MIKE LOUDERMILK
Mike’s songwriting career
Mike Loudermilk has been making music most of his life. He started his musical career when his first song, an instrumental, was recorded by guitar legend Chet Atkins, who invited him to Nashville to play on the session. Atkins then offered to sponsor him in Nashville, but approved of Mike’s decision to return to Louisiana and finish his education in music theory and guitar.
Son of John D. Loudermilk, Mike made his way back to Nashville where he began playing music full time. He has toured, recorded, and/or written songs with artists from John Schneider to Crystal Gayle, and from Tracy Lawrence to Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown. As an artist, he has recorded several albums internationally, including a duet record, “Wildwood Flower,” with bluegrass fiddle legend Buddy Spicher.
Much in demand as a studio musician, Mike still finds time to appear at many educational and honorary functions. He has served as a panelist at the Southern Folklife Seminar at UNC, participated in the Poets and Prophets Series for Bobby Braddock, and has performed for President George H.W. Bush at the White House, the Bush Library, and at the Tennessee Governor’s Mansion. He has appeared on numerous television shows and specials and has played on world stages from the London Palladium to the Crazy Horse Saloon, and from the casinos of Las Vegas to the White House.
Mike worked with Crystal Gayle for many years and co-produced Crystal’s “Midnight In The Desert,” a song they wrote for the international radio talk show “Coast to Coast AM.” The song also won a NAMA (Native American Music Award) for “Song of the Year” in 2002. He is a sought-after performer and musician who is also an excellent songwriter and producer, as evidenced by the work he does at his own studio, The Nashville Sound Project House. There he has recorded and arranged songs written by some of Nashville’s biggest hit songwriters.
On tour, he has performed throughout the major music venues of Europe as well as appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. He has graced the stages of the MTSU Governor’s School of Music, the Texas Songwriter’s Hall of Fame Homecoming, the MS Grammy Awards, the Americana Music Association Convention, the Summer Solstice Festival and at UC San Diego. Tootsie’s, Puckett’s, The Wild Horse Saloon, 3rd & Lindsley, The Loveless Cafe Concert Barn and many more Nashville locations have featured Mike on their stages. He regularly participates in Tin Pan South and at the famed Bluebird Cafe for the “Writers in the Round” series and at the prestigious 25th anniversary celebrations at the Bluebird.
Mike has also performed at fund raisers for Aids and Cancer Research, the National MS Society, and St. Jude Childrens Hospital, to name a few, alongside country music’s most talented singers and songwriters. He recently released a solo guitar instrumental CD.
Endorsements with Taylor guitars, Elixir Guitar Strings, Fishman Transducers, Bill Lawrence, and KJL Amplifiers point to his reputation as a “musician’s musician,” both onstage and through recording projects. Mike’s musical integrity guarantees a never-to-be-forgotten listening experience for his audience.