Mike Kinnebrew

This is a tough one, because I'm...me. What do you get if you hire me? I'm a songwriter and a storyteller. I have a great ability to size up an audience and a room and play to them. My gift is for creating the connection between the audience and the artist. This usually results in all of us leaving feeling more connected to one another. I can perform solo, as a duo, trio, or a full-on band. I can do the acoustic storyteller thing for smaller, more intimate situations, or the Americana/Pop/Rock feel for a lively concert. Give me a chance, and you won't be disappointed.

The son of a Baptist preacher and a nurse, Mike Kinnebrew’s childhood was spread across the southeast until his family put down roots in Atlanta, GA when Mike was fourteen. Swimming in chaos during his teenage years, Mike found focus as well as a sense of purpose in music. In his own words: “Even as a kid, I was mesmerized by the way a song could reach out and grab you by the heart—or by the throat. I wanted to write songs that would do that.”

Kinnebrew's music can best be described as Indie folk fueled by the soulful inspiration to engage in the war with art itself. Now forty-two and raising his two children, Emma and Turner, with his wife Linds in Macon, GA, Mike continues on in his journey to honestly connect with the audiences he plays for. His reverence for the power of song is unmistakably seen in his humility and in his willingness to speak from the heart. Announced to the stage by his children, accompanied with vocal harmonies by his wife, Mike Kinnebrew’s sense of family washes over the audience as he plays, leaving them at the end, feeling a little less alone.

“Mike is a fantastic songwriter and performer. His lyrics are thoughtful and intelligent, alongside music that evokes the classic songwriters we all know and love.” —Drew Holcomb, of Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors

“Mike is a very accomplished singer-songwriter. I became familiar and a fan of Mike almost a decade ago. And I like his tunes from a decade ago as much as I like them today. He has the ability to work a crowd in any live environment and win them over. Give him a listen and you'll be a fan just like myself” —Andy Hingley, Live Nation

“Mike Kinnebrew has a unique way of pulling people into his songs, through his gently demanding voice and melodies, to speak a little truth to you.” —Matthew Perryman Jones

Mike has performed at many venues: Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta, GA),The Capitol Theatre (Macon, GA), Eddie’s Attic (Decatur, GA),The Farm at Old Edwards (Highlands, NC), and The Buckhead Theatre (Atlanta, GA); he has also made Special Guest appearances at The Old Edwards Inn (Highlands, NC). Mike has shared the stage with Oteil Burbridge (The Allman Brothers Band), Kristian Bush (Sugarland), Matthew Perryman Jones, Drew and Ellie Holcomb, Gabe Dixon (Tedeschi Trucks Band), and Andrew Ripp.

Mike recorded his first album, Between the Living and the Dying, at the famed Smoakstack studio in Nashville in 2010; produced by Andy Hunt (Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors,Third Day).

In 2019, Mike returned to Smoakstack to record the singles, “Where the Big Waves Are” and “Just Getting Started”; produced by Paul Moak (Matt Kearney, The Civil Wars, Dave Barnes, Gabe Dixon, etc.).

In 2020, Mike released his second album, One Way to Find Out (Live at Eddie's Attic); produced by Paul Moak and performed with the studio band from Smoakstack.

At the 2022 Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival, Mike had the privilege of opening for Joan Jett and Howie Day.

Recently, Mike returned to Nashville on somewhat of a pilgrimage of the soul, where he recorded and then released three new songs: “In My Heart”, a vocal tribute as honest as the pedal steel that's layered beneath it, for a dear friend who was suddenly made a widow only one year after her wedding; “What's Left of Me”, an introspective on anxiety and the path that led him to search for reprieve though alcohol—something he has now put behind him for over a year—and now must embrace, unfiltered, his new reflection of self; and “Can't Let Christmas Go”, dropped on Thanksgiving 2022, a retrospective on the innocence of our youth that we all cling to and hold tight.

I have a PA system for the more intimate gigs. ( < 300 people) This is plenty for a solo, duo, or trio situation.

I don't have lighting or a stage. Love it if you have them, but not a must.