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Mike Compton | |
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| Born | February 29, 1956 Meridian, Mississippi |
| Genres | Bluegrass music, folk music, acoustic music, country blues, old-time music |
| Occupation(s) | Mandolinist, backing vocalist |
| Instrument | Mandolin |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Website | mikecompton |
Befriended and mentored by Bill Monroe, the acknowledged Father of Bluegrass Music, Mike Compton is one of today's foremost interpreters of Monroe's genre-creating mandolin style. Mandolin students from around the world make the pilgrimage to his annual Monroe Mandolin Camp in Nashville, Tennessee, where Compton and a select handful of other experts teach everything from the basics of bluegrass mandolin (fiddle and banjo) to the most intimate details of Monroe's endlessly inspiring mandolin style.
Mike Compton's decades of touring and recording — with musical luminaries ranging from rockstars Sting, Gregg Allman, and Elvis Costello, to straight-from-the-still acoustic legends such as John Hartford, Doc Watson, Peter Rowan, Ralph Stanley, and David Grisman — have established Compton as a true master of the modern American mandolin and a premier interpreter of roots and Americana musical styles.
Compton's mastery of mandolin is at once effortless and exceptional. A compelling entertainer either alone or with a group, his skills as a singer, arranger, instrumentalist, composer, and accompanist also make him in-demand as a band member and ensemble player at festivals, clubs and concert halls, recording sessions, music workshops, and as a private instructor. With more than 120 recordings in his discography, including work with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Patty Loveless, Compton has helped keep mandolin a cool, relevant sound as the modern musical styles ebb and evolve to reach an ever-broadening audience.
A native of Mississippi, Compton picked up the mandolin in his teens and absorbed the area's native blues, old-time country, and bluegrass sounds. Compton learned music from an early age as his great-grandfather was an old-time fiddler. Initially, Compton began playing the trombone but switched to guitar instead and later to mandolin playing old-time music with his cousin. He became interested in bluegrass music and eventually learned to play like Bill Monroe. At the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival in 1975, he finally met Monroe.
After Compton had finished his education at the Meridian Junior College he gravitated to Nashville and joined Hubert Davis and the Season Travelers in 1977. Four years later, in 1981, he left Davis' band. He spent the early 1980s working as a cook, a printer, and as a part-time musician. [1] In the mid-1980s, Compton helped found one of the 20th Century's most admired and influential bluegrass groups, the iconic Nashville Bluegrass Band. After a bus accident, which left Mark Hembree injured, Compton reassessed his life, eventually temporarily quitting the business and moved to the Catskills, working as a cottage caretaker. Compton continued to dabble with music recording albums with various artists, and in 1995, he recorded with Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys. [2] Compton couldn't stay away from his craft and In the mid-1990s, he joined John Hartford in touring, and recording several albums together with him. [1] In 2000, Compton returned once again to the Nashville Bluegrass Band and continues to tour and play with this group, now 30+ years in the business. Compton also tours internationally with the brother duet partnership duo of Compton & Newberry, with the super-group Helen Highwater Stringband, and as a soloist.
When A-list Americana producer T Bone Burnett needed experts in authentic rural musical styles to anchor the landmark O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie project and subsequent tour, he called upon Compton's unique knowledge and signature mandolin style to authenticate the Soggy Bottom Boys' roots sound. That Grammy Award Album of the Year winning album went on to sell seven million copies, and sparked a global revival in old-time and bluegrass musical styles.
Connoisseur of hand-painted vintage silk ties, popularizer of the denim overall urban fashion statement, lover of iconic men's hats and curator of oddball official days, Mike Compton thrives at the intersection of traditional funk and modern authenticity.
Equally skilled in bluegrass, old-time string band music, country blues, roots Americana styles, and much more, Compton soars beyond easy categorization as an acoustic mandolin player and singer. Gifted at tastefully incorporating rural, roots-based lead and rhythm mandolin styles into modern Americana music, Compton's unique musical skill set allows him to entertain audiences ranging from rockers and urban hipsters to die-hard country, folk, and bluegrass fans.
