Mike Auldridge
(photo by Jennie Scott)
The following is from the Mike Auldridge Tribute
Dec. 29, 2012: It is with great sadness that we report that Mike Auldridge passed away this morning. We know that Mike was very touched by the tributes posted in the guest book. A heartfelt thanks to each of you who participated.
Welcome to the Mike Auldridge Tribute website, celebrating the 2012 award of the National Endowment for the Art’s highest honor, the National Heritage Fellowship, to Mike Auldridge.
A major purpose of this site is to provide a place for Mike’s many friends and fans to post a tribute to Mike. We hope you’ll click on the Guest Book link and share your tribute: what Mike has meant to you and your music, your reflections on his contributions and influence, stories, anecdotes, or whatever you would like to share.
Visit the NEA’s bio page for Mike to read more about Mike and hear sound clips of some of his music.
In 2007, the International Bluegrass Music Association presented Mike with its prestigious Distinguished Achievement Award. Visit this page to read the text of Rob Ickes’ presentation of this award to Mike.
The influence Mike has wielded is incalculable. From the moment his first solo album, Dobro, was released in 1972, the very sound of the dobro was indelibly and profoundly changed. To borrow from Steve Martin’s assessment of Earl Scruggs’ influence on the banjo: Before Mike Auldridge, no one sounded like Mike Auldridge on the dobro. After Mike Auldridge, everyone aspired to sound like Mike Auldridge. As Rob Ickes noted in his IBMA presentation, “To this day, [Mike’s] tone is the holy grail of contemporary resophonic guitar players.” Rob also particularly noted how Mike stretched the boundaries of the instrument in terms of technique, musical vision and elegant taste firmly rooted in a “less is more” ethic.
Thanks for sharing your own tributes to Mike in the Guest Book, and for joining in this celebration of Mike Auldridge and his richly deserved National Heritage Fellowship.
Growing up as Mikes nephew, it was a powerful impression on me, visiting GrandParents where uncle Mike and his brothers and friends played live Blugrass music in the livingroom, in Kensington Maryland. That was my earliest memories of organized music close up and live. Nowdays, It my my biggest passion as a singer/songwriter/musician largely due to Mike Aludridge. In case long lost friends dont know, this is Maurice Brown; yeah, I go by Bullfrog. At this present moment, my eyes and cheeks are cleared, from heavy crying after learning of Mikes gone home news. Peace and love and hope to all my Fam
Thank you for sharing your memories. I’m so sorry for your families loss. What a special guy your Uncle was.