Playing has come a long way since singer-songwriters perched themselves in front of a microphone on stage, hoping their manual dexterity and fingerpicking finesse would reach the audience via the sound engineer and an often inadequate PA system. These days, the world’s concert halls are no place for the technophobe, either, as the instrument and its peripheral gear have become far more sophisticated. But very few players have embraced this brave new dawn more readily than Mike Dawes.
Not only is he an undoubted acoustic guitar virtuoso, he also tours with a thoroughly space-age setup that stuns audiences worldwide. After spending years on the road touring with players like Justin Hayward, Tommy Emmanuel and prog-metallers Periphery, his live show is one of the wonders of the modern age. In between finishing a UK tour and on the eve of flying back out to Las Vegas to record a video for his forthcoming album, , Mike stopped by the studios to offer us a window on his performing world.
“The tour with Justin was fantastic. I think most of the shows ended up being sold out, which is a testament to the ’ music, how popular Justin is and how many fans he has over here. And it was interesting to see a lot of guitar players at the shows as well.
“It’s always fun playing in the UK because I don’t play here a lot – and that’s not through any particular reason other than the Americans keep dragging me over there, which is obviously lovely. But it’s been so nice to reconn.
