Mike Farris (musician)

Mike Farris

Mike Farris performing at Antone's in Austin (2009).
Background information
Genres Blues rock (earlier)
Gospel music (later)
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1990-present
Associated acts Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
Peaceful Knievel
Double Trouble
Website mikefarrismusic.net

Mike Farris (b. ca. 1968 in Winchester, Tennessee) is an American musician. He was the founder and lead singer of Nashville, Tennessee group Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, but has been a solo act since 2001. He has put out three studio releases as well as a one live record as Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue, as well as a charity EP as Mike Farris and the Cumberland Saints. His music is diverse but tends to be rooted in early American gospel and blues.

Biography

Farris's parents divorced when he was eleven years old. He began using drugs and alcohol from an early age, and almost died from an overdose before he was 21 years old.[1] He recovered and went on to form the group Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies in 1990. They released three major-label albums and had sustained success on the U.S. rock charts in the 1990s. After their breakup, Farris sang with SCW, Peaceful Knievel and for a time fronted Double Trouble, the backing band for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Farris became a practicing Christian and rejected drugs and alcohol, and released his first solo album, "Goodnight Sun", in 2002. He released his second solo album in 2007, '"Salvation in Lights'", on INO/Columbia Records.[2][3][4] In 2008 Farris performed at SXSW and the Creation Festival.[5] The live album “Sunday Night Shout!” was recorded at the Station Inn in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 12, 2008, but was a digital only release. On April 14, 2009, Farris released SHOUT! Live, as Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Revue, featuring the McCrary Sisters. The album was recorded over four nights at his Station Inn residency.

In May 2010, after a disastrous flood in Nashville, Farris and a group of Nashville musicians recorded a charity EP entitled The Night the Cumberland Came Alive. Dubbed Mike Farris and the Cumberland Saints, part of the proceeds from the project were donated to Nashville's Downtown Presbyterian Church, where the album was recorded on May 17, 2010. The Cumberland Saints line up featured: Sam Bush, Ketch Secor and Gill Landry from Old Crow Medicine Show, Byron House, Kenny Vaughan along with members of the Roseland Rhythm Revue and the McCrary Sisters.[6]

On 8 February 2015, Mike won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album for Shine For All the People.

Discography

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Mike Farris at Allmusic
  2. ↑ Review of Salvation in Lights. Christianity Today.
  3. ↑ Review of Salvation in Lights. The Trades. Accessed February 28, 2008.
  4. ↑ Review of Salvation in Lights. Allmusic.
  5. ↑ Former Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies Frontman Mike Farris Signs with Paradigm Talent Agency. CCM Magazine, February 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ Berick, Mathew. "AllMusic Review by Michael Berick". ALLMUSIC.
Awards
Preceded by
The Avett Brothers		 AMA New/Emerging Artist Of The Year
2008 		Succeeded by
Justin Townes Earle
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