Bio
Mike was born in Austin, TX, back when Austin was a small college/capitol town; his dad was an Episcopal priest and his mom was a school teacher. Playing pop songs on the organ at his dad’s church was a first musical experience. Those early pop renditions got him signed up piano lessons but a pianist was not what Mike was meant to be.
Jr. High School found Mike in Jr. High Band, grooving to the music of the sixties, and joining his first real band. That first band was best known for shaking the pictures off the living room walls. Mike was stocking shelves in a grocery store for 75 cents an hour when he played his first pro gig. That gig paid $13.75! After that, there was no turning back. Mike was hooked!
High School days were filled with band and choir and writing music the church’s folk group, The Actors and Folk Singers Guild of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in West Columbia, TX! And, playing bass in the rock band, “The Lost Generation.” The band’s manager was Mike’s dad, known to club owners as “Reverend Baby.”
High School ended and college began; however Lamar Tech didn’t offer a major in folk rock protest music so it was off to Houston, TX to start a music career. Houston led back to Austin, TX and a mix of country and country rock bands. Even playing a tuba gig in Dixieland band!
In the late 70s, Mike landed a gig with Marcia Ball, playing with her band of “Marcia Ball and the Misery Brothers” and her later act of “Marcia Ball.”
A return to Houston followed the gig with Marcia, playing with Shake Russell, Michael Marcoulier, Milton Hopkins, and numerous other acts in the Houston area. The 80s decade were spent in Houston; the 90s saw a return to Austin. Mike joined the Hoo Doo Cats as a bassist/songwriter spending several years playing regionally, then the road called and it was off again in the mid 90s.
Time off the road was spent working technical day jobs while playing as much music as his schedule would allow. During this time he picked up a gig with Doak Short and the Dirty Dogs, who for several years opened up for Miss Tony Price at Austin, TX’s Continental Club for the Tuesday Hippie Hour.
During this time Mike also played with Just Us, a folk trio, with Lee Duffy and Mark Parrish, and The Regulars, a group of songwriters who got together to play their songs for whoever would listen. These gigs were an opportunity to write and perform original works which kept the songwriter sprit going.
In 2004, while playing a gig at Alice’s Restaurant out in Nederwald, TX, Mike reconnected with Shake Russell. A gig playing bass with Shake was the opening to leave the day job behind for his true love, music. Mike still plays with Shake and has never looked back!
Doug Floyd came on board with Shake and the Shake Russell Trio was born. The trio won the Vocal Group of the Year award with the Academy of Texas Music in 2008 and 2010 for their work on Shake’s Live at Gurene Hall CD/DVD, and What This Heart Holds, recorded and produced by John Inmon.
Today Shake Russell, Michael Hearne, and Mike Roberts make up the trio, playing gigs in Texas and New Mexico.
In 2014 Mike was asked to play the First Annual Smithville Folk Festival as a solo act. Randy Sulsar of Creekbottom Music in Lockhart, TX was asked to help put together an original music CD for the event. With Randy’s help on recording and mixing, his wife, Julia Sulsar’s help on photography and vocals, Fletcher Clark’s picking on a tune, and Mike Harris on multiple instruments, Mike Roberts recorded his first CD, When People Fall in Love.
Playing with the Shake Russell Trio, doing his own solo shows, and teaching beginning guitar and bass lessons at Creekbottom Music in Lockhart now fills the days.
Mike thanks his parents, his friends, his wife Charlotte and the fans. “They gave me encouragement and inspiration I needed to go out and keep at it. The fans are most incredible part of this journey. Without them, it would just be a rehearsal.”
Recording Credits
Comin’ Home — Album with Shake Russell Dana Cooper Band, John Vandiver, Michael Marcoulier and Mike Roberts
Hoo Doo Happens –The Hoo Doo Cats
Live at Gruene Hall, What this Heart Holds, and live at the Centrum –-Shake Russell
When People Fall in Love —Mike Roberts
Bassist projects with Larry Rothwell and Jim Strickland
Session work as a bassist and a vocalist
Notable Venues Played
Austin, TX: Armadillo World Headquarters, Soap Creek Saloon, Continental Club, Austin City Limits, Broken Spoke, Split Rail, Saxon Pub, Antones, Strange Brew
Houston, TX: Rockefellers, Fitzgeralds, Corkys,
Greune Hall in historic Greune, TX
Henry’s Hideout in Magnolia, TX
Kerrville Folk Festival–Main Stage with Marcia Ball (back in the 70s when there was only one stage) and Shake Russell with whom there have been multiple appearances from the early 80s.