significantly, <a href="spotify:artist:366oWbbebUqu4ovO0F0V5D" data-name="Jimmy "Duck" Holmes">Jimmy "Duck" Holmes</a>, the renowned owner of the oldest juke joint in North America, the Blue Front Cafe. Holmes is one of the last living players of Bentonia style blues, a sound known for its haunting and ethereal minor tunings. Munson has thrived under the mentorship of Holmes, building a body of work that blends his own Midwestern roots with his frequent Mississippi travels. From sad and somber slow tunes to swampy, caterwauling stompers, his music is a master class in creative blues composition and performance, often dark and heavy, yet lyrically compelling and altogether danceable.


Munson also plays in <a href="spotify:artist:6CwwRU5JWtZOyRNtCYHEQA" data-name="Land at Last">Land at Last</a>, a duo with <a href="spotify:artist:30PrWLDzOaKduk4ZDRKyUc" data-name="The Heavy Set">The Heavy Set</a> frontman Jake Ilika. Their 2017 album <a href="spotify:album:1Dfas1ixLNv20X1L7zcPjm" data-name="I Found a Way">I Found a Way</a> was well received in Minnesota.