Michael Hanna

    I was born in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. One of the first sounds that reached my ears was the sound of the Banjo being plucked by my father, an amateur folk singer. I was hooked from the start. Although I began my guitar study in Guadalajara Mexico on the Classical guitar, it wasn't long before I had my first electric guitar, a Gibson Melody Maker. By the time I reached adulthood I had began my career further South as a country rock guitarist with the NorthEast Band in Gainesville Florida, unfortunately during the peak of the Disco craze. After the demise of the NE Band I spent a few more years in Gainesville singing, and playing mandolin and guitar with Country Love, a popular Bluegrass group and playing Slide guitar with a Blues Brothers Tribute Band.

    Yearning to escape the humidity and flatness of Florida, I fled out West to California. There I majored in Music at the College of the Siskiyous near Mt. Shasta, studying downhill skiing, Jazz, and playing guitar and bass in various ensembles. I also spent time playing tenor banjo and singing with a Dixieland Band, Shasta Mountain Strut. At UC Santa Cruz I continued my Jazz and music studies, writing a thesis on Folk Protest Music.

    I am currently an Elementary School Music teacher working for Mt. Diablo Unified, and perform on guitar and vocals with the Valerie Jay Band, Milo Nuevo, Born Lucky and Fresh Picked. I have played chicken pickin' lead guitar with ShowDown and Derringer, Jazz with the Bob Schoen Quartet, fusion rock with Shakti, Irish music with Gryphon, Guitar and mandolin in The Cowlicks, as well as many other projects, mostly in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. I currently live in San Pablo where I reside with my family and musical instrument collection.