Everyone was looking forward to April with the much anticipated arrival of Mike Compton, a few of us were lucky enough to see him at the National Folk Festival and to see him jamming in the sessions bar with Bruce Molsky, Joe Newberry and Rafe Stefanini, it was my first experience of the sessions bar and one I will never forget, the best thing was knowing we had this fella coming to Yinnar for a couple of days.
Mike didn’t disappoint, from the strong accent and mellow tones to the ripping yet finessed style of mandolin he is a world class musician in every aspect and as we found out an absolute gentleman to. Mike took the time to talk about and teach us things we would never get to know from anyone else, he spoke about people who are our major influences and he spoke of them as friends, not very often you can find that in your own little home town.
That’s right he came to town to do a show didn’t he, that was taken care of, it had been booked out for months. The crowd built early and the mood was one of high expectation and Mike didn’t disappoint, his expert skills on his new Duff mandola produced the sweetest sound ever to grace the walls of the Yinnar Community Hotel, his style is unmistakable and produces a sound that is somehow loyal to the Munroe teachings but yet dripping with blues undertones, this man is in a league of his own and once again proved it with his amazingly natural performance, he played and laughed and told stories that kept the crowd more than entertained all night. When it came time for the last set the Busters were treated to an up close look at how to adapt and play in any situation, you could see him pick up a song on the run so easily and then when called on he would
Rip out a perfect solo that would have us all grinning like idiots at each other, we played for what seemed like five minutes but ended up being an hour later. The pub informed us it was the biggest night they have ever had there and thanked Mike. We all caught up the next day at Ray’s place for a couple of our local butchers world famous Viagra sausages and got another chance to pick Mike’s brain but mostly we relaxed with what we hope is our newest international friend.
