tulmike

"...Dress in style, go hog wild, me oh my oh...Son of a gun, we'll have some fun* with my Bio...

Hey, I oughta write a song like that...nah, it'd never sell

Mike grew up literally "Livin' on Tulsa Time" as Tulsa, Oklahoma is where he was born and raised. The farm he grew up on was small... very small... so small it didn't have any farm animals... so small there were no fields to plow... so small... oh all right, Mike grew up a city boy, but he could have grown up on a farm

His fondest childhood memories of music were watching his father perform in local theater productions and two older sisters playing their Beatles' 45's until the apples wore off. He also remembers cheery, family sing-a-longs on lengthy car trips. He says he still has recurring nightmares

He took up the coronet/trumpet at age 11 and mastered them as a bull masters a cape. Wow he thought, "I really suck!" Maybe music just wasn't in his future

Luckily in his teens, Mike's brother was given a guitar for Christmas, and as it was his smaller brother, Mike soon had possession of it. Wow he thought, "this is easier to sing along with than a trumpet!

After demonstrating a peculiar aptitude for the instrument, Mike's parents decided to buy him an electric guitar and amplifier the following Christmas. Wow he thought, "who needs aptitude when you've got AMPLITUDE!!!" His neighbors disagreed. His family persevered. His dad pondered, "Why did I let that dadgum salesman talk me into getting the bigger amp?" Mike ignored the complaints of the obviously musically challenged and kept hammering away

Occasionally Mike would turn down the volume and lyrics with chords would magically appear in his head. Wow he thought, "I could maybe get a girlfriend doing this!" And so he kept it up and did indeed get a girlfriend. His first completed song was for her. It was called "We'll Live on Love." He sang it for her. She cried... and surprisingly didn't leave him

So his songwriting career was born. More songs = more women. He was motivated

The years went by. The number of songs grew. Now what to do? Wow he thought, "I need a Demo tape!" So he tried and tried again to record one on the best cassette recorder Radio Shack had on sale but still something was not quite right. Could it be the plastic microphone? The TV in the background? The lack of percussion... piano... bass... etc

Mike managed to save up some money working. Shortly thereafter he lost his job. Wow he thought, "I have no job and some money... what should I do?" The answer was obvious... go spend it all. So he did. He bought a Korg M1 keyboard workstation, a Sure sm58 microphone, and a Fostex 4-track cassette recorder. Wow he thought, "I don't play keyboard!" Guess he should have thought of that before he bought it

So over the course of the next four years 3 demo tapes were produced. One 60 minute one ("Forever") and two 45 minute ones ("Out on a Limb" & "Never Been Better Street"). They consisted of over 30 songs and made nifty Christmas gifts

Mike has recently won numerous awards for his music (do an internet search on mike hyden contest) and expects many more in the future. He placed a first in the Austin Songwriter's Group Annual Song Contest which won him a professionally produced demo in Nashville. He was so pleased with it that he had a few more demos recorded there. Mike still considers himself primarily a lyricist and would love to collaborate with accomplished melody writers. Please feel free to contact him

Wow he thought, "this bio is finally over!

*All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners