Photo by Will and Deni McIntyre Photography

MIKE CRAVER

A North Carolina native, Mike Craver graduated from the University of North Carolina and was a member of the state's most famous string band, the Red Clay Ramblers, for twelve years, appearing in Diamond Studs and Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. With the Ramblers Mike recorded nine albums, and toured the US, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia, Africa and the Middle East.

After leaving the band, he got involved in more theatre, both as a writer and performer. Craver's Off-Broadway credits also include The Oil City Symphony (co-author and original cast member, Drama Desk award), Smoke on the Mountain, Radio Gals (co-author and original cast member, LA Ovation award), Wilder (co-author and original cast), Lunch at the Piccadilly (co-writer and original cast), Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming (arranger and additional music and lyrics).

Mike has worked in theatres across the country, including the Pasadena Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville and the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Mass. His recorded work also includes nine additional Red Clay Ramblers albums, original cast albums for Oil City Symphony (DRG Records) and Radio Gals (Varese Sarabande). Craver has released three solo albums, Fishing For Amour (1984), Wagoner's Lad (1999), and Shining Down (2002), and recordings of two musical projects with novelist Clyde Edgerton, Lunch at the Piccadilly (2006) and The Bible Salesman (2009).