Michael

(copied from the 'pro player page'...)"Michael 'Mikie' Olson is an electric bass guitarist and acoustic contra bassist! After studying several other instruments (including piano, French horn, harmonica, guitar, clarinet, and saxophone) Michael Olson decided upon the bass guitar in 1983 – after sneaking into his older brother’s bedroom and finding his bass guitar. Every once in a while he'd get caught, have his existence threatened, retreat into hiding, and after a few weeks, when his courage had returned… the cycle would begin again. Little brothers… Finally, his older brother became frustrated with the instrument and (literally) threw the instrument at Michael. Undaunted, Michael grabbed the bass, ran downstairs to his guitar amp, and plugged it in. For twenty whole minutes, he got to play his brother's bass without threat of bodily injury. He, then, realized that this was what he was meant to do..."Upon graduation he went to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune with his as-yet-unnamed- and still-unnamed-to-this-day band, and attended Musicians Institute while we awaited his fate. Well… fame and fortune would have to wait, but he did receive a diploma from MI, graduating with honors in 1989. Michael spent the next eight years recording, performing, and touring with the band. Along the way, Michael would also play with Liz Barnez, Bob Hollister, Dave Beegle, Beth Quist, Carol Frazier, and many, many others. Michael has recorded over one hundred albums, and is regarded as one of the very few 'first-call' bassists in Colorado. After a two-year stint in the Nashville, TN area, Michael returned to Ft. Collins, CO (very happy to be home again)!"So now for the stuff you probably care about more than that other dreck if you're HERE instead of THERE...I'm 35, I'm just getting over my aversion to MySpace (there are some real creeps on here!), and I've got a 'friends page' and a 'pro musician page'. This is the friends one, and as you can see, it's barren of friends. This is mainly because my worldly life is music and teaching music, and therefore 99% of my friends are musicians who I network with as well as hang out with. Not the worst situation to be in, but it makes for interesting conversations with people who don't play - even BAJ said to me, "Your biggest problem is that you don't have any friends, Mikie!"I replied, "No, my biggest problem is this damned iron lung I have to live in ever since I discovered Pall Malls back in the 40's..."So here I am, for better or for worse. Mainly I can see this taking up all my time and ruining my fleeting handle on my life, but I can live with that - heck, it's MySpace, dangit - it's worth it!