Mike McClure is the epitome of a musician and is quite arguably the most influential force in the Red Dirt music scene today. He is a writer, a performer and a producer. He has a tremendous appreciation for the troubadours that came before him, particularly those that chose the road less traveled, and he embraces that same spirit on his own journeys. McClure began his music career as a founding member of the highly successful band The Great Divide. For more than 10 years as the band’s frontman, McClure authored or co-authored the majority of their music helping to establish them as a hugely popular country/alt country group. In 2002 McClure released a solo CD titled Twelve Pieces. Sprouting from a skeleton of songs that had previously been shelved and some spare time in the studio during producing gigs, Twelve Pieces evolved into a full-bodied representation of McClure’s talents; songwriting, musicianship and production. In March of 2003, McClure stepped down as the lead vocalist for The Great Divide and began a journey of his own. In addition to touring regularly, over the next two years the Mike McClure Band released three EP’s, one full length CD (Everythingupsidedown) which produced the still-charting “Don’t You Say Anything,” and a joint-effort CD with long-time peers Travis Linville and the Burtchi Brothers (The Burtschi Brothers and the Mike McClure Band). As if that weren’t enough, there’s a new CD just around the bend. When not on the road or working on his own music, Mike is working on other projects in the studio. Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Stoney LaRue, Scott Copeland, the Dedringers and many others comprise McClure’s list of production credits. Mike McClure may not be the “Father” of Red Dirt music (he crowns Bob Childers with that title) but he most definitely will be one of the troubadours that many after him look to for direction. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.