Michael Truckpile's music dances across the boundaries of folk, country and gut-bucket rocking. With an intently exploratory and expressive voice backed by his steady, dynamic acoustic guitar playing, Michael spins yarns of frustration and hope around the question marks of life. Michael grew up in a house full of music. His mom played keyboards in rock bands and taught piano lessons and his dad reviewed music and concerts since before the baby Truckpile was even a twinkle in either of their eyes. Michael came up in the d.i.y. punk community in and around Albany, NY where he began bumming rides to get his ramshackle drum sets and bands to and from their shows.
He only recently took up song crafting on guitar after clandestinely purchasing a beautiful, old beat up 1940's arch top at a garage sale in Kingston, NY. That was June of 2003 and Michael has since written, recorded and released a full length CD on Art of the Underground Records, played shows in venues as varied as barns, pizza shops, CSA organic farms and big rock clubs and toured around the U.S. with the Gadabout Traveling Film Festival and the Sparkle Kids Action Network. Michael is also the drummer and singer for the hyperactive pop duo The Kiss Ups.
He is currently at work on his second CD "My Letter Finds You.." that reflects the stew of influences he's accumulated over the years. Michael's attitude and songs are grounded in a love for people and life and indiscriminately inter fuse the personal with the political. His spontaneous live performances engage the audience in the adventure of a song's birth, always manifesting with slightly different characteristics and flourishes. Michael has made the cozy, Hudson valley town of Rosendale, NY his home base and hewn a sound that is rich and enveloping, bringing listeners into the intimate journey through self reflection, satire and revelation.
