Banjo Mike is a storyteller. All he needs is his banjo, his voice, and usually a street corner or a tavern somewhere.
"Busking is a folky thing to do," he says.
He also considers himself a music preservationist, reviving and performing Americana and Irish folk songs. Those music genres made come and go, but Mike loves old things no matter how in-style they are.
"I've always loved storytelling in music," he says. "Punk and folk are the same: three chords and the truth."
Taking inspiration from everything from classical music to screamo, Banjo Mike taught himself how to play banjo after joining folk groups and teaching himself through books and YouTube videos.
His particular banjo technique, clawhammer or overhand style, sounded better with his style of singing. Now he performs with a band, Rail Car Graffiti, and is working on an album of murder ballads, 'Songs Ghosts Sing.'
"I'm a lone wolf guy. I do my own thing," says Banjo Mike.