Springing from a musical family in Texas, Michael was the youngest of four children born of multi-instrumental parents who immersed their heirs in a wide swath of music, rhythms and cultures from all over the world. His childhood home was filled with Gospel, Jazz, Latin Sambas, World, African and Cuban rhythms, Showtunes, Bossa Novas, Bluegrass, Classical, Western Swing, to name a few.

With his older siblings already performing at a very young age, he sought to find a spot for himself initially with trombone. Embouchure being what it is, that didn't last long and he turned his attention to drums, piano and then in his adolescent years, guitar.

Little did he know all that diverse music from his childhood had taken root and although the 1980's would usher in a sound and look all its own that Michael easily gravitated toward, it was to his roots that he would ultimately return and leave the mullets and pointy guitars behind. Purchasing a copy of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue album was the catalyst and halfway through Cannonball's solo in Flamenco Sketches, Michael knew this was the music he wanted to play. Purchasing an archtop and pursuing Jazz for the next 20 years, he eventually developed his own voice which infused all of those early influences.