Mitch Grainger (born 12 February 1974), is an Australian blues and

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern roc ...

musician, record producer, educator and inventor who started performing professionally at the age of 13 in Sydney and has since worked with a long list of iconic Australian musicians, such as

Harry Vanda Johannes Hendrikus Jacob van den Berg (born 22 March 1946), better known as his stage name Harry Vanda, is a Dutch Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as lead guitarist of the 1960s Australian rock band the Eas ...

The Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band that formed in Sydney in late 1964. They enjoyed a level of success that in Australia rivalled The Beatles. They became the first Australian rock act to score an international hit, with th ...

Malcolm Young Malcolm Mitchell Young (6 January 1953 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian musician who was the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter of AC/DC. Except for a brief absence in 1988, he was with the band from its begin ...

of AC/DC and John Brewster of The Angels, as well as

Tommy Emmanuel William Thomas Emmanuel (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on ...

Alex Lloyd Alex Lloyd (born 19 November 1974) is an Australian singer-songwriter. Four of his albums, '' Black the Sun'', '' Watching Angels Mend'', '' Distant Light'' and '' Alex Lloyd'', released between 1999 and 2005, made the top ten on the ARIA char ...

Kara Grainger Kara Grainger is an Australian soul blues and roots rock singer-songwriter, based out of Nashville, Tennessee, United States. She played with the Papa Lips band starting in 1994. In 1998, they were awarded the "Best New Band" award at the Austra ...

Rick Price Rick Allan Price (born 6 July 1961) is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. His debut album, '' Heaven Knows'', was released in July 1992, and peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It provided tw ...

, and the

Bondi Cigars Bondi Cigars is an Australian Blues and Roots band. Their album ''Down in the Valley'' was nominated for a 2002 ARIA Award for Best Blues & Roots Album. Bondi Cigars were formed in Sydney in 1989 by Shane Pacey, Alan Britton, Les Karski and Ace ...

Australian music career

The Beefs

Mitch Grainger grew up in Balmain, Sydney, in the 70's and 80's and by age 13 was playing the

Harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

and

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

professionally in local venues, emulating American blues artists

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

and

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post- war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicag ...

in 'The Beefs', a band he formed with fellow high school students, singer-songwriter

and Declan Kelly. Despite all members of the band being under 18 years of age, The Beefs performed in pubs and clubs across Sydney's inner west 5 nights a week for a period of 4 years, before disbanding in 1990 when

left to form a new group called 'Mother Hubbard'. During this period The Beefs met

of AC/DC who took Mitch Grainger and the band into Albert's studios to record.

The Bondi Cigars

In 1993 Mitch Grainger (now 19 years old) was hired by the

to play guitar and harmonica across Australia as a part of their touring show. The Bondi Cigars were on the road for 3 weeks out of every 5 during this period of their career. Mitch Grainger stayed with the band for 2 years in which time he recorded on The Bondi Cigars album "After Closing Time".

Papa Lips (Grainger)

After leaving The Bondi Cigars Mitch Grainger formed Papa Lips (a six-piece Blues & Roots band) with his sister

, Declan Kelly, Rowan Lane, Danny Guerrero and

Clayton Doley Clayton Doley (born 13 September 1974) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, television musical director, arranger, and record producer best known for his Hammond Organ virtuosity. Songwriter and producer As a songwriter Clayton has had ...

. Through Mitch Grainger's connections with

and

Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, whose ...

, the band was introduced to John Brewster of The Angels who managed the band. Papa Lips recorded and released one EP (''

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

'' – 1996) and one album ('' High Time Now'' – 1998) distributed by

Festival Records Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 t ...

. They toured extensively on Australia's east coast, and played major Australian music festivals such as the

Byron Bay Bluesfest The Byron Bay Bluesfest, formerly the East Coast International Blues & Roots Music Festival, is an annual Australian music festival that has been held over the Easter long weekend in the Byron Bay, New South Wales, area since 1990. The festiva ...

and

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada *Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall *Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greater ...

. In 1998 Papa Lips were awarded, "Best New Band" at the Australian Blues Music Awards. In 1998 the band was introduced to producer

and AC/DC fame and signed by Albert Productions. The band changed their name to "Grainger" and were in the studio for a period of two years recording an unreleased album, and an EP, '' Sky Is Falling''. In September 2001 Mitch Grainger traveled along with his sister Kara Grainger to New York to meet with American record labels,

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between th ...

. The pair arrived in Manhattan on 9 September and were witness to 11 September attacks.

Love & Demons

In 2004 Mitch Grainger was signed by

's new production company Flashpoint Music and Mitch began work during studio down time on his debut solo album, entitled "Love & Demons". In 2006 the first single "Insane" was released to Australian radio with the full-length album released in Australia the same year. The album was not a commercial success, however

was impressed with Mitch Grainger's production skills and Mitch started working as a recording engineer at Harry Vanda's Flashpoint studios. During this period Mitch Grainger worked as a recording engineer with established Australian acts such as The Wrights,

and

John Paul Young John Inglis Young, OAM (born 21 June 1950), known professionally as John Paul Young, is a Scottish-born Australian pop singer who had his 1978 worldwide hit with " Love Is in the Air". His career was boosted by regular appearances as a performe ...

