bio

 

 

"Canada's hidden treasure."
		- Stew Laing Founder of the Stratford Blues and Ribfest where Schatte and band performed in June of 2014.
"...the incomparable Michael Schatte... is a dream of a guitar player, a dashing performer, but also a thoughtful and self-conscious artist."
		- Douglas Glover Award winning author and editor of Numero Cinq Magazine
"...one of Canada's best-kept secrets and certainly one of its most skilled rock performers."
		-Darryl Da Silva The Beat Magazine
"Young Michael Schatte is, simply, a guitar virtuoso..."
		- Sydney Lea Poet Laureate, Vermont
"...a frighteningly skilled musician who blasted the crowd to awed silence... his set was ended with uproarious applause."
		-WJ Hull The Windsor Review
"...an impressive piece of work... like T-Bone Burnett fronting a band with Richard Thompson occupying the lead guitar spot... This guy is definitely going places in the days to come. Recommended."
		- Rod Nicholson Scene Magazine (review of Crow Filled Sky)
"...the word 'amazing' comes to mind...  The crowd never knows what to expect - besides a wildly entertaining show - when going to see him."
		- Jon Duwyn Shattered
"...Michael Schatte’s sound falls superbly somewhere between the folk rock musings of Richard Thompson and the Canuck blues edge of Colin James... As a bonus, the artist also displays something of a literate edge to his lyrics that definitely sets him more than a few rungs above the moon/June competition. His playing throughout is at times awe-inspiring..."
		- Jeff Monk Uptown Magazine (Winnipeg)
“Schatte enthralls. ” [review of Crow Filled Sky CD Release Concert - with band]
		- Trevor Terfloth   The Chatham Daily News
“..Schatte's guitar style is sometimes furiously complex. ”
		- Ted Shaw   The Windsor Star
“Our musical guest features a brilliant seventeen year-old guitarist who has been compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healey…”
		- Mike Bullard  CTV’s Open Mike with Mike Bullard

 

If you are not yet familiar with Michael Schatte, there is no better introduction to the burgeoning Canadian roots rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter than his new album of original music. Weaving fine fretwork, intelligent lyricism and impassioned vocal delivery into a unique brand of genre-bending music, Turn Back the Vikings confirms what fans of Michael’s high-energy live shows have long known: this is a musician headed for widespread recognition. Mixed by Simon Tassano in Austin, Texas (the live and studio engineer of choice for folk rock legend Richard Thompson over the past thirty years), the new album is easily Michael's finest work to date.

 

Schatte is something of a unique phenomenon. From a very early age, he developed a passion for a wide variety of musical styles including blues, rock, pop, bluegrass, traditional Irish and Scottish music and others. This broad musical appreciation combined with his instrumental versatility (in addition to the guitar, Schatte plays mandolin, violin, and a host of other instruments on his albums) allows him to cross conventional genre boundaries with remarkable ease. One need only compare the rollicking celtic groove of the Vikings title track with the country blues of Honey Doll – two of several standouts on the new record – for an example of this exuberant fusion put to work.

A respected and fiery guitarist, Schatte has been compared to world-class players decades his senior. Counting Richard Thompson, Danny Gatton and Albert Lee as major influences, listeners can find much to celebrate in his electric guitar work and acoustic fingerstyle playing. Reviewing a recent concert at Aeolian Hall in London, ON, The Beat Magazine described Michael as "one of Canada’s best-kept secrets and certainly one of its most skilled rock performers," citing his “masterful manipulation of the guitar” and a vocal style “as polished as his picking.”

 

As a relatively young musician who has already achieved early national/international exposure (including appearances on CTV’s nationally broadcast Open Mike with Mike Bullard and The Mitch Albom Show, and most recently, winning his way into the finals as one of the top eight bands at the 2015 Memphis International Blues Challenge), Michael Schatte stands poised to bring his energetic and uncompromising musicianship to music lovers everywhere. Catch him on stage with his electric band or as a solo acoustic performer - it will be a show you won't soon forget.