Artist description Michael Lynch is a New York singer-songwriter who missed out on the 1960's but listens almost exclusively to music of that decade. This love of the music of that golden time comes through in his music. He makes a concentrated effort to incorporate the same kind of elements into his music that made the great pop records by The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, etc. so special. Sometimes he even succeeds.

Music Style Sixties (Pop rock, garage, folk-rock, surf, psychedelic)

Musical Influences Beatles, Love, Kinks, Byrds, Stones, The Move, Brian Wilson, Raiders

Similar Artists Kinks, Byrds, Love, Move, Cyrkle, Left Banke, Zombies

Artist History It was when Michael was only a few years old and heard some albums by the already defunct Beatles that he knew that music would always be his biggest interest. A few years later, while watching daily reruns of 'The Monkees,' Michael decided that someday he too would be a performer. He began taking drum lessons at age 8, but the following year he switched to guitar, as he longed to be able to play melodies. The first song Michael was taught to play on guitar was The Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley," but the first song he taught himself to play was "The Last Time" by The Rolling Stones. At age 11, he joined the Junior High School stageband as a bass guitarist. He had never touched a bass guitar in his life, but longed to get his hands on the school's electric bass. After convincing (with much shucking and jiving) the band teacher that he was an adequate bass player, and after getting the desired slot in the band, Michael THEN taught himself to play bass...on his nylon string guitar. Michael joined his first garage band at age 12, the first of many throughout his Junior High and High School years. For the first couple years, he played guitar, but by 12th Grade he switched to bass. In the 1990's, Michael also began doing solo gigs on acoustic guitar. He enjoyed this, but longed to once agin be in a band. He formed The Lynchpins in 2001, and as of this writing, The Lynchpins still gig regularly in NYC. They have been praised for their 1960's attitude and for their original compositions. They even found a fan and friend in a few 1960's personalities. Songwriter John Carter, author of several Herman's Hermits hits, and a vocalist on "Winchester Cathedral," praised Michael's songs, particularly "Bombay Beach Party," and Hilton Valentine, guitarist for The Animals, joined The Lynchpins onstage in June 2002 at ACME Underground for a memorable mini-set of Animals classics.

Group Members Michael Lynch plays all the instruments on his albums, but sometimes performs live with THE LYNCHPINS, alias Ken Anderson (The Rooks, The Optic Nerve) on the drums and Doug Mayer (The Contrarians) on the bass.

Instruments Guitar, bass, keyboards

Albums 12 THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT MICHAEL LYNCH

Press Reviews 12 THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT MICHAEL LYNCH was voted #6 by well-respected rock journalist Dawn Eden on her list of the Top 10 Albums of 2000 for the Village Voice 'Pazz and Jop' poll.******"Michael Lynch describes himself as a singer-songwriter in the tradition of great sixties writers such as John Lennon and Neil Young, and I will admit there is a lot of that spirit in his music. I found the Buffalo Springfield often coming to mind, and Michael's voice is very reminiscent of Ray Davies. What I'm reminded of more, though, are all those great one hit wonder garage bands of that era - the Count Five, the Cyrkle, the Balloon Farm, the Kingsmen and the E-Types. Each of Michael's songs on this album is like one of those terrific little 60's gems. The recordings are simple, with Michael doing all of the instruments and vocals himself, and they're anything but slickly produced, but the hooks and the skill of his songwriting comes shining through. "Bombay Beach Party," a surf instrumental, has been getting a fair amount of radio play in MIchael's NYC home territory, but it isn't really representative of what he does best. "Wondering Where You Are," "Round And Round," "Lay Back Or Stay Back," "Love Help Me," and my personal favourite, "Country Life Press," are all just great tunes written in the 60's tradition, and they would have stood right alongside many of the radio hits of that day. I enjoyed this CD a lot. It was a nice change from the usual stuff I find myself listening to."-THE NAIL (http://members.home.net/mmurray31/index.html) ****** "His love for the music of the sixties is clear on 12 THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT MICHAEL LYNCH -from the sheer garage force of the opening track, "Nora," Michael takes the listener on a journey through pyschedelia (check out "Lay Back or Stay Back" and "I Fade Away"), surf rock ("Bombay Beach Party") and pure Beatlesque pop ("Round and Round," "Country Life Press"). But this is no mere sixties flashback record. Michael's inspiring lyrics and cleverly-crafted music rival those of the great songwriters of any decade, guaranteeing that Michael's music will always be refreshingly reminiscient." - Richard Naughtis, COOL ROCK BANDS ****** "He's groovy. He's marvy. He looks like Brian Jones." - Nancy Neon, FIZZPOP ****** In the tradition of the omnipresent I-do-it-all-myself artists, Michael Lynch, of Long Island, presents a dozen of his own compositions set in the diverse sounds that, in recurrent way, reference the Beatles, Kinks, Byrds, Love, or Beach Boys. However, rather it is a series of simple songs in an acid-garage atmosphere, but always with a nice melody present. The collection is modest but very enjoyable, the affection put in by his love of the music. - OTONO CHEYENNE Issue #4

Location New York City, NY - USA

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