judemichaels

go to my website www.judemichaels.com From playing the cello in the third grade in Muncie, Indiana to Cafe´ Loco, Jude Michaels has literally come a long way. Jude landed at Tybee Island in the early 90’s. He’s been a regular act at Cafe´ Loco for the past eight years, although he can hardly be called the “house band”. Jude prefers to expand his audience base by playing in relatively nearby venues – Charleston, Hilton Head, Atlanta and downtown Savannah. As he puts it, “Why put your eggs in one basket when you can put them in thirty baskets?” The son of the head of the Music Department at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana (alma mater of David Letterman), Jude has been involved in music basically his entire life. Sadly, his mother is deaf and has never heard him play. However, there was never a problem having band practice at his home. He started with the cello, later mastered the bass and piano in elementary school and played in the school orchestra in fourth grade. At age 14, he ran away from home to play in a rock and roll band, but found that he had to have a day job and could pursue his music at night. He had no contact with his family for several years, but returned home around the time of his twenty-first birthday (mainly to get his prized cello). In California, he learned to play guitar literally “on the streets”. He later went to a ski resort in Colorado for a few months, and then on to Chicago, then to Atlanta. During his time in Atlanta, he got involved with landscaping and his music was on hold – mainly playing on weekends. His instrument of choice at that time was the guitar and he played numerous little bars in Buckhead, Decatur and Little Five Points. During his landscaping career, the Governor’s mansion was a client and it was there that his music career was really launched. He got big private parties and was able to devote his energies full time to music. In 1991, he went to Hilton Head - thinking “this is the place to be”. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a “commercial wasteland” and he ended up on River Street in Savannah playing at just about every bar there. He found Tybee Island and lived in an RV at the campground until he purchased a home in 1999. He continued to work sporatically in Atlanta; the Olympics in 1996 was a boost to his career. He continued to travel to Charleston and Isle of Palms, and found his home at Cafe´ Loco and Tybee Island where he has played for the last eight years. In his solo shows, Jude provides comic relief in addition to the music. Apparently, he had aspirations to be a comedian, but bombed badly. He now has some gigs at colleges, where he showcases his original music. This arrangement works well with his appearances at Cafe´ Loco, which are one to two weekends per month. Jude is a believer of the fact that “you never know who is in the audience” and that special musical connection could occur this way. His music is also played on numerous XM radio stations and on WRHQ on special request Sundays. Jude is most interested now in songwriting and expects to have a new CD out within six months or so. He describes the music as“Americana” – a combination of folk, jazz, rock and roll. He realizes that his music requires a special niche in which to thrive, but he is not planning to compromise his music in any way. a “Renaissance Man” who has returned to the design aspect of landscaping and also has been buying houses, fixing them up and selling them. He does the work himself and is quite proud of his accomplishments. I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4 I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4