Homeless Man Blues

Hailing from the hills of Matlock, Derbyshire, Mike McMaster has been writing songs for as long as he can remember. It began in his teenage years, shaped by a broken home, an isolated adolescence, and the feeling that creativity was his only way forward. Playing bass guitar with friends in a string of local bands, covering the likes of Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, and Smashing Pumpkins, he also began experimenting with songwriting and quickly fell in love with the process.

Later, it was the intimate atmosphere of local acoustic sessions in pubs where Mike honed his fingerpicking style and developed a soft vocal delivery, inspired by the songs of Ben Harper. Holding his own at open mic nights, he began to find his voice. Always fascinated by sound and production, he spent countless hours following his friends Gomez across the UK, soaking up lessons in songcraft while developing a deep appreciation for artists such as Tom Waits, Tim Buckley, and the raw spirit of the blues.

The record that changed everything was Nine Inch Nails’ The Fragile, which blew his mind and ultimately led him to study music production at the University of Brighton.

Now in his late forties, with a wealth of life experience to draw upon, Mike explores the depths of human emotion: pain, resilience, reality, love, loss, and everything in between. His work, produced by long-time friend Phil Atkinson, embraces imperfection — you can even hear the stool creak. In a world that often values polish above all else, Mike believes in something different: life isn’t perfect, songs aren’t perfect, and recordings shouldn’t be either. For him, that’s exactly where the beauty lies.

Mike McMaster

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