Mike Saunders
MIke is a native of Los Angeles California, and grew up in the So Cal coffeehouse scene of the 60's. He has resided in the Puget Sound region of Washington State since 1966. He began playing Irish backup guitar, and was a member of several seminal Celtic groups in the 70's, In 1974 Mike met Dale Russ while Dale was studying at Evergreen State College, and they joined forces in the group No Comhaile with Colin Manahan, Nick Voreas and Mark Graham. When this group disbanded in 1980, Dale and Mike continued performing as a duo, well known in the Northwest for their high energy contra-dance playing, and their acclaimed concerts of Celtic music. When Dale joined the Suffering Gaels, Mike continued his own performances both solo and with other groups (Stone Circle, A Cape Breton Ceilidh, Thistle,).
In addition to his Irish backup guitar playing and fingerpicked song accompaniments, Mike is adept at traditional American banjo styles, and the Cape Breton fiddle tradition, to which he was introduced by Jerry Holland, who became his teacher thanks to a grant from The National Endowment For The Arts. He also performs shows featuring a variety of Pop and Jazz music. Mike also teaches his music in a variety of contexts including private lessons, workshops and classes.
In the summer of 2008, Crumac founding member Finn McGinty left the band, bound for Ireland, and remaining members Tom and Dale were forced to approach Mike (with pleading and gnashing of teeth) about joining up with them to continue the on-going tradition of foolishness and great music in Crumac, to which he happily acceded.