Mike Merola isn’t just another technically skilled blues and jazz guitarist based in New York City, one voice among so many. What emerges most memorably from listening to his playing in his band The City Boys Allstars is its sense of intertwined emotional honesty and naturalness. No wonder some of the best singers and musicians in the big city choose to keep his company on gigs and in the recording studio.
Mike, born in the mid-1950s, introduced himself to the guitar at age 9. His first teacher was a Joe Pass fan named Frank Terris, who for five years honed Mike’s keen ear for music. Rather than playing sports like many kids, he tirelessly practiced guitar and spent hour after hour listening to records by blues-based rock bands of the 1960s like Cream and the Yardbirds. Teenager Mike was specially drawn to the smooth vibrato and wailing sound of Cream’s guitar god Eric Clapton. He also grew fond of jazz standards.
My Guitars:
Gibson 1955 Les Paul
Gibson 1960 Les Paul Standard
Gibson ES 355 Mono
Martin HD 35
Amplifiers:
2 Fender “57 Twins” Handwired From The Fender Custom Shop
2 Fender Vibrolux’s From The Fender Custom Shop
1 Marshall HW Super Lead Head & Tall TV Cabinet With 4 12” Green Back Speakers
Mark Eckard And Fat Pig Amplification Has Endorsed Me And Built Me an Amp Modeled After The JTM45 Marshall “BluesBreaker”
Special Thanks Goes To My Super Guitar Tech–Jeremy Perks From Rudy’s Music NYC Who Setup My Perdal Board. And Keeps My Guitars In Great Shape and is on every Gig.
Also Special Thanks Goes Out To Longtime Friend And Special Assistant Angello Olivieri.<?p>
