Mike Trask and Mudhill

Accustomed to the life of lobster fishing in Musquodoboit Harbour, Mike Trask developed a keen interest in music at the age of 9, listening to Johnny Cash through a battery-operated Sony tape player with a built-in speaker built under his pillow at night. As he went through the archives of Cash’s albums his mother introduced him to the music of Bob Dylan in the summer of 1997 when Mike was just 12 years of age. This introduction to Dylan encouraged Mike to pick up a pen and begin writing poetry of his own.
Mikes next musical adventure was that of The Doors, and through that period he also became familiar with the music of CCR, Neil Young, and Tom Petty. Upon receiving the gift of a guitar from his parents, it was then that Mike moved from writing poetry into the art of songwriting. Although having no real teacher, Mike had little interest in learning existing songs but opted to begin writing songs of his own. Recording through a Fisher Price tape recorder Mike would write tirelessly for hours on end. With neither real rhyme nor reason the tunes would pour out somewhat effortlessly. Soon thereafter Mike was introduced by a friend to the music of an icon who became a major influence in Mike’s life, a “gravel-pit of a performer”, Tom Waits.
A new resident of Musquodoboit Harbour and neighbour of the Trask family, Jim Henman, one of the initial founders and performers of April Wine, took Mike under his wing and helped to teach him songwriting and singing techniques and then helped him to record his first demo “Ten Nights in a Brogham” in his home studio. Henman introduced Mike to Marina Atwell of Velocity Entertainment who subsequently worked with the marketing and branding of Mike Trask and his music by providing him with unique performance and recording opportunities ranging from Rebecca Cohn Auditorium to CTV and a CBC video in support of youth’s tolerance for differences in people resulting in a DVD program which took on the name of the song written by Mike “Some of Us”.
Mike and his band MudHill consisting of Mike Barnes, Al Hoskins and Lance Purcell went on to record his debut album “The Show” at Fortress Studios during which time they had major showcase opportunities ranging from The ECMA’s, the JUNO’s, the CFL, and Stan Rogers Folk Festival to name just a few. Upon the release of “The Show” at the Halifax Harbour Festival in September of ’06, Mike Trask and MudHill went on to win the Q-104 Battle of the Bands in the summer of ’07 and performed on the HRM Canada Day stage as well as headlining Tall Ships Nova Scotia Festival main stage.
Mike is now in the studio once again recording his second full length album which is guaranteed to be a special treat with Mike’s latest influences including Frank Zappa and Paul Simon. With the explosive response to his first album and his high-energy stage shows, coupled with his classical voice training of late, the gravel-voiced Mike Trask is feeling more confident than ever that his music is making a tremendous impact on his audiences, and with the March 15th of his "Boots for Flying" record this is proving to be true. The first single "Don’t touch the money" as we speak is making its way through airwaves near you.