Monster Mike Welch

Med over 25 års turnévirksomhed og snesevis af albums betragtes den Boston-baserede bluesgitarist Monster Mike Welch som en veteran på den internationale blues-scene til trods af sin relativt unge alder.

“Monster Mike” fik navnet i en alder af 13 år, af skuespilleren Dan Aykroyd fra bl.a. Blues Brothers og Ghostbuster. Welch har siden opnået stjernestatus som en ekstraordinær dygtig og efterspurgt guitarist.

Til dato har Welch udgivet seks albums i sit eget navn. I 2001 blev Mike medlem af Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, hvor han var med indtil 2017. I denne periode udgiver de fem albums og bandet modtager et dusin Blues Music Award-nomineringer. Derudover har Welch indspillet med bl.a. Shemekia Copeland, Ronnie Earl, Danielle Nicole, Duke Robillard, Johnny Winter, Victor Wainwright, Nick Moss, Mannish Boys og Sugaray Rayford.

Welch forlod Bluetones i 2017 for at fokusere på sit partnerskab med Mike Ledbetter, hvilket førte til fire Blues Music Awards, og syv BMA-nomineringer og dannelsen af ​​Welch Ledbetter Connection. Den 33-årige sanger Mike Ledbetter døde desværre af et epilepsi-anfald i januar 2019 (kun 2 måneder efter deres mindeværdige Blues Heaven koncert) hvilket gav chokbølger gennem bluesverdenen, idet bandet var spået en stjerne status.
Monster Mike Welch var selvsagt rystet efter tabet af sin bedste ven og det er først nu at han begynder at arbejde igen.

Welch har modtaget fire Blues Music Award-nomineringer af Blues Foundation for Guitar-player of the Year med en sejr i 2019, en Boston Music Award for Best Blues Act, og er tilmed medlem af Rhode Island Music Hall Of Fame.

Monster Mike Welch

With over 25 years of touring and recording under his belt, Boston-based blues guitarist Monster Mike Welch is considered a seasoned veteran of the international blues scene despite his relatively young age. Given the nickname “Monster Mike” by actor/Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd at the tender age of 13, Welch has since carved out a niche as a highly accomplished and in-demand guitarist. To date, Welch has released six albums under his own name, and in 2001, he joined the ranks of one of New England’s most beloved blues institutions, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones, where he stayed until 2017, recording five albums and racking up multiple Blues Music Award nominations for the band in that time. In addition, Welch has recorded with Shemekia Copeland, Ronnie Earl, Danielle Nicole, Duke Robillard, Johnny Winter, Victor Wainwright, Nick Moss, the Mannish Boys and Sugaray Rayford, among others. Welch left the Bluetones in 2017 to focus on his partnership with Mike Ledbetter, which led to seven Blues Music Award nominations and the formation of the Welch Ledbetter Connection within the first year. Welch has received three consecutive Blues Music Award nominations by the Blues Foundation for Instrumentalist-Guitar beginning in 2016, a Boston Music Award for Best Blues Act, and is an inductee of the Rhode Island Music Hall Of Fame.