Folk of the Wood Introduction

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  Mickey Cochran
  Multi-String Acoustician
  
  Mickey is a devotee of acoustic music ... he believes in and promotes every aspect of acoustic music in most all venues and genres. Although his first love has always been acoustic music, today Mickey comes from a graphic design and web development background ... his first instrument was the violin where he took it up in 5th grade playing for the school orchestra. His first guitar was borrowed from his Uncle Ansel out of Florence, Alabama area. It wasn't long before he owned a Decca 12-String purchased for him by his brother-in-law Bill Lee. The Decca 12-String became his standby guitar for most of his youth ... on this guitar, he learned the chord progression to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" and the classic western "Ghost Riders in the Sky".

  Mickey states: True story, I once got a job, at 16 years old, chopping cotton while living in Cloverdale, Alabama ... near the Waterloo Hwy ... it was in the hot depths of summer and my cousin Kenny and I worked this field from sunup to sundown for 3.50 a day each (you can almost say it was a classic "Cool Hand Luke" on the chain gang scene). This lasted about 2 days before I said, 'that's it for me!' ... so, I took my 7.00 and went to downtown Florence, Alabama to a bookstore and purchased Frederick M. Noad's book: "How to Play Classical Guitar". I buried myself in this book, deciding that there must be something better than chopping cotton, and learned to play fingerstyle classical guitar on a 12-string with medium gauge strings no less! Interestingly, at the time I was listening to rock bands such as "Cactus", "The Band", "Zeppelin", "Ten Years After" which were all a far cry from classical 12-string guitar ... notwithstanding, I truly enjoyed playing Baroque Guitar as a teenager and quickly found an affinity for fingerstyle guitar as my first medium and approach to acoustic guitar. I soon learned how to adapt my classical technique, from the Noad book, to acoustic rock pieces such as "Stairway to Heaven" (which is really a Baroque guitar piece in itself), "Black Mountain Side", "Mood for a Day", "The Water Song", ... and many others. Enjoying this learning journey, I continued my explorations with other music books ... I discovered a book: "The 12-String Guitar as Played by Leadbelly" by Pete Seeger and was soon playing "I'm Alabama Bound" ... I found Stefan Grossman's book when I was in the 11th grade: "Country Blues Guitar". Wow! How cool was that? He documented, accurately, many of the earliest steel string guitarists that were playing in a Ragtime Blues format. (Mickey has recently launched RagtimeGuitar.com which currently lists many Stefan Grossman titles along with other Ragtime-influenced instructional DVDs.)

  It was just pure fun building a repertoire of fingerstyle acoustic music. It wasn't until I heard Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Dirt, Silver and Gold" and "Will the Circle be Unbroken" that I followed the bluegrass muse. And, from here I was soon learning many Norman Blake songs along with lots of other Americana roots music such as Ragtime Guitar ... as a senior, at Santa Fe High, I first heard Leo Kottke's "Armadillo" album and was forever enthralled with fingerstyle Steel String Guitar (this style of guitar was aptly named "American Primitive Guitar" by John Fahey ... watch for the soon-to-be-launched AmericanPrimitiveGuitar.com). I was soon writing to John Fahey who was kind enough to send me the entire Takoma catalog of records at 1.00 each. I still have the very same collection John sent me to this day (I've seen some of these titles listed on eBay in the hundreds!)

  I took up the banjo and mandolin at about 18 years old. At 19, I was teaching banjo, guitar and mandolin at a music store called Wigley & Son Music out of Irving, TX. Soon afterwards, still at 20, I started performing at Cattleman's Steakhouse for a 12-year 6-nights-a-week gig ... wow! What a journey!
  
  I have now played acoustic music, with and without amplification, professionally for over 35 years. I still perform to this day around the Ruidoso, New Mexico vicinity. Check out RuidosoLiveMusic.com for performance updates along with a list of local performing artists. Since, I've always enjoyed sharing music with others, I decided to become more involved in supporting everyone's efforts in improving their acoustic musicianship. Learning is a lifelong process that we all, as acoustic artists, should consider in our daily efforts to improve ... we should never feel, within one lifetime, that we've reached the pinnacle (of what's possible to learn).

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  Mickey has produced and recorded two acoustic music recordings "Trekkin' the Gila" and "Historic Songs of El Paso". In the publishing field, he has written 2 books dedicated to crosspicking published by Mel Bay: "Mandolin Crosspicking Technique" and "Guitar Crosspicking Technique" ... and 2 Treasure Hunting books: "Treasure and How to Find It" and "The Definitive Guide to Using Your Tracker Metal Detector". He's also published 9 DVD titles on all types of acoustic instruments. While working as a full-time acoustic musician (6 nights a week for 12 years in one restaurant at Indian Cliffs Ranch/Cattleman's Steakhouse), he attended journalism school with a focus on photography and computer graphics. Mickey graduated from UTEP with a journalism degree in 1989. Since graduating, he pursued a career with a major metal detector manufacturing company (Bounty Hunter Metal Detectors) as Communications Director/Graphic Designer. After a 10-year effort with the metal detecting field, Mickey is now devoted to promoting acoustic music and assisting others in their learning endeavors. He is also co-owner of a mid-sized Ad Agency called GoWest Marketing ... with a focus on web development for both small and corporate-size companies.
  
  Currently, Mickey still performs around the Ruidoso, New Mexico vicinity. Be sure to visit: RuidosoLiveMusic.com for further info on live music in the area.
  

  Acoustic music is here to stay ... all natural and no artificial ingredients. Healthy for the soul and spirit! Our utmost goal as FOTW is to offer full acoustic music support ... We'll do our best to assist you with any questions you might have, regarding picking out an instrument, acoustic instruction and accessories ... Feel free to write us through our online form Wishing you the best in all of your acoustic music endeavors, Mickey

  Live at the Dreamcatcher in Ruidoso, New Mexico 2009

  
  

  
  
  Above: A Picture taken in the mid-'80s ... as you can see, I've always had a love of playing a variety of instruments ... That's my Martin M-38 that I'm holding ... this guitar is still one of my all-time favorites.

  
  Above: Terry Edwards on Mandolin ... I'm on guitar ... we're playing in Weed, New Mexico.
  Picture taken in the late '90s.

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  You're listening to "Cripple Creek" from: "Drawings from the Acoustic Forest"

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  • FOTW Introduction • FOTW Interviews • Preface to Fingerstyle Mandolin Introduction
  • My 12-String Guitar Passage
  • Retail Excellence Award issued by Music Inc. • Irish/German Roots
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