Michael James "Blues" Baker and Blue Smoke Blues Band
History of the Band
Blue Smoke Blues Band originated in 1989 with the meeting of Mike Baker and Dan Milkman. Mike Baker was a folk guitarist and singer in the Laurel area. A mutual friend, Dominic Vigliotti had been counseling Mike through a tough time that he had been having since he had blinded in a swimming pool accident. Mr. Vigliotti suggested that Mike meet a colleague of his from Rosso Bros. Music named Dan Milkman. A casual meeting was set-up and Mike discovered that Dan Milkman was a blues enthusiast and guitarist. With lots of coaxing from both Dominic and Dan, Mike Baker and Dan Milkman formed a blues group named Blue Smoke Blues Band.
The band consisted of Mike, Dan and Bill Falk. Bill Falk had previously played with Dan in a local rock band called Bleeding Heart and the Delta Devils. They added a bass player by the name of Rob Cooper from the Next Step band. Their first performance was booked at a Laurel club called The Round Table. From that point, the next gig was at a local Laurel club called Delaney's Pub. The band was surprised by the supportive crowd that showed up at the gig. The owner, Gino, told the band at the end of the night, that he had the biggest night ever. He offered the band a weekly gig known as Thursday Night Blues night. Each Thursday night that Blue Smoke performed was packed. This went on for two years. Within that two year period, the band gained high recognition throughout the Baltimore-Washington corridor. They performed at such clubs as: The Full Moon Saloon, Armadillo's, Jett's Vegas Lounge, The Grog and Tankard, Dead Eye Saloon, The Baltimore Blues Festival, Baltimore's Art Scape Festival, The Laurel Main Street Festival, Concerts in the Park for the City of Laurel, and Columbia, Md. fourth of July Festivities.
As the years passed, the reputation of the Band grew. The Baltimore and D.C. Blues Societies offered opportunities for exposure to a wider, diverse audience. With help from radio stations such as WPFW with on-air personality Jerry Washington (a.k.a The Bama), the band's music was exposed to even bigger audiences. Other disc jockey's such as Damian Einstein and Bill Wright of WRNR became aware of Blue Smoke and played their earlier recorded material on homegrown segments as well as their self-titled CD Michael James Blues Baker and Blue Smoke.
The band has now been together for sixteen years. Core members remain Mike Baker, Dan Milkman, Leo Aspiras and Bill Falk. The band utilizes a rotation of musicians including Pat Day on harmonica, Jimmy Orr on keyboards, bass players Barry Novacell and Steve Shaw and drummer, Kim Martin.
The band is now pleased to announce the release of their first CD self-titled Michael James "Blues" Baker and Blue Smoke. This CD has a mixture of various blues styles. Most of the material has been written and composed by Mike Baker. The band also added cover tunes by such artists as James Brown, Reverend Gary Davis and Howlin' Wolf.
The Band is looking forward to future projects and hopes to expand their audience to other cities and states.
The Blues is Serious Business.
