The Mike Penny Orchestra

Mike Penny is the second foreigner ever to have been awarded for his performance in the 2006 national Tsugaru Shamisen Tournament held in Kanagi, Japan. There, he won the 3rd place out of over 200 competitors in the Spring 2006. Same year, Penny won Global Rhythm Magazine's songwriting contest with a bluegrass-tinged shamisen tune titled "Cruzian Grass." In the winter of 2007, he received a scholarship from the Japan Foundation to study in Tokyo with the highly respected and well-known traditional Tsugaru shamisen sensei Fukushi Toyoaki. Mike Penny has created an unprecedented style of shamisen playing combining traditional shamisen playing with highly technical jazz, Roma music of Balkans, classical, and even rock.Currently, Mike Penny performs in Shamalamcord, an intensely original accordion/shamisen duo, as well as Monsters of Shamisen, a stunning Tsugaru shamisen trio comprised of the amazing Kevin Kmetz and Japan's shamisen virtuoso Masahiro Nitta. Mike Penny is also a former member of Fishtank Ensemble, a cross-pollinated powerhouse of gypsy music.