Biography

Mike Clifford is an Austin, TX – based singer-songwriter whose music has been described as a cross between Texas honky-tonk and California country-rock. He has released 3 successful self-produced albums, charted 5 consecutive radio singles on the Texas Music Chart, and has been nominated for two Texas Music Awards (Male Vocalist Of The Year in 2005 and Record Of The Year in 2007). He and his band currently perform regularly all over the state of Texas.

Hailing from the Appalachian foothills of Virginia, but a former resident of Baltimore MD, Los Angeles CA and Dallas TX, Mike Clifford’s music is truly the sum of his travels and influences, which range from Johnny Cash to the Eagles to Rodney Crowell. You can hear the influence of those artists and many more on Clifford’s second original CD “All Night All Day”, which Mario Taradell from the Dallas Morning News described as having a “tuneful, boot-kicking sound”. Clifford’s unique vocal style sets him apart from both the traditional “hat acts” and the more contemporary vocalists in country music… his versatile tenor voice is instantly recognizable, and his 3-octave range is well-suited to the wide range of styles he covers with his original music. Clifford is also a multi-instrumentalist and played all of the guitar, bass, organ, and percussion tracks on “All Night All Day”.

A Texas resident since 1991, Clifford has paid his dues over the years in Texas honky-tonks, festivals and dancehalls, performing well over 2000 gigs in the Lone Star State since his arrival and sharing the stage with artists like Don Walser, Lee Roy Parnell, Chris Young, Larry Gatlin, Rick Trevino, Jason Boland, Dale Watson, and John Conlee.

In 2006, Clifford and his band completed his 3rd original CD "The Heartbreak Grill And Bar", which he describes as “a Texas Dancehall concept album”. The disc features 11 original country songs, 10 of which were penned by Clifford, and received glowing reviews from the Dallas Morning News, Killeen Daily Herald, Roots Music Report, Best In Texas magazine, Texas Music Times, and a number of other print and online publications. The first single off the album, the Waylon-esque barnburner “It’s All Texas Music To Me”, broke onto the Texas Music Chart Top 40 and stayed there almost 4 months, receiving regular airplay on over 30 stations across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico. The song also received a Texas Music Awards nomination for Record Of The Year.

Clifford and his band are currently hard at work on their 4th studio album, planned for release in early 2010.