Mike Dawes

Mike Dawes is an English virtuoso Fingerstyle guitar player known for composing, arranging and performing multiple parts simultaneously on one instrument using unique extended and micro-techniques. His debut record with CandyRat Records gained strong critical acclaim and spawned a variety world tours and singles, notably a viral virtuoso arrangement of Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye that gained over 2 million hits on YouTube alone on its first day of release. Dawes is also lead guitar player for Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues featuring heavily on numerous DVD and PBS releases, notably 'Spirits...Live' which debuted at #2 on the US billboard chart.

Dawes experimented with keyboards before picking up his first electric guitar at age twelve. He switched to Steel-string acoustic guitar in 2008.

From late 2008 to late 2011, Dawes performed instrumental concerts at venues and festivals throughout the United Kingdom both solo, and with a Concert harp player. During this time he performed alongside musicians including Seth Lakeman, Tommy Emmanuel and Newton Faulkner. In 2009, he released an independent EP titled 'Reflections', as well as gaining features on two discs in the AGF (Acoustic Guitar Forum) franchise.

In 2012, Dawes signed with Wisconsin-based CandyRat Records. He released a unique and technically virtuosic arrangement of Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye on June 19 that went viral, gaining acclaim from the international music community.MSN News and Reddit featured him on the front page of their websites. A headline on the US MSN browser spawned an influx of American fans and Gotye (Walter De Backer publicly praised the arrangement: "It's a really beautiful piece of music. It's wonderfully arranged. It's just a fantastic piece of music. I also like the instrumental interpretation because it gives a different perspective on the musical arrangement. It's not about how somebody's voice transmits the story of the relationship.

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