FAWM.ORG | mikeb

Artist Bio

Influences: Neil Young, Todd Rundgren, Beatles, CS&N, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Carbon Leaf, Great Big Sea, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, the Who...

Got my first guitar at age 15, never looked back (but may have left it in the closet for a few years along the way).
5 self-released CDs of various styles of music. Now I just call it 'electric-acoustic folk-rock' when people ask what genre.

Play guitar, uke, keyboards, bass, Merlin (ask!), and whatever instruments I can fake things on (mandolin, harmonica, new -used- violin). I use Reaper for recording (willing to do collaborations).

Friend me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mike.birch.965
And 'like' my artist page: https://www.facebook.com/mikebirchmusic/
And 'like/follow' me on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2335h...

Along with my collaborator and dear friend @tamsnumber4 I run a monthly songwriter meeting, Songwriters of New Hampshire Group (SONG) where we discuss songwriting and bring songs for suggestions and critiques in a casual songwriter circle format.
I run an acoustic open mic every other Wednesday in Methuen - original (FAWM!) songs welcome!

Songs (20)

#1	3000 Miles newpointofview piano ballad acoustic	17 Feb 3
#2	Old Green Shirt acoustic fuc	17 Feb 3
#3	24 Hours To Midnight sm57 acoustic guy_with_a_guitar	16 Feb 5
#4	Box of Rain lyric only notacover guitar humor	11 Feb 6
#5	So Long Until Next Time closer sm57 rock full-band harmonica	8 Feb 10
#6	Bridges 2-chords guy-with-guitars folk	13 Feb 10
#7	Indifferent Rose musetools pop-rock	7 Feb 12
#8	INSPIRE @s7even collaboration guy-with-guitar folk	11 Feb 15
#9	We Used To Sing @hanke7 collaboration guy-with-guitar folk	9 Feb 16
#10	Where The Children Play metal	4 8 weeks
#11	Catcher (Canon) pachelbel guy-with-ukulele fuc	13 8 weeks
#12	First Class sarcasm lyrics-only	2 8 weeks
#13	Shelter (lyrics only) lyrics-only storm acoustic-rock	5 8 weeks
#14	Every Sunset @s7even guy-with-merlin mandolin acoustic	3 7 weeks
#15	Big Old World acoustic americana	3 7 weeks
#16	Elvis Presley Is Alive And Well And He’s Living On Mars elvis satire 50s mars	6 7 weeks
#17	Shadows Sweep The Land @benjo folk-rock collab	1 7 weeks
#18	Into the Vortex rock doom heavy	5 7 weeks
#19	Hello Shed @easyshed shed humor love-song	7 7 weeks
#20	Beautiful Sadness guy-with-guitar sad acoustic	5 7 weeks

Soundboard

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@chrishope 4 weeks

thanks mikeb , appreciated
@saulius 4 weeks

Thanks for the supportive comment on my FAWM anthem. Looks like you came through your slump in great shape.

Just curious, would you be related to the Birch pharmacist family?
@tamsnumber4 6 weeks

Thank you for commenting on my song "Doll" and my collab song "Hope Beyond Hope", I appreciate the listens!
@sunnymae 6 weeks

Thanks Mike for dropping by and taking a listen to I Can Love You for today. I appreciate your comments and really glad you enjoyed it. Huge congratulations to you on a phenomenal output of Music this year. Glad to know you!
@jwhanberry 6 weeks
@tamsnumber4 6 weeks

Thanks for commenting on my collab song "How Long", appreciate the listen!
@jyllian 7 weeks

Yeah I saw the thread about the shed but I still like me the song!
@majordanby 7 weeks

Thank you for commenting to We Can Work It Out. You are so right, we were very unsure where this should go, my songs are very different to Dan’s and I don’t think we know how to make them as polishe / finished. Dan has more focus and direction than i do. We will revisit the last two songs.
@barbara 7 weeks

Hi Mike, thanks for listening. I'm still kind of in a tender mood from recording mine, so can you recommend something somewhat soft of yours that you'd like me to hear?
@zecoop 7 weeks

