Since first seeing Taj Mahal performing with only a kalimba (a small hand-held African instrument) on late-night television when he was merely six years of age, Michael Chenoweth has always had a strong fascination with performing acoustically. He still vividly remembers that occasion as though it happened only yesterday. It impacted him that deeply. After performing his first show on drums at the age of fourteen, Chenoweth performed on bass guitar and drums until the age of twenty when he then chose guitar as his main instrument. This led to him playing in numerous classic rock bands, but when at home, he always found himself in his home studio immersed in the blues recordings of B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Lightnin' Hopkins, Leon Redbone, John Hammond, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Delbert McClinton and others. During this time, he concentrated heavily on woodshedding and further educating himself musically. He studied bass guitar under John Towill at Alberta College, hand drums under John McCormick of The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, slide guitar under famed then-Edmonton musician Lester Quitzau and Jazz Theory under elite music educator Glenn Gray as well as Don Ross at Grant MacEwan University. After a time, Michael made the decision to follow his true calling and began taking his career in a new direction more associated with Blues and Rn’B. Since then, he's performed with Blues-Rock and Rn'B acts like The Acousticats, Nightshift, The River City Rhythm Kings and Sugarfoot. Over the last number of years, Chenoweth has put full concentration on performing as a solo artist, modelling himself after such greats as Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, John Hammond, Keb' Mo, Taj Mahal, Leon Redbone, Delbert McClinton and others. His recorded works include being commissioned by film maker Peter Hill to compose and record a sound track for his independently released movie, "Happy Hour”. Michael enlisted the formidable talents of The Shufflehounds to be featured on this particular all-instrumental recording. This movie was officially released and saw it’s debut at Colin Lowe Theatre in Canada Place, Edmonton. He's had the honour of being asked to record as a guest musician on a number of other artist’s recordings as well. Michael Chenoweth is currently hosting a popular and well-respected acoustic open stage at Edmonton's High Note Bar And Grill every Thursday evening, performs every Sunday night at St. Albert's LB's Pub, has a number of concerts and performances scheduled throughout 2024 and is actively releasing new music regularly to all streaming platforms.
