Doors 4:00pm • Music 8:00pm

Mike Powell & Loren Barrigar

With a vintage voice and a chest full of hauntingly heartfelt songs, prolific storyteller Mike Powell Music is the underground messenger of blue-collar soul. Each night the lights go up, this pioneering poet lets his guard down and allows the fervently fearless stories to come to life. His comfort behind a microphone blended with his unique brand of “atomic folk” creates a vibe that warms the room like a long ago fire burning hot inside a cabin in the woods.

He was grown along the banks of the mighty Black River in the paper making town of Champion, NY, by his mill working father and an artist mother. The front half of his childhood home was converted into a retail space called “Grandma’s Room” where his mother would sell her crafts to the people of their small community. It was typical for her customers to be invited into their small kitchen for coffee and conversation. Young Mike Powell would lie under the table, close his eyes and absorb all of the unique stories that these folks would tell.

Around that same table, once the sun had set, his father Larry would return in his blue mill-issued uniform with beer, friends and a carton of cigarettes. Larry would play guitar and his friends would sing along to old country songs by Willie, Hank and the Possum. The format in the kitchen was the same every night, Larry would play a song and then someone would tell a story. All of this seeped deep into Mike Powell’s fabric and it truly comes through in his shows. His performances feel like your sitting around a small kitchen table in a tiny American town with your closest friends drinking. laughing and telling tales.

In 2004, Powell left Syracuse University as the most decorated lacrosse player in history but declined offers to play professionally so that he could focus fully on the craft of songwriting. Over the past fifteen years he’s written over two hundred songs, released seven albums and has toured the country playing shows with Martin Sexton, David Lindley, Shooter Jennings, Sarah Lee Guthrie & many more.

This fiercely independent artist presents his songs in several different formats which allows his sound to match whatever room he’s playing. His relaxed solo-style listening room show puts Powell’s extreme comfort as a performer on display and breaks down the door between the stage and the mezzanine. His duo format features guitarist, Loren Barrigar.

Loren started playing guitar when he was only four years old, and by the time he was six, played the Chet Atkins hit “Yackety Axe” in front of thousands of country music fans at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. He went on to study with Jimmy Atkins (Chet’s brother) which led to a touring career with his family band from Nashville to Las Vegas. Since settling down in Central New York, he has been in constant demand as a studio musician.

Loren's finely-honed songwriting skills have launched his melodies on NBC’s #1 rated show “ER”, “The Young and The Restless” and on a Christmas CD with BB King and Patti Labelle. He has performed with some of the best acoustic players in the world including Stephen Bennett, Richard Smith, John Knowles, Muriel Anderson and Loren’s friend and mentor Tommy Emmanuel, the Australian guitar sensation. He has also recorded with Multiple Grammy winner and legendary producer Lloyd Maines.

In 2010, Loren made a guest appearance at The Chet Atkins Appreciation Society {CAAS} in Nashville with his pickin' pal from New Zealand, Mark Mazengarb. His solo concerts include favorite songs from seven decades, as well as his originals all featuring exciting guitar work and memorable vocal stylings.

https://www.lorenbarrigar.com
https://www.facebook.com/politerebel

Cover: $7