When asked, Mike Munson (Winona, MN) tells people he plays American music. With over a decade of long drives to well-lit, expansive stages, tiny dive bars, and everything in between, Munson has seen plenty of the country that influences his songwriting. He is a listener first, soaking up the chord changes and non-traditional tunings of players from rural Mississippi to Chicago, studying the mastery of Fred McDowell and Charlie Christian alike.

Munson’s song writing leaves much to interpretation and strongly invites Midwestern toe-tappers to get out on the dance floor. He brings dark themes and heavy rhythms to his work, echoing the traditional country blues that provide the undercurrent of his creativity. Having recorded at the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi and been mentored by Grammy nominee Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Munson has come face to face with the living history of the music of the delta. Munson’s sound is marked by a reverence for this historic southern idiom, which is laden with intricate finger picking and hypnotic rhythms. His playing highlights the similarities between blues, American primitive guitar and early rock and roll.