Mike Andersen (born Mikkel Dybdal Andersen, February 25, 1977,

Rødekro Rødekro () is a railway town, with a population of 6,189 (1 January 2025),Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) is a Danish songwriter, singer and guitarist and bandleader of the Mike Andersen Band.

Musical career

Already at 12 years of age,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

and

African-American music African-American music is a broad term covering a diverse range of musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their African-American culture, culture. Its origins are in musical forms that developed as a result of the Slavery in ...

had taken a firm grip on Andersen. While everyone around him in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

was listening to a mix of

Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

, he practised guitar along with the LPs of

Lightning Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...

, B. B. King,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

Otis Rush Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1934 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter who has been long revered as one of the creators of modern Chicago blues; though he was respected and praised, the success he sought e ...

and many more. Later, as Andersen focused on voices and words he ventured into the soul stars and

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, backing vocalist, and arranger who ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto" ...

and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

were added to his collection of vinyl. At 20, Andersen met the blues guitarist

Otis Grand Fred Bishti (February 14, 1950 – June 2023), known professionally as Otis Grand, was a Lebanese-born American blues musician, best known for his album, ''Perfume & Grime'' (1996) and his exciting live performances. He was honoured with the Pre ...

. Otis and his six piece band perfectly framed the music Mike had listened to his whole life, from raw urban blues to 1960s soul. Grand invited the young Andersen to one of his major shows in England where he participated as a guitarist in ''The Otis Grand All Star Revue'' at 'The Great British R & B Festival in Colne, England. When Andersen returned home to

he had a firm resolve to form a six piece

and soul band of his own. Knocking around the blues and soul scene of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

, Andersen soon cranked up his 'Blues Crew' band and quickly caught the attention of older, more established Danish musicians. Soon he formed 'The Mike Andersen Band' whose first album, ''My Love for the Blues'' was released in 2002 as one of the last 15 years most striking Danish

albums. It was imprinted with the relentless uncompromising attitude which has characterized his career since. Another significant studio album, ''Tomorrow'' released in 2004 and ''The Mike Andersen Band'' EP of 2006 followed along with hundreds of concerts across Europe. These included opening for

The Fabulous Thunderbirds The Fabulous Thunderbirds is an American blues rock band formed in 1974. Singer Kim Wilson is the only constant member through the band's entire history. Their 1986 album ''Tuff Enuff'' sold over a million copies, and spawned two minor hit singl ...

and three times for B. B. King. The 5th Annual Independent Music Awards (2005) winner in the

songs category was Mike and the band's ''Stuck With Me''. During the last half of the decade, while honing his skills working with a variety of Danish local and international musicians, Andersen was busy creating a new CD to show off his band's new sound. Two plus years in the making, when ''echoes'' was released in early 2010, Andersen was heralded as "an original interpreter of the old qualities" by the music editor of the nation's second largest newspaper,

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

GAFFA ''Gaffa'' (stylized as ''GAFFA'') is a free Nordic music magazine with local editions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''Gaffa'' is Denmark's largest and oldest music magazine. It has been published since 1983 and has 320,000 print readers and 75 ...

, a leading publisher of music news in Denmark for almost thirty years wrote that ''echoes'' "is so far his best. Perhaps because . . . he dares to mix his interest in and enjoyment of the blues with his interest and pleasure in soul music." Three days later the countries leading pop radio station

DR P4 DR P4 is the regional radio channel of Denmark's national public broadcasting corporation, DR. The 10 regional stations which make up P4 originate their own local programming and also carry jointly produced nationwide content. P4's programming is ...

named the new CD their Album of the Week. Then the music journalist Peter Widmer wrote in the Odense Music Library's news about "Mike Andersen's voice that has evolved ... with great range, and is primarily in the center of ''echoes'', with lyrics about love, jealousy and passion as the main themes. In a bluesinthenorthwest.com review, Grahame Rhodes reviewed thus: "''Echoes'' comes highly recommended for those who like their music soulful and full of good grooves and top notch songs. In ''Trumpet Magazine'', a Danish Music Union publication, Andersen told how he was able to connect with the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning producer and mixer

Russell Elevado Russell Elevado (born 1966 in the Philippines) is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City. Description Russell Elevado is a multi-Grammy award-winning record producer and recording engineer, born in the Philippines in 19 ...

who finally mixed ''echoes''.

Discography

* 2002: ''My Love for the Blues'' (Five Star CD released by Black & Tan Records) * 2004: ''Tomorrow'' (CD) * 2006: ''Mike Andersen Band - EP'' (CD/EP) * 2010: ''Echoes'' * 2012: ''Mike Andersen'' * 2014: ''Home'' * 2015: ''Live'' * 2017: ''Devil is back'' * 2018: ''There she was'' * 2019: ''One Million Miles'' * 2021: ''Raise your Hand''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Mike 1977 births Living people Contemporary blues musicians Soul musicians Electric blues musicians Independent Music Awards winners People from Aabenraa Municipality Musicians from the Region of Southern Denmark