Mike Dawes is an English guitarist known for composing, arranging, and performing multiple parts simultaneously on a single guitar. He is regarded as one of the worldโs most creative modern fingerstyle guitarists, with a repertoire spanning original viral videos and popular arrangements, alongside mainstream chart success performing with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues.
Dawes was named โBest Acoustic Guitarist in the Worldโ two years in a row (2017 & 2018) by Total Guitar Magazine & MusicRadar reader polls, with numerous 2nd place rankings in the proceeding years. YouTube personality Rick Beato named Mike โone of the finest acoustic guitar players in the world.โ...
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Mike Dawes is an English guitarist known for composing, arranging, and performing multiple parts simultaneously on a single guitar. He is regarded as one of the worldโs most creative modern fingerstyle guitarists, with a repertoire spanning original viral videos and popular arrangements, alongside mainstream chart success performing with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues.
Dawes was named โBest Acoustic Guitarist in the Worldโ two years in a row (2017 & 2018) by Total Guitar Magazine & MusicRadar reader polls, with numerous 2nd place rankings in the proceeding years. YouTube personality Rick Beato named Mike โone of the finest acoustic guitar players in the world.โ
His debut release, a solo guitar arrangement of Gotyeโs โSomebody That I Used to Know,โ quickly became a viral hit with tens of millions of views on YouTube. This success has been duplicated and expanded upon numerous times since with songs like โOne,โ โThe Impossible,โ and โJumpโ across multiple video platforms.
His reputation has invited him opportunities to collaborate with GRAMMY Award-winning artists such as Tommy Emmanuel, with whom he recorded the duet record โAccomplice Vol. 3,โ and the GRAMMY-nominated metal band Periphery, with whom Mike joined on their 2024 double single release.
Mike is featured on multiple Justin Hayward live releases, including Spirits...Live, which debuted at #2 on the US Billboard Chart. Dawes also has a strong reputation as an educator, acting as a columnist for Guitar World and Acoustic Guitar magazines, as well as teaching guitar masterclasses all over the world, creating apps, publishing degree-level literature, appearing as a TV judge on SKY TVโs โGuitar Star,โ and more.
Recently, he contributed electric guitars to Mentrix and Gareth Crokerโs stunning soundtrack to Ubisoftโs Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, with other session work featured on TV shows such as AMCโs Better Call Saul.
Mikeโs passion, however, is performing. He has shared the stage with acts as diverse as Tommy Emmanuel, Christopher Cross, Periphery, The Aristocrats, Justin Hayward, and the Athens State Orchestra in 2023 alone.
His third studio album, Galactic Acid, is anticipated for release in August 2024.
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