 This
is the place to catch all the latest information about myself, clinics, concerts
and great stories.
Dates of gigs and horsemanship
Internet Review of "Rooted"
Myspace site for Mike Beck
My Space website
New Cd !!
Denmark Photos
1st Annual Bohemia Fest !!
Promo Picture
New Review of "Mariposa Wind " Dirty Linen Folk Magazine Dec. 02
Make a Friend
Catchin' the sorrell with Bill
Dates of gigs and horsemanship
Sometimes I don't have time to update this schedule of where I'll be, but my other site usually is upto date. You can go there and see where I'll be at www.myspace.com/reatarecords.
This is a radio interview I did with Tom Wilmer from KCBX FM in San Luis Obispo
http://kcbx.org/main/Archives.htm#Audiolog
go to this page and look for the two shows with the dates
April 18th, 2007 and April 25th. 2007. You can listen there
Here are some video links of Mike Beck and The Bohemian Saints.
http://www.youtube.com/virtuosoproductions
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Internet Review of "Rooted"
Here is a link to a review of the new cd "Rooted"
http://www.freighttrainboogie.com/Archives/Archive-B.htm#Rooted
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Myspace site for Mike Beck
Magne in Norway has created a Myspace site for me all on my music.
Because it is so much easier to operate, often the dates of when and where I will be are there sooner.
Please check it out at www.myspace.com/reatarecords
Join as a friend if you like.
Thanks!!
Mike
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My Space website
Check out my site dedicated soley to my music at www.myspace.com/reatarecords
Thanks to my friend in Norway, Magne , who runs it for me.!
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New Cd !!
Mike's new cd "Rooted" is comming into the home stretch.
Recorded at Ridge Top Sound in Aptos.
11 new songs!!
Just starting to mix it next week.
Should be out by end of August
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Denmark Photos
Check out photos from my horsemanship clinics in Denmark at www.trine-christensen.dk
She took some good ones!!
Thanks Trine!!
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1st Annual Bohemia Fest !!
Big Sur California...Henry Miller Library..on Hwy1..just south of Nepenthe...August 12th. 4 bands..special stage surrounded by Redwoods!!
more info at www.henrymiller.org.
also more info on this site at Concerts and Clinic Dates
Don't miss the 1st one..lawn chairs are cool as are coolers.
15.00 at the gate music starts at 3pm goes till 11pm
please carpool as parking is limited.
Bring only cool friends!!
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Promo Picture
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New Review of "Mariposa Wind " Dirty Linen Folk Magazine Dec. 02
Mike Beck " Mariposa Wind" [Reata Records] Mike Beck writes about the people, landscapes, and emotions of the American West, which he knows intimately as a working cowboy in Montana. Beck's West is not the sometimes overblown caricature of drama, but the quiet intimacy of the mariposa wind of the title track, the sound of leather creaking in a rider's saddle, and the mingling of cultures and languages of " Mi Caballo Negro Poncho". Set in this context and framed with Southwestern guitar flavors, the Mamas and the Papas hit " California Dreamin" takes on a new perspective and becomes a longing for a return to the rural West. He also covers Woody Guthrie's " Deportee" and Joni Mitchell's "Carey". The nine original tunes reinforce Beck's place alongside Michael Martin Murphey, Tom Russell, and Ian Tyson [ Tyson co-wrote one track on this disc] as a poet of the modern West with a distinctive viewpoint. [KD]Dirty Linen Folk Music magazine Dec. 2002
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Make a Friend
When I cowboyed for a living I'd knock the mud off where the blanket and cinch went and get going. We had a job to do and that was the most important thing. The boss wanted us to get after it, Now! I liked my job and i liked my horses, but as I have gotten out in the world and have more experience I now see how much I was missing. It's pretty simple. I never took the time out to make friends with my horse. It would of been hard in Nevada at those big ranches to do, as we were there to really get at it, get the job done, but it would of really benifitted me none the less if I could of gotten that working for me. At home now I make the time to get a better relationship going with my horses. With my own personal horses or any outside horses I have in for training, I take some time out for just going out in the corral and making friends. It's easy, I just get them where I can get my hands on them and rub or scratch. I really think about rubbing them in a way so that their feet will stay. If they feel like they can't stay and have to leave, no big deal, I just start over. If they really are leaving alot I might put the halter on to help them stay around. As each horse is different, some take to it sooner than others. I really can't think of any horse that it didn't benifit from.And I've found that I really enjoy it too. It is a good use of my time and really pays off for me down the line. I've seen their expression change from a worried look to really seeking me out in the corral. Looking me up instead of cutting out at the first sight of me. Think about it. If you go out to catch your horse to ride him and the first thing he does when he sees you cut out and try to get as far away from you as possiable, what kind of relationship are you and your horse having? What is the ride going to be like? Togetherness??..... But if he looks you up with respect when you go to catch him, you're really off to a better start. With respect I mean that he isn't running over the top of you or nipping or rooting on you like he's just looking for carrots.( sound familiar??)He looks you up because he wants to. He's been encouraged to make a choice to be with you. Not MADE to be with you. A BIG difference.Check it out, give it a try. I hope you'll see the value in it. Have fun with it.Let me know how it goes.Mike..
