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MIKE AGRANOFF

What he does as a folk musician is a rather difficult question to answer. He plays a superb fingerstyle guitar in idioms ranging from ancient harp tunes to obscure Tin-Pan-Alley compositions. His concertina arrangements of music by anyone from Bach to Berryman's may be haunting, complex, exciting, but are, above all, musical. A performance might include a song of heart-stopping emotional impact, a Scott Joplin piano rag, an acapella Irish patter song sung to the melody of a mile-a-minute fiddle tune, a rivetting recitation in the style of Robert Service, and some of the most horrible parodies in the English speaking world. More a singer-songfinder than a singer-songwriter, Mike combs the canon of contemporary and traditional songs for little-known gems, puts his unique stamp on them, and brings them to the stage.

Whatever else he does, Mike puts a lie to the notion that folk music is boring. Of course, if you've been around the folk scene at all in the Northeast, you've probably seen him. He's that tall guy with the red beard and the leather fisherman's cap. And when the music starts, he's in the middle, adding to the chorus and probably knowing all the lyrics. His repertoire is vast and varied. Mike is not only a collector of songs and a master at arranging them, but is also a writer of songs and recitations. He has a keen ear for the best of the best, and this only enhances his own writing. If you're sick of the endless stream of singer songwriters who write for the market, you will find Mike to be a refreshing alternative. He makes us laugh, cry and think, all the while entertaining us long into any evening of music.