Artist description This is song-based rock and roll, decorated with some twang and a sense of history.

Music Style Uh-huh

Musical Influences The Band, The Clash, Woody Guthrie, Doug Sahm, Townes Van Zandt

Similar Artists Tom Waits, Wilco, The Wallflowers, Van Morrison

Artist History Mike Brick started turning up in dark bars in the late 1970s in Washington, D.C. He was five years old, and mostly he just watched the pool games. He kept quiet for about a decade, then reappeared with an electric guitar in dark bars in Dallas in 1989, when he was 15 years old. He played in a group called Channel 77 with Jason Stolly, now of the Box Socials. He moved to Austin and started his own group, bottle of smoke, with Mr. Stolly and Matthew Hammond, who lives in Scotland now. They released a 7-song EP called Never Been Down. The cover pictured a pretty girl thumbing down a truck with a handgun behind her back, and the songs Mr. Brick wrote were angry, melodic and sparse. They split up, as angry bands of angry men do. Mr. Brick and Mr. Stolly formed the Ringers. It was a big band with a big sound: Brick on guitar and vocal, Stolly on drums, Rolando Perez on bass, Sandip Dasgupta on lead guitar, Joe Thomas on piano and organ and a woman named Heather singing lucious background vocals. They played at all the clubs that made Austin a great place to live, Electric Lounge, Steamboat and Hole in the Wall among them. Most of those clubs have closed, and Mr. Brick moved to New York in 1997, eventually piecing together a group from the friends he met there. The band was called the Bones for a while, and they played Mercury Lounge, CBGBs, the Fort at Sidewalk Cafe, the Baggot Inn and a string of forgettable dives. They were a full-on rock band, and the lineup included Mr. Neustadt on organ and piano. A full-length record, tentatively called Straight Up Airport Blvd., is due out next year. It features Mr. Neustadt on piano, organ and accordion, Mr. Stolly on drums and Mr. Perez on bass. Joseph Deeb plays guitar on the record. Young Mike Brick and the Music-grinders play regularly in New York at CB's Gallery, the Rising Cafe, Sidewalk Cafe and the Baggot Inn, and other dark bars.

Group Members Young Mike Brick--guitar, vocal Milkman Dan Neustadt--accordion, piano, organ Franz Nicolay--mandolin Alex Carlson--violin

Instruments guitar, accordion, mandolin, violin, bass, drums

Albums Straight Up Airport Blvd.

Location New York, NY - USA

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