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Catchin' the sorrell with Bill
“Although I live in Montana now, I was raised about ten miles from Bill Dorrance’s ranch on Mt. Toro near Carmel Valley, CA.. In 1977, Bill invited me to come live on his ranch and help him with all the work that needs doing on the everyday workings on the ranch, in exchange Bill explained that” he couldn’t pay me, but he’d give me room and board, and help me with the horses and cattle. .” I took him up on his offer and I’ll tell you, it changed my life. Between Bill’s house and the barn is a yard that the horses would come into from being turned out and there were a few big rubber tire feeders that they’d eat hay out of. At the upper end of that horse lot was Bill’s rawhide room and the tack room where we’d saddle up under an overhang roof with a tie rack there There must of been about 10 head of horses standing around those feeders eating, and in that bunch was one big sorrel horse that did not want to be caught. Whenever I went in there with a halter to catch any horse, he’d see me and put a lot of effort into getting as far away from me as he could. And when I did need to catch him he was so good at ducking behind the other horses, stopping, cutting out, that I had to literally trap him to get my halter on him. Well one day Bill says, “Mike, let’s fix it so that sorrel horse is not only easier to catch, but we’ll see if we can get him where he’ll just walk right up to the saddle room on his own, and stand there waiting for you to put your saddle on him” My first thought to myself was “ what??..on his own?? how in the...?” Here’s what happened. Bill and I got horseback and with those horses locked in that yard eating, Bill rode into the bunch and fell in behind that sorrel, and with the end of his macarty would put “a little pressure on him and keep his feet moving, if he wants to trot just stay with him, if he wants to walk, that’s ok, but keep him working. As soon as he even looks up toward that saddle room, ease off and give him a break.” Well that sorrel he tried duckin behind the feeders, using the other horses to hide behind, speeding up, cuttin out, nothing was working. Bill was right there on him, keepin him working. Then Bill had me spell him and I took in behind the sorrel. It wasn’t too long before he figured the only place with any relief for him was toward that saddle room. You’d see him stand there facing the saddle room, then he’d realize where he was and his expression seemed to say, “oh no, not the saddle room!” and he’d swap ends and try to get as far into that bunch of horses as he could, and hide in amongst them. But by now, the other horses were on our side and they wanted no part of this guy. They’d pin their ears, bite and kick him, “help us out” as Bill said. Well it wasn’t too long before that horse figured out that being up at the saddle room felt pretty darn good And it got better and better, and lasted longer and longer until you could just start him off and he’d softly raise his head out of the feeder and put his ears up, and just walk up there and stand, waiting to be saddled. It was one of those moments for me, when lots of things clicked, I was ready. I started seeing it in everything, cattle, horses, people. Looking for that place where the pressure is off. How good that can feel. How much we crave that. Bill was not only a great horseman and cattle man, he was the greatest teacher I have ever been lucky enough to be around. He was very generous with his time. He could keep you encouraged, keep you focused. He was really aware. He was good guy. I think of him often.”
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