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Mike
McCraw is a very busy native Oklahoma City drummer. When in town, soul
bands The Platters, The Coasters, and The Drifters, have employed Mike
for his abilities. He has also played for the OKC based dance band, The
Time Machine and for rival disco band, Superfreak. And if that hasn’t
kept him busy, he has also worked with The Blackhawk Blues Band, a
NAMY-nominated Native American blues band, and many on-the-move country
acts such as Pacific recording artists Rambler, Mark Mack, and Shawna
Russell.
Mike began his playing at the age of eleven and soon showed promise as
at age 14 he showed up at a regional solo contest to be playing a drum
solo for none other than Vic Firth himself. After earning a “1” ( the
highest mark one can get), Vic noticed that Mike was using his SD1
General model and Mike noticed what a friendly person Vic was.
Recalling the event, Mike said, “I remember seeing all the ads Vic was
in for Remo and his own drumstick company and that experience just made
an impression on me .”
Soon Mike was coming into his own, being the captain of the high school
drumline and the drummer for the Jazz Band three years running. He then
went off to college and began his professional playing career by
playing in local clubs at night. While at college, Mike was the
recipient of The Louis Armstrong Award, chosen by his fellow band mates
as the outstanding musician of the band, and also received a citation
for outstanding musicianship at the 1994 Wichita State Jazz
Festival. “All I wanted to do was to play well. I never had
any accolades on my mind,” Mike said.
Upon graduating and a brief stint on cruise ships, Mike returned to his
hometown during the heyday of Pop Country and was immediately subbing
for drummers who couldn’t make their gigs. Mike also took up teaching
private lessons at this point. Although work was slow coming, he
managed to persevere and saw the difficult times through and was
learning to be more pliable. As an example, Mike’s musical tastes
leaving college was for jazz. But he soon learned to be flexible
enough to give the customer what the customer wants, an attitude which
makes him one of OKC’s busiest players to this day.
In 1998, while playing for regional legend “Harvey and the
Wallbangers”, Mike was offered a road gig with Shawna Russell and Way
Out West. This is where he began to fall in love with the road and
playing every night. Although on the road, he never quit
practicing as he remains very disciplined knowing that one never has
arrived. In the dawn of the new millennium, Mike also worked with
then Pacific recording artists Rambler when long-time Drummer Matt
Emmons took time off for some rest. “Those guys took me in and
made me feel like a king because I was helping them out in a jam.
But the truth was that they were helping me as much as I was helping
them.” At the same time, Mike was in the recording studio, laying
down the groove for many hopefuls.
At the beginning of 2003, Mike had neither steady gig nor any idea of
how busy he was about to become. Upon returning from Los Angeles, he
got a call regarding playing for The Time Machine, a dance band trying
to revive themselves in the regional market. At the same time, The
Platters were making a visit to OKC and Mark Mack was needing Mike’s
assistance.
After a couple of months, more work was thrown into Mike’s lap as The
Blackhawk Blues band found themselves without a drummer for their gig
at the Chautaqaua Hills blues festival held in Sedan, KS in late spring
(they were the opening act for their idol, Anson Funderburgh).
Superfreak was also needing a sub from time to time and called.
Then The Platters, The Coasters and The Drifters were making return
visits to the area while Blackhawk made Mike their preferred drummer.
Mike has been balancing all of these gigs since the beginning of 2003
and feels lucky to be playing anywhere from 4 to 8 times a week.
While not knowing what the future may hold, Mike feels optimistic that
he will still be thriving whether he remains a driving force in the
region or in a new market.
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