2UP with Rick Price

Also during this period Mitch Grainger was introduced to Australian pop star

and the two quickly formed a strong working relationship that saw Mitch Grainger perform "Nobody Knows my Name" for the soundtrack of the feature film

December Boys ''December Boys'' is a 2007 Australian Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Rod Hardy and written by Marc Rosenberg and adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by Michael Noonan (Australian writer), Michael Noonan. It was rel ...

, starring

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. He rose to fame at age twelve, when he began portraying Harry Potter in the film series of the same name; and has held various other film and theatre roles. Over his career, Rad ...

and

Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports * Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City * Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...

. In 2007 Rick Price and Mitch Grainger recorded and album of acoustic duets named 2UP, borrowing from the Australian gambling game

Two-up Two-up is a traditional Australian gambling game, involving a designated "spinner" throwing two coins or pennies into the air. Players bet on whether the coins will fall with both heads (obverse) up, both tails (reverse) up, or with one coin ...

of the same name.

US music career

The Lovers

In 2011 Mitch Grainger relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and started collaborating with his sister

(who had relocated there a few years earlier), and a group of artists and musicians known as The Beachwood Rockers. This group of actors and musicians, all living around the Beachwood Canyon area of Hollywood consisted of people like

James Michael Tyler James Michael Tyler (May 28, 1962 – October 24, 2021) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Gunther on the NBC sitcom '' Friends''. Prior to acting, he was an assistant film editor and production assistant. His early works inc ...

of Friends, musician

Lissie Elisabeth Corrin Maurus (born November 21, 1982), known as Lissie, is an American singer-songwriter. She released her debut EP, "Why You Runnin'", in November 2009. Her debut album, ''Catching a Tiger'', was released in June 2010. Her second stu ...

, John Hawkes and Rosa Pullman of The Lovers. Mitch Grainger and Rosa Pullman started making music together very soon after they met in 2011, and by 2012 had formed a band called 'The in From out of Towners' an acoustic duo that performed 2 to 3 nights a week across Los Angeles, and held a weekly residency at The Piano Bar, a well known Hollywood venue, where they met and jammed with a diverse group of musicians including

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, '' Flas ...

and

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

who also played there on a regular basis. In the process of recording their debut album "The in From Out of Towners" took on a rhythm section and changed the band name to The Lovers. The Lovers self-titled debut was released in 2013 at The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood and has been featured in American national TV shows, such as

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

Killer Women ''Killer Women'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from January 7 to March 25, 2014. The series is based on the Argentine crime drama '' Mujeres Asesinas'', which was adapted into an American setting by writer Hannah ...

(ABC) and Rake (Fox) as well as in the feature film 'Is That a Gun in Your pocket', released September 2016. Despite this success The Lovers broke up in 2015.

The Blues

After The Lovers broke up (In 2015) Mitch Grainger recorded and released ''The Blues'', a solo acoustic blues album. Growing in confidence as a lead vocalist and stepping out of the

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

role, this was Mitch Grainger's first release as a solo artist in over 9 years and according to some Australian media at the time was "a signpost of artistic and personal growth that brings Mitch out of a recording hiatus and into the spotlight". After its Australian release the album spent five months in the Australian Blues & Roots Radio Chart, debuting at number 16 before reaching as high as number 6. Its success on Australian blues radio saw Grainger return to tour Australia twice in six months, playing over 40 dates across the east coast of Australia as a part of "The Blues Tour".

Showcase Festivals

In February 2016 Grainger was officially invited to showcase for the American Folk Alliance National Conference in Kansas City, which was followed by a performance in September 2016 (and again in 2017) at the Live @ Heart Festival in örebro, Sweden. Following this Mitch Grainger was invited to open for

on his 2017 east coast US tour, receiving standing ovations at some shows.

Harmonica

YouTube Success

Before relocating to America, Mitch Grainger taught

privately in Sydney for over 20 years. After one of his students recommended Mitch look into posting some videos on YouTube, In March 2012 Mitch Grainger uploaded the first lesson in his Step-by-Step Harmonica Course to YouTube, "Step by Step Harmonica Lessons – Lesson 1". This first video now has over 3.4 million hits, and along with his other videos has seen his YouTube channel grow to currently receive 2,500 – 3,000 hits a day and have over 76,000 subscribers.

Dyna-Mic

Between touring for The Blues, Mitch Grainger focused his attention on inventing a harmonica microphone that enables him to perform and record his own form of Blues Rock with a full band, yet without compromising on the sound of the harmonica, in high volume, amplified situations, and in September 2017 Mitch Grainger was awarded a US Patent for his invention "Harmonica Microphone with improved Control of Audio Feedback", known commercially as Dyna-Mic. Dyna-Mic was successfully launched on Kickstarter in 2018, and first used on stage by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

during his 2018 New Zealand stadium tour.

Select discography

External links

2015 Interview - Australian Rock Show PodcastMitch Grainger's Website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grainger, Mitch 1974 births Electric blues musicians Blues revival musicians Harmonica blues musicians Slide guitarists Lead guitarists Blues rock musicians Living people 21st-century guitarists