Flea wrote:Kudzu Guillotine wrote:
Released 35 years ago, The Bounty Hunter still manages to make my top ten lists of favorites all these many years later. Another local artist, Mike Cross is known well beyond the borders of North Carolina but has never risen above cult status. After a somewhat private battle with Lyme disease, he re-emerged just a few years ago with Crossin' Carolina, his first new album since At Large In the World in 1999. It's presently a pipe dream of mine to stage a celebration of Mike's music involving Don Dixon (who played on and produced some of his records), Chatham County Line, Mandolin Orange, John Howie, Jr., the Super Grit Cowboy Band, etc. If any local artist deserves such a tribute, it's Mike Cross. He's not only adept at the fiddle, bottleneck guitar, mandolin, etc. but also plays a wide variety of music from folk, blues, country, bluegrass and rock but has also shown an affinity for some reggae-tinged sounds in his music. He is definitely one of a kind and not just for his instrumental prowess, he's also one hell of a songwriter.
And a super nice guy, very personable and willing to interact with his fans. I've got an autographed copy of this disc from a convention show he did several years back.
Glad to run into a fellow fan here. In a perfect world Mike would be as well known as another of our native sons, the honorable Mr. James Taylor. I think I've only spoken to Mike once. I was wearing a Reconstruction era R.E.M. tour shirt at the time (imagine that) and he regaled me with a brief tale of what it was like to work with Don Dixon on The Bounty Hunter.