Michael Starkey is a multi-instrumentalist, music teacher and old-time banjo enthusiast living in Scotland.

If his younger self could look forward in time and see where his musical journey has led him, he’d be very surprised. Initially a long haired electric guitarist with a wah-wah pedal throwing around in dingy basements with a thrash metal band, Michael eventually found his way into the world of acoustic folk music, where he now feels at home and is content to sit placidly, frailing away on his banjo.

Recent projects include recording an album with fiddler and singer-songwriter Hannah Read, gigging and recording with Wayward Jane (Edinburgh-based UK/US folk roots music 4-piece) and contributing to ‘Faultline‘, a collection of Lisa Fannen’s spoken word poetry set to music. Michael also shares his love of the banjo and acoustic guitar through teaching, working with a broad group of students both in the UK and around the world.

Michael’s mission as a musician is to keep things simple. He enjoys clear melody lines underpinned by solid, infectious rhythm and like many other old-time musicians, may frown at you if you throw in an unexpected minor chord!

He is also inspired by washy ambient music and has recently become interested in modular synthesizers (although he really doesn’t understand at all how they work).