Notes
KNiKi and Mike Beale Canadian born Mike Beale started out his musical career in Fremantle Western Australia. Learning his craft, Mike played in and around the cool and bohemian, alternative port city of Fremantle, Western Australia. Developing from early days a unique style, heavily influenced by seminal 60's 70's players of the like of Robin Trower, Gary Moore, Jimmy Page. Early days found him playing a lot of gigs acoustically, opening his eyes and ears to the tone and simplicity delivered by an acoustic guitar. Something that's stayed with him throughout his career. Mike played the local scene for several years culminating in the release of his first album Breakaway. Not long after releasing that first album Mike left West Australia for greener pastures which found him playing in places as far apart as Vancouver Canada, Canberra and Cairns before eventually ending up on Queensland's sunny Gold coast. Forming the original Blues rock 3 piece Men in Blues in 2005 saw Beale touring and releasing material again. Playing many of the country's better known blues/roots festivals including the Australian Blues Festival, Queensland's Blues on Broadbeach, Western Australia's Bridgetown Blues and the Gympie Muster. The CD Battered and Bruised released in 2007 and backed with national touring commitments saw several Beale original songs released overseas on the BAR blues and roots Australian compilation cds. Internet radio coverage also saw Mike's original song "Lost" as the number one requested tune on Midnight Blues Radio in France. "It doesn't happen every day when a song literally jumps on me like your 'Drinking Overnight' did. I'm deeply impressed by your music, by your mix of blue cold and red hot vocals and guitars. Never heard anything like this before. To all those 'new Stevie Ray Vaughans' and 'new John Lee Hookers', I prefer artists which are out of compare. Men In Blues sound like they are." Paul Bondarovski, Midnight Special Blues Radio - France "MIB is a rhythmn groove band, by no means short on blues, but not the 12 bar bumpa bumpa variety. At first you notice the musicality...songs where no weak links exist. In true blues style, political correctness is thrown out the window and replaced with raw emotion and feelings. Overall a great bunch of songs that should engage both traditional and contemporary blues fans alike". Melbourne Blues Society "Really clever, mixing blues with a bit of rock, funky and even some jazzy overtones.. very catchy. Mike Beale is a talented guitarist, songwriter and a singer with a strong voice - his imagination is evident in every single one of those aspects. Together with a tight rhythm section he has recorded a hot CD. Battered and bruised, maybe, but they sound better than ever!" Przemek Draheim - Polish Blues & Gospel Radio Mike was invited back into the recording studio in late 2008 to sing vocals on a Bob Dylan tribute album 'Ghostbones' . The album was a great success and reignited Mike's passion for the acoustic approach to music. The ghostbones sessions also provided some spare studio time in early 2009 allowing Mike to return to acoustic playing with his own new solo album. Recording took place at Big Note Productions with famed Australian engineer Adrian Stuckey (Neil Finn/Split Enz). Although a bit of a departure for current fans from the rocking Men in Blues project, the simplicity and musical space provided a lot of opportunity to develop another side to Mike's writing, even stretching out to add some cello parts. Debuting the CD at The Basement Gold Coast on a still winter night the songs were received with a fantastic reaction and a lot of sales. The song Fishbone, taken from the album was a top ten finalist in the Q Music awards. 2009 also saw additional opportunities develop. After many years playing guitar, it was Mike's voice that was suddenly in demand. Fresh from the Ghost bones project, Mike was approached by Forcene Films to sing on the title track of a new movi
