Mike Silver (musician)

Mike Silver
Born	1945 Uffington, Oxfordshire, UK
Genres	Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, Piano
Years active	1968—present
Labels	Rocket, Stockfisch, Big John, Ferry, Peak, Silversound, Faymus
Associated acts	Johnny Coppin
Website	www.mikesilver.co.uk

Mike Silver (born 1945, Uffington, Oxfordshire) is a UK singer-songwriter who has been active in the UK contemporary and folk music circuits since the late 1960s.

Mike was born in Uffington, Oxfordshire (then Berkshire) in 1945 and commenced playing guitar at the age of 15, joining a number of locally-known "beat" groups in the Croydon area from around 1964 onwards. He was inspired to move to a more fingerstyle folk/blues approach after witnessing Gerry Lockran at a Canterbury folk club, and commenced a performing career himself in the folk clubs of London and Cornwall from the late 1960s onwards. In 1969 he put out a (now very rare) LP on Fontana called "The Applicant" with Mike Beason which was billed as a "folk opera" and dealt dramatically with the struggles of a starving man to find work. Shortly afterwards he formed the trio "Daylight" together with Chrissie Quayle and Steve Hayton, an American then resident in the U.K., which produced one album for RCA in 1971, but fell somewhat between the folk and rock camps and eventually foundered. Following this, Mike signed as the first solo artist other than John to Elton John's Rocket Record Company and released the album "Troubadour" in 1973, also touring in the USA as support to Dory Previn and Ashford and Simpson. From 1976 onwards, Mike then concentrated his activities as an acoustic performer and singer-songwriter on the UK folk scene, with frequent performing trips also to the Netherlands and Germany, and has released more than 12 further solo albums (on some he is billed as Michael Silver); his song "Maybe It's Just Love" was also picked up by Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward and included on the latter's 1980 album "Night Flight". Currently based in Launceston, Cornwall, Mike continues to perform around the UK folk circuit and has also collaborated with fellow performer and songwriter Johnny Coppin including the release of a joint album "Breaking the Silence" in 2007. Writing in the "West Briton" in 2003, reviewer John Newman has stated: "Mike Silver has a unique style, drawing from many influences including folk, rock, country and blues, all of which are evident, with an end result that is magical and should be a source of inspiration to songwriters everywhere."

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