Mike Farris

Mike Farris is an American singer and musician from the United States, born in 1968. He is the founder and lead singer of the Nashville group Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, and he works as a solo artist from 2001 onward. His music is associated with soul, blues, gospel, alt-country and country.

Career

Farris first gains attention through The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies before beginning a solo career in the early 2000s. His first solo album, Goodnight Sun, reflects a more personal spiritual direction in his songwriting. In June 2007 he releases Salvation in Lights, an album that combines old-time roots gospel with arrangements shaped by New Orleans black gospel, Stax and blues influences.

In 2008, Farris wins the Americana Music Association's New & Emerging Artist of the Year award. He builds a reputation as a live performer and, in 2008 and 2009, performs monthly with the Roseland Rhythm Revue at Nashville's Station Inn in a residency called “Sunday Night Shout!”. Those shows lead to the live album SHOUT! Live, which is released in 2009 and wins the Gospel Music Association's Dove Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album of the Year in 2010.

Collaborations and later projects

In 2010, following the Middle Tennessee flood, Farris records The Night The Cumberland Came Alive at Nashville's Downtown Presbyterian Church with a group billed as the Cumberland Saints. The session includes musicians such as Sam Bush, Ketch Secor and Gill Landry of Old Crow Medicine Show, Kenny Vaughan, Byron House and members of the Roseland Rhythm Revue. Partial proceeds from the release go to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

He also appears as a guest on Patty Griffin's Grammy Award-winning album Downtown Church and performs at the 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame American Music Masters concert honouring Aretha Franklin.

Awards

Farris wins the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album for Shine For All the People in 2015. His work is also recognised with the Americana Music Association award and the Dove Award for SHOUT! Live.

Performance style

His solo performances and larger Roseland Rhythm Revue line-up range from stripped-back sets to a nine-piece band. His voice is described as central to his music, and his repertoire includes both original songs and older material.