Just me being the goofball that I am - all the other songs had been about macabre uses for actual sheds, lol. Thanks for listening, I think - not sure I wanted anyone REALLY listening to that song, haha
@madeline 7 weeks

Thanks for the kind comment on my "You Can't Tell Me Anything" lyrics. I am still working out the music but hope to have something to share soon. Great job coming up with so many songs already!
@crisp1 7 weeks

No problem! I know the feeling. I'm there myself.
@benjo 7 weeks

Hey Mike

so so sorry no reply, I have been
so busy with my father in law
he suffers very bad health
I am so pleased that you saw
the potential in my lyric
and WOW MAN listening to your take was amazing, I got the feeling you really believed every word you sang, you told that story so well, and what a stunning
melody you put on this song
I can't thank you enough Mike
you really gave these words life
please forgive me for my late reply, and thank you so much
you should be proud of you
WONDERFUL WORK SIR

Tony
@hummingbear 7 weeks

Thanks for your comment on Gimme A Straw. Now, on top of lyrics, I have a screenplay to write...
@cindyrella 7 weeks

Thanks Mike. Where I am, we've had a cold wet winter with much more snow that usual.
@jwhanberry 7 weeks
@crisp1 7 weeks

Sounds good, Mike.
@goldbay 7 weeks

Thanks for you comment! Always Remember belt and suspenders! 🙂
@spinhead 7 weeks

Thanks for the encouraging comment on Bells. I have a stupendous support network, starting with the best wife in the world, so I'm gonna be all right.
@tamsnumber4 7 weeks

Congrats on your trophy, you have a really productive first FAWM!
@kovbleu 7 weeks

Thank you so much for listening to "The Steady." Yes, I'd only ever used the knob to pan to one direction or the other for the entire track...never knew how to have it flow and move throughout the song back and forth. That really was a great thing to learn yesterday because I agree it really added to the song. I appreciate your comment!
@donna 7 weeks

I well understand the feeling, Mike. 😉 Meanwhile, you have some good 'starter' lyrics, several of which you can fine-tune once you're back to your regular schedule. 😉

I really hope you've enjoyed your first FAWM roller-coaster ride. 😉
@ceilidh 8 weeks

Thank you for your comment on Remembering Lorax. My test audience (the people planning her tree-planting memorial) are saying they were crying (one had to pull off the highway), so may have hit the appropriate note. Now, can I hold it together to sing it at memorial in April?
@ceilidh 8 weeks

Music is posted for Remembering Lorax.
@mmmmarcus 8 weeks

Thank you very much for the comment on Learning To Live! I bought the mic for the guitar (and maybe drum room, other string instruments etc) and for that it was excellent. At least for that type of song I agree more air would be good for vocals, a ribbon gets too rounded and it was also sensitive for plosives with my more aggressive lines. I had to put it through it's paces though (and now I'm nerding out here) and was super happy with the mic in all 😀
@wistah 8 weeks

yay! mission accomplished 😀
@ceilidh 8 weeks

Thank you for your comment on Remembering Lorax. The challenge will be to practice until I can sing it without listening to the words (i.e. without crying) come April when we have her memorial tree planting.
@twoplayersforlife 8 weeks

Thank you for your kind comment!
@natalieedelson 8 weeks

Thanks for your kind comment on “Orion” Looking forward to hearing your tunes! 🎈
@dragondreams 8 weeks

Thanks, Mike. 😀
It happens twice. Just before the break before the full drum kit comes in, then the sequence closes out the track. 😉
By 'eck! You've been busy! I have some listening to do. 😀
@mmmmarcus 8 weeks

Thanks a lot for the nice comment on After The Storm! Glad to hear you liked it. I'm sure you'll have a great album on your hands, great going with the songs on here!
@donna Feb 17

Mike, thank you for your kind comment on 'Lead Me Away'. Much appreciated. Indeed, I'm not currently at the highest point in my life, but - as with all things - this too shall pass.
@heidiserwer Feb 17

Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my song. I appreciate the listen and look forward to checking out some of your music too!
@natalieedelson Feb 17

Thanks for your kind words on my tune (Angeline) looking forward to hearing yours 🌟
@wistah Feb 17

Thanks for listening to Sarah's song Mike! It was a fun one for sure!
@momentegalerie Feb 15

Thanks for listening to my music and your comment on 'Der perfekte Tag'. I appreciate it because it's not easy to listen to music with foreign lyrics.
@majordanby Feb 15

Thanks for commenting and listening. I’m really struggling with chords, find cool stuff that does work as a whole.
@hanke7 Feb 15

Would love to hear music
@s7even Feb 15

Awesome! Thank you for the compliment of wanting to collaborate. I’m excited to hear what you come up with. Also, I’m flexible for you to massage the lyrics to fit your style.
@ceilidh Feb 15

New music is up for Tiny Homes 😀
@oaksnprairie Feb 14

Thanks for listening to Easy Living!
@franniezest Feb 14

thanks so much for the comments on Make Believe! i may end up changing the swear in it but for now it feels good to get it out! i added a soundcloud link to the song but i couldn't get it to work in the right place so i put the link in the liner notes.?!?! i'm very new to all this so it's much appreciated! (EDIT: I got the link working YAY!)
@pamgrisham Feb 13

Thank you so much for your kind words on Sweet as Molasses!
@ohwell123 Feb 13

Hey! Thank you very much for your comment on my Waltz. Greatly appreciate it!
@mikegtz Feb 13

Hi Mike, nice to meet you here. I've known Tammy for awhile and It's good to see you and hear mor about SONG.
@zecoop Feb 13

Hehe, thanks for (easy) listening!! 😉
@jaegerin Feb 12

Hey, thanks for your comment on my "Moving On"! Yes you're right!! It makes me happy that someone guessed what it was about 😀
@the3queens Feb 12

yeah we keep hoping it's over but it's been a tough year health-wise. I only got one flu in November and this last one just in time for FAWM but have been called on as extra hands. My daughter's family has been hard hit and it's tough with 3 sick little ones and both parents sick, too. Makes me happy I'm so close to lend a hand.
@lanasolyluna Feb 12

Thanks Mike!
@nikke88 Feb 11

Thank You for commenting on Princess and Star.

About Star: Guitar used was my old Walden D560CE. Microphone was Rode M3 and for trimming it I used couple of plug-ins from iZotope. Microphone was around 2 feet from the sound hole.

About Princess: You're right about that bass line. First I thought that I use cello for it and I wrote it as a cello line. I played the line on bass so I would know, what to play/program (timing, phrasing, ...) for vst-cello but I didn't remember that I have vst-cellos, so I left the bass line on it.

I felt like a bit of a fool a couple of minutes after I posted that song. Only then I remembered, that I could have used some string-plug-in for cello parts. Well, can't always remember everything. 😀
@mmmmarcus Feb 11

Thank you so much for the comment on Carry Me Home!
@ceilidh Feb 11

Thanks for your comment on "Tiny Home" - as a parody, I posted the link to John Denver's performance of the original song so folks could compare and contrast the two. Given the two comments so far, I'll have to consider giving it its own tune...a FAWMer's work is never done!
@lain Feb 11

Thanks for your comment on "A story" - yeah, I will try to slow it down a bit, probably you are right, thanks! 😀
@jwhanberry Feb 10
@gemhughs Feb 10

Thanks for you comments on “Catch My Breath“.
@kadmad202 Feb 10

Thanks for listening to Remembering Rosalind! Glad you enjoyed it!
@tamsnumber4 Feb 10

Thanks for commenting and listening to "Nothin' To Lose", appreciate it!
@tamsnumber4 Feb 10

Thanks for listening and commenting on my songs "You Are Fragile", "Tempting Time" and "Vagrant Sea", I really appreciate it!!
@pbtaylorjr Feb 10

