Bio
Mike was born in Austin, TX, back when Austin was a small college/capitol town; his dad was an Episcopal priest, and his mom was a schoolteacher. Playing pop songs on the organ at his dad’s church was a first musical experience. Those early pop renditions got him signed up piano lessons but a pianist was not what Mike was meant to be.
Jr. High School found Mike in Jr. High Band, grooving to the music of the sixties, and joining his first real band. That first band was best known for shaking the pictures off the living room walls. Mike was stocking shelves in a grocery store for 75 cents an hour when he played his first pro gig. That gig paid $13.75! After that, there was no turning back. Mike was hooked!
High School days were filled with band and choir and writing music the church’s folk group, The Actors and Folk Singers Guild of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in West Columbia, TX! And, playing bass in the rock band, “The Lost Generation.” The band’s manager was Mike’s dad, known to club owners as “Reverend Baby.”
High School ended and college began; however Lamar Tech didn’t offer a major in folk rock protest music so it was off to Houston, TX to start a music career. Houston led back to Austin, TX and a mix of country and country rock bands. Even playing a tuba gig in Dixieland band!
In the late 70s, Mike landed a gig with Marcia Ball, playing with her band of “Marcia Ball and the Misery Brothers” and her later act of “Marcia Ball.”
A return to Houston in 1980 followed the gig with Marcia, playing with Shake Russell, Michael Marcoulier, Milton Hopkins, and numerous other acts in the Houston area. The 80s decade were spent in Houston; the 90s saw a return to Austin. Mike joined the Hoo Doo Cats as a bassist/songwriter spending several years playing regionally, then the road called and it was off again in the mid 90s.
Time off the road was spent working technical day jobs while playing as much music as his schedule would allow. During this time he picked up a gig with Doak Short and the Dirty Dogs, who for several years opened up for Miss Tony Price at Austin, TX’s Continental Club for the Tuesday Hippie Hour.
During this time Mike also played with Just Us, a folk trio, with Lee Duffy and Mark Parrish, and The Regulars, a group of songwriters who got together to play their songs for whoever would listen. These gigs were an opportunity to write and perform original works which kept the songwriter sprit going.
In 2004, while playing a gig at Alice’s Restaurant out in Nederwald, TX, Mike reconnected with Shake Russell. A gig playing bass with Shake was the opening to leave the day job behind for his true love, music.
Doug Floyd came on board with Shake and the Shake Russell Trio was born. The trio won the Vocal Group of the Year award with the Academy of Texas Music in 2008 and 2010 for their work on Shake’s Live at Gurene Hall CD/DVD, and What This Heart Holds, recorded and produced by John Inmon.
In 2014 Mike was asked to play the First Annual Smithville Folk Festival as a solo act. Randy Sulsar of Creekbottom Music in Lockhart, TX was asked to help put together an original music CD for the event. With Randy’s help on recording and mixing, his wife, Julia Sulsar’s help on photography and vocals, Fletcher Clark’s picking on a tune, and Mike Harris on multiple instruments, Mike Roberts recorded his first CD, When People Fall in Love.
Mike keeps busy these days working with the Lucas Artist Agency in their Music for Seniors programs playing in senior homes from San Antonio to Waco to Houston and all points in between.
Mike also works with the Bugle Boy Foundation in their senior outreach program playing senior homes in La Grange Texas and Schulenburg Texas.
Mike also plays bass and sings with Four On The Floor which is a blues/rock sort of quartet out of Smithville, Texas. Here he finds an outlet for his original blues tunes playing in the central Texas area.
Mike thanks his parents, his friends, his wife Charlotte and the fans. “They gave me encouragement and inspiration I needed to go out and keep chasing the muse. The fans are most incredible part of this journey. Without them, it would just be a rehearsal.”
Recording Credits:
Single by The Lost Generation - When the Night Time Make You Lonley / Baby 1967
Comin’ Home — Album with Shake Russell Dana Cooper Band, John Vandiver, and the Michael Marcoulier Band. 1981
Hoo Doo Happens –The Hoo Doo Cats 1993
Live at Gruene Hall, What this Heart Holds, and live at the Centrum –-Shake Russell
When People Fall in Love —Mike Roberts 2014
Bassist projects with Larry Rothwell, Jim Strickland, and other artist at Parrot Tracks Studio.
Session work as a bassist and a vocalist
Notable Venues Played:
Austin, TX: Armadillo World Headquarters, Soap Creek Saloon, Continental Club, Broken Spoke, Split Rail, Saxon Pub (Both the IH35 location and the South Lamar Location), Antone's, Strange Brew, Hole In The Wall, and Austin City Limits.
Houston, TX: Rockefellers, Fitzgeralds, Corkys, Hops House, Mucky Duck, Anderson Fair, Kellsler Theater, Etta's Lounge, Club Escapade, Dan Electro's Guitar Bar, Gilly's, The Four Palms.
Galveston: The Old Quarter, The Balinese Room
Dallas: Poor David's Pub, Longhorn Ballroom, Kessler Theater
Greune Hall in historic Greune, TX
Henry’s Hideout in Magnolia, TX
Kerrville Folk Festival–Main Stage with Marcia Ball (back in the 70s when there was only one stage) and Shake Russell with whom there have been multiple appearances from the early 80s.
Jay’s Lounge and Cockpit – Cankton LA
Tipitina’s – New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – New Orleans, LA
Rhythm Room – Phoenix, AZ
Nola’s – Prescott, AZ
Cains Ballroom – Tulsa, OK
Lone Star Café - New York, NY