Queens native Little Mike grew up on the very competitive New York City music scene. He started playing harp at age 14 and took up piano two years later. His first brush with the blues came while hearing John Lee Hooker at Carnegie Hall and later listening to a Paul Butterfield record. After that Little Mike couldn’t get enough. If a blues show was in New York City, Mike was there, especially when the Chicago players came to town. His favorite was Muddy Waters. “I used to go and see Muddy anytime he was within 150 miles of New York,” he said. “He is easily the biggest influence on the band and my playing. And if it’s not Muddy himself then it’s the great guys he always picked to play with him, like Pinetop Perkins and Otis Spann on the piano or Little Walter and James Cotton on harp.”