Thanks for listening. The Harry Potter wasn’t a tease so much as I recently re-read Deathly Hallows and read the first act of Cursed Child before I started writing this song. Then initially the first section just made me think about an ode to Harry Potter dying and I just kept it around after it made sense. Sorry to mislead you.
@dragondreams Feb 9

You're really kind, Mike, thank you. But I'm cringing at the fluffed notes and lack of "movement" in the piece. I wouldn't normally stick to such safe chords and voicings when noodling. 😉
@larryw Feb 8

Thanks for the comment Dark Side of Love, yes for sure female vocalist, I've re-read and I'm thinking the Cher kind of vibe from her duet with Meatloaf (Rock and Roll and Brew)
@zecoop Feb 7

Thanks for checking out the creepy subway song! I added some freaky guitar and remixed, so now it is about 1000 times more creepy, in case you wanted to check that out, lol. 😀
@headfirstonly Feb 6

Hi Mike! Ta for the comment - The setup is a blend of the piezo and the bridge humbucker into a Blackstar ID:15, feeding the line out as a stereo signal into the DAW. And I was simultaneously driving the GR-55 Guitar Synth, taking the stereo out from the synth (held back in the mix apart from the Crims-O-Tron mellotron section) and the mono out from its COSM section, so that meant two stereo pairs and a mono signal for each of the seven guitar tracks. I do tend to overengineer things...
@dragondreams Feb 5

My pleasure, Mike. I really enjoyed my listens!
@majordanby Feb 5

Thank you for listening and commenting. My guitar style is a little rough, so pleased how this turned out.
@dragondreams Feb 5

Thank you once again, Mike. 😊
Fortunately, "mousing" is allowed. The main "damage" is the lowest joint of my left thumb, where it joins my palm. I mouse right-handed. 😉😎
Love your 3000 Miles song! Will be listening to the others later, but right now I have to go and show my face at my day job. 😉
@cindyrella Feb 5

Thanks and no never guitars!
@factorytale Feb 5

Thanks for the comment, I'll do that, put a link
@haim Feb 4

Hi mike. Appreciate your comment on my first song. Thanks for the encouragement. I'll check your songs soon. Have a great fawm! By the way I see Neil Young is one of your favorite artists, I didn't know him so much, but last year I read his autobiography, and he seems like a very cool guy, any songs of him you think i'd like? he has many songs I don't know where to start.
@terriellen Feb 4

Thanks for your kind comments on my song the wind of my soul!
@joyfulbliss22 Feb 4

Thank you so much. Please feel free to use the lyrics. Let me know if i can help. Not sure if you plan on making the song but i could try singing if you dont already have someone in mind.
@goldelion Feb 4

Thank you for your lovely comments! 😀
@beesmusic Feb 4

Thanks for your nice comment @mikeb ! I am loving FAWM so far this year. 2019 has been great so far, hope yours has been too!
@ablaze Feb 3

im a fan!
@vgenfan Feb 3

Thanks for commenting on my first Fawm song!!
@ferry0123 Feb 2

Hey...thanks for your nice comment on my first!
@zecoop Feb 2

Yeah, the amp itself is a YBA-1, but the cabinet I got with it in 1983 is long dead. I have Peavey 4x10 and 1x15 for the bass, but my brother helped me find that inexpensive Marshall cabinet when I want to use it for guitar. It does sound wonderful, and I bet your Tele sounded great!! I always wanted a tele but never have gotten one, Still time, lol
@dragondreams Feb 2

Hi Mike. 😀
Many thanks for the listens and the kind words. I didn't know about the Todd Rungdren track, but I'm going to hit Google now and look for it!
@larryw Feb 2

Thanks @mikeb manful strikes, so I'm struggling to talk! We will see though
@zecoop Feb 2

Thanks a ton for listening! I really appreciate it. So, a Traynor bass amp of about the sample vintage, you say? Possibly like the first bass I bought for cheap in 1983 (it's a 1973 YBA-1)... I still have it and currently have it hooked up to a slant face Marshall cab. You'll be hearing that one for sure!
@khowie Feb 2

