Mike Aiken - Americana, Country, Roots With An Ocean View

Country artists that trade red dirt roads for blue sea waves are very rare. One of them is Mike Aiken. Mike grew up outside of Buffalo in rural Western New York. At 8 years old a family friend introduced him to sailing, which was the beginning of his love for the sea. Around the same time he began learning to play acoustic and electric guitar, developing his musical abilities. Over the years Mike, together with wife and musical partner Amy, has been able to combine these two passions into one big adventure. And that is exactly what his music is all about. He sings about his life, his adventures, the places he visits and people he meets while sailing aboard his home, a 42-foot cutter, which is harboured in the area of Norfolk, Virginia. When not out on the sea Mike is touring the USA and Europe, sharing his adventures with audiences at festivals, bars and clubs. Highlights in the past include opening for Bruce Hornsby, sharing the bill with Ashton Shepard and Chris Cagle and appearing at the prestigious Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Mike on his music and travels: “Living and performing in so many places in the world has helped my style of country music have a wide appeal. My tunes are heartfelt, fun and sincere whether played in Oosterhout, The Netherlands, Lyon, France or Nashville, Tennessee”.

2007 saw the release of his Aspirion/Northwind debut “Just Add Salt” which went to # 24 on the Euro-Americana chart. The song “No Fishin’ Pole” from that album went to #1 on the Hot Disk Country chart and was picked up by Universal Records France for their 2008 Country Compilation Vol. 2 CD. To promote the album overseas Mike travelled to Europe in 2007 where his music made big waves all over. The tour was very successful so it was only natural for Mike to return to Europe to promote his sophomore album with Aspirion/Northwind, “Hula Girl Highway” in 2008. The album is received well by radio worldwide and makes waves in the independent charts, making it to the Top 50 Americana CD’s of 2008 in Italy and reaching the Top 100 in Australia. “Find Me”, the album’s first single spent 12 weeks on the Top 30 Indie Country chart in the US and is still on the Country Music Row chart.

During one of his many visits to Nashville Mike got to meet Rineke van Beek, who used to be a staff-writer for the now defunct Country Gazette magazine. Rineke in return introduced Mike to Richard and Bold Unicorn Entertainment. The 2008 promotional tour of Europe, which took place in November/December took Mike and wife Amy to The Netherlands, Belgium and France. In a relative short span of time Bold Unicorn Entertainment managed to book Mike for a couple of shows in The Netherlands and hooked them up with the leading Dutch magazine Country Dance News and many radio stations for interviews and in some cases acoustic on-air performances. This tour also worked out well and set the stage for Mike’s return to Europe in Summer of 2009. Plans are for Mike to be playing the festivals with his band. Bold Unicorn Entertainment is the company that will bring Mike to the festivals and clubs and bars wherever possible. Next to that, they will be working on Mike’s career development in Europe as well as taking care of all business aspects that come with the job. The goal for 2009 is to put as much wind as possible into the sails of Mike Aiken’s European journeys, which will no doubt bring him to new and unexplored shores.

Mike Aiken is available for songwriter nights, club appearances and festivals and can be booked as duo, trio or full band. For more information, please click here

For more information on Mike Aiken and a preview of his music, click here