On his new acoustic model – “Pearl River Guitars sound impressive, and the woods and builds are high-end. Well done, Pearl River, very well done. I don’t sing praise for a guitar if it does not deserve it.” ~ Mike Lawson
If you say ‘prolific working guitar player’, you’re likely to hear the name Mike Lawson.
However, the man is more than just the instrument. Over the last 30 years, he has recorded and/or performed with Merl Saunders, Vince Welnick, Vassar Clements, Pete Sears, Gary Talley, John McEuen, Bob Welch, Dennis Robbins, Joe Louis Walker, Jorma Kaukonen, Phil Keaggy, Jack Casady, Pete Sears, Dianne Davidson, Brian Hardgroove, Rob Wasserman, Michael Cleveland, Phil Madeira, and a host of others. He has released eight albums as “Mike Lawson and Friends,” most recently “Ever Trust a Prankster?” in October 2023. He is responsible for Epiphone creating their bestselling bass, the Jack Casady model, now in its 25th year of production,
Over his 20-plus years as a voting member of The Recording Academy, Mike served seven years on the board of governors for its San Francisco chapter, holding various chapter offices. Mike has served as a Trustee for the Grammy Awards, on the NARAS Finance Committee, and the Grammy Awards and Nominations Committee.
Mike is also a noted journalist, editor, author, and publisher of music technology training and education publications for musicians and educators. He is the owner of artistpro, LLC – publishers of Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) Magazine, Modern Band Journal, JAZZed Magazine, School Band and Orchestra Magazine+ (SBO+), and Choral Director Magazine. Mike has published over 200 book and video titles on audio and music production for, among others, MixBooks, Thomson Learning/Cengage, Thomas Nelson, Hal Leonard, and Alfred Music.
Acquisitions include best-selling works by Quincy Jones, Ken Scott, Bobby Owsinski, and the ears behind Steely Dan, Roger Nichols. Mike is the co-author of multiple tech titles, writing “Teach Yourself GarageBand.” He later purchased Mix Books to publish an expanded list of how-to books for musicians, including titles that addressed home recordings for beginners and the very popular Roger Nichols Recording Method. Since 2011, he has volunteered as executive director of Technology in Music Education, a nonprofit producing thousands of hours of free music educator training annually.
Mike has three adult children and currently lives outside of Nashville, TN, with his wife Shannon, and what some have called an “excessive amount of guitars.” He continues to perform 30+ yearly shows on guitar/vocals with his group, “Hooteroll?” in tribute to his late mentor, Merl Saunders, and Jerry Garcia.