In 2001 and 2002, Compton was nominated as IBMA Mandolinist of the Year. [1] In 2002, O Brother, Where Art Thou? , an album containing one of his songs, was awarded the Grammy Award for best album. [3] In recognition of his achievements, he received a commendation from the Mississippi State Senate. [4]
William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, and created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
John Cowan Hartford was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore. His most successful song is "Gentle on My Mind", which won three Grammy Awards and was listed in "BMI's Top 100 Songs of the Century". Hartford performed with a variety of ensembles throughout his career, and is perhaps best known for his solo performances where he would interchange the guitar, banjo, and fiddle from song to song. He also invented his own shuffle tap dance move, and clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang.
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Peter Hamilton Rowan is an American bluegrass musician and composer. He plays guitar and mandolin, yodels and sings. He is a seven-time Grammy Award nominee.
Vassar Carlton Clements was an American jazz, swing, and bluegrass fiddler. Clements has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz, an improvisational style that blends and borrows from swing, hot jazz, and bluegrass along with roots also in country and other musical traditions. He was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
Laurie Alexis Lewis is an American singer, musician, and songwriter in the genre of bluegrass music.
Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prolific". A fourteen-time Grammy winner, he has been called "dobro's matchless contemporary master" by The New York Times, and is among the most innovative recording artists in music, both as a solo artist and member of numerous bands, such as Alison Krauss and Union Station and The Earls of Leicester. He has been a co-director of the Transatlantic Sessions since 1998.
The Greencards are an American progressive bluegrass band that formed in 2003 in Austin, Texas, and relocated in 2005 to Nashville, Tennessee. The band was founded by Englishman Eamon McLoughlin and Australians Kym Warner and Carol Young. The musicians originally performed in local Austin bars, and soon found increasing acclaim. They released one independent album, Movin' On, in 2003, and two albums, Weather and Water and Viridian, on the Dualtone record label. Their fourth album, Fascination, was released on Sugar Hill in 2009. Their fifth album, The Brick Album (2011), was self-produced with the direct support of their fans. Pre-production donors were recognized with their names inscribed on the "bricks" that make up the cover art.
Down from the Mountain is a 2000 documentary and concert film featuring a live performance by country and traditional music artists who participated in the Grammy-winning soundtrack recording for the Joel and Ethan Coen film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? The concert, held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on May 24, 2000, was a benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The documentary was directed by Nick Doob, Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker. The artists in the concert also participated in a Down from the Mountain concert tour.
Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo.
Andrew Edward Statman is a noted American klezmer clarinetist and bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist.
The Infamous Stringdusters are a progressive acoustic/bluegrass band. The band first emerged in 2006 with the limited release of a five-song extended play CD The Infamous Stringdusters, followed in 2007 by their first album Fork in the Road. Both of these were on Sugar Hill Records. The band consists of Andy Hall (Dobro), Andy Falco (guitar), Chris Pandolfi (banjo), Jeremy Garrett (fiddle), and Travis Book. The band has become known for a complex, distinctive, and groove-friendly sound along with a bluegrass theme.
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Mike Compton is an American bluegrass mandolin player. In addition to his solo albums and recordings with the Nashville Bluegrass Band and John Hartford, he has been featured as a performer and collaborator on numerous albums by other artists.
Matthew Warren Flinner is an American mandolinist, music transcriber, and ensemble leader. Mike Marshall has called him "one of the truly great young mandolinists of our generation."
Billy Strings is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. His album Home won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2021.
The mandolin has had a place in North American culture since the 1880s, when a "mandolin craze" began. The continent was a land of immigrants, including Italian immigrants, some of whom brought their mandolins with them. In spite of the mandolin having arrived in America, it was not in the cultural consciousness until after 1880 when the Spanish Students arrived on their international performing tour. Afterwards, a "mandolin craze" swept the United States, with large numbers of young people taking up the instrument and teachers such as Samuel Siegel touring the United States. The fad died out after World War I, but enough had learned the instrument that it remained. The mandolin found a new surge with the music of Bill Monroe; the Gibson F-5 mandolin he played, as well as other archtop instruments, became the American standard for mandolins. Bowlback mandolins were displaced. The instrument has been taken up in blues, bluegrass, jug-band music, country, rock, punk and other genres of music. While not as popular as the guitar, it is widespread across the country.
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