Happy FAWMing! Thank you for your kind words and listening to my song Trouble Is. 😀
@onewholovesrock Feb 1

Hey Mike. Good luck! Hope you enjoy FAWM. I will participate when I can but I’ll be on vacation from the 17th into March.
@jonmeta Jan 30

Welcome to the FAWM party. It's great to have you here.
@donna Jan 26

Hi, Mike. 😀 Welcome to your very first - and probably not your last - FAWM. Be prepared for the unexpected - even in what you write yourself. 😉
@nuj4x Jan 23
@honeybadgerfolk Jan 21

Welcome to FAWM! Hope you have a great month.
@dragondreams Jan 21

Hi Mike. 😊
Welcome to the club! You do realise, of course, that you are now hooked for life? 😉
@andygetch Jan 21

Hi Mike and welcome to FAWM!
@unpronounceable Jan 20

In person workshops 😀
@metalfoot Jan 18

Happy FAWMing!
@guatecoop Jan 18

Welcome to you! We are glad that you have joined us.
@zecoop Jan 17

FAWM really changed my life in 2011... I look forward to this every single year. I hope you have fun! 😀
@johnstaples Jan 17

Hiya Mike! And welcome to FAWM! Hope you have a great time and write some sweet new songs!
@cindyrella Jan 17

Welcome! We are glad you joined!
@tamsnumber4 Jan 16

WELCOME my friend and songwriting collaborator!! I am very, very happy to see you here!!!

mikeb 20

Artist Bio

Songs (20)

Soundboard

@chrishope 4 weeks

@saulius 4 weeks

@tamsnumber4 6 weeks

@sunnymae 6 weeks

@jwhanberry 6 weeks

@tamsnumber4 6 weeks

@jyllian 7 weeks

@majordanby 7 weeks

@barbara 7 weeks

@zecoop 7 weeks

@madeline 7 weeks

@crisp1 7 weeks

@benjo 7 weeks

@hummingbear 7 weeks

@cindyrella 7 weeks

@jwhanberry 7 weeks

@crisp1 7 weeks

@goldbay 7 weeks

@spinhead 7 weeks

@tamsnumber4 7 weeks

@kovbleu 7 weeks

@donna 7 weeks

@ceilidh 8 weeks

@ceilidh 8 weeks

@mmmmarcus 8 weeks

@wistah 8 weeks

@ceilidh 8 weeks

@twoplayersforlife 8 weeks

@natalieedelson 8 weeks

@dragondreams 8 weeks

@mmmmarcus 8 weeks

@donna Feb 17

@heidiserwer Feb 17

@natalieedelson Feb 17

@wistah Feb 17

@momentegalerie Feb 15

@majordanby Feb 15

@hanke7 Feb 15

@s7even Feb 15

@ceilidh Feb 15

@oaksnprairie Feb 14

@franniezest Feb 14

@pamgrisham Feb 13

@ohwell123 Feb 13

@mikegtz Feb 13

@zecoop Feb 13

@jaegerin Feb 12

@the3queens Feb 12

@lanasolyluna Feb 12

@nikke88 Feb 11

@mmmmarcus Feb 11

@ceilidh Feb 11

@lain Feb 11

@jwhanberry Feb 10

@gemhughs Feb 10

@kadmad202 Feb 10

@tamsnumber4 Feb 10

@tamsnumber4 Feb 10

@pbtaylorjr Feb 10

@dragondreams Feb 9

@larryw Feb 8

@zecoop Feb 7

@headfirstonly Feb 6

@dragondreams Feb 5

@majordanby Feb 5

@dragondreams Feb 5

@cindyrella Feb 5

@factorytale Feb 5

@haim Feb 4

@terriellen Feb 4

@joyfulbliss22 Feb 4

@goldelion Feb 4

@beesmusic Feb 4

@ablaze Feb 3

@vgenfan Feb 3

@ferry0123 Feb 2