Gay michael
Home / gay topics / Gay michael
Towards the end of high school I got into Iron and Wine and Elliott Smith and was trying to learn how to fingerpick like those guys, which took a while. I remember hearing that song and immediately thinking it was great. Coming out of those sessions with more than enough for an album, he released the single “Long, Cold Winter” -- “a song that brings to mind John Prine, both through its sound and its wry, witty lyrics” (Americana UK).
Michael cut his teeth in theTwin Cities’ Americana scene while releasing music under the moniker, Almighty American, winning fans and media praise for his honest, accessible songwriting spanning a coupe of self-released EP’s and a full length album, Somewhere Ride (2017).
Michael eventually ditched the moniker and started performing under his own name in 2020, marking this shift with the release of Make It Right (2021) Produced by John James Tourville in a friend’s home studio in Nashville, TN.
The album was mixed/mastered by Paul Oldham.
In the spring of 2023, he and his band (now consisting of Daniel Stewart on Bass, Matt Decker on Drums, and AJ Srubas on Pedal Steel) filmed and recorded the last show of a monthly residency at The Terminal Bar in NE Minneapolis. Paul Airport call for better work conditions.
Starting off as a drummer and finding his way to guitar, he was inspired by the singer-songwriters of his dad’s generation--Willie Nelson, John Prine, and Jerry Jeff Walker.
“I dove into that world head-first,” Michael says.
He also helped to found and produce the Pony Rug live music video series, which has featured over 100 live performances from Minneapolis-based songwriters (all available on Youtube).
The “OH! Thanks, guys!
Sarah: I’m a fan of the people who give out the tiny nudges that point someone like you, like me, toward sharing their thing. The result was a live album- “Michael Gay & His Dang Band: Live from a Dive” released in March of 2024. Plus, a federal grant funds transit improvements in greater Minnesota and organizers of the new Minnesota Hockey Hall of Fame announced where it will be located.
Copy all text below for MLA citation:
Transcript:
As federal agents increase their presence in the state, questions are rising about the rights of protesters versus those of law enforcement.
Thanks, Danny!
In 2021 you released your album, Make It Right. Plus, Rochester honors the first woman ever elected to office in the city.
Copy all text below for MLA citation:
Transcript:
How do you stay in business if you’re a flour mill across the river from a rival flour mill?
The title track features some deeply lovely mandolin and soft space in between verses that are incisive and self-reflective. For my money, that song is one of the greatest of all time and hearing it literally changed the course of my life.
Sarah: AH! Yes! Because songs can be magic, just like you said.
Once you began writing, did you feel like a writer immediately? That’s just how it works sometimes!
Sarah: It can sneak up on me, too. A magnetic presence on stage, Michael has opened up for such acts as Margo Price, The Mavericks and Kacy & Clayton.
Going from a full band to a more stripped-down sound, Michael Gay started performing under his own name in 2020, right around the time he started recording his new album in Nashville.
I was writing about THAT” feeling. He was hooked.
Best known for his project Almighty American, Michael quickly established his place among the Twin Cities’ finest Americana artists, winning fans and media praise for his honest, accessible songwriting. A little while later Danny O’Brien invited me to play a set at an Aster Cafe residency he had back then and I’ve been plugging away ever since.
My roommate, Nate Gruber, who wrote and recorded a lot of music, casually acknowledged that maybe it wasn’t awful.