Mike Ladd has been a strong presence in central Massachusetts for more than forty years. His completely original style of writing and performing weaves aggression and beauty, intensity, and subtlety into a tapestry that has earned the respect and admiration of his peers in the music industry. As a founding member of the regionally popular Chimera, the EP Coming Into Color was released in 1985 and the band appeared in an episode of the television series “Spenser For Hire”. In the 1990’s Ladd published The Auricle, an art and poetry magazine showcasing New England artists, as well as writing and performing both solo and with his own ensemble The Ladd Foundation. His first full length CD, The Storm, was critically acclaimed throughout the northeast and a decade after its release, The Storm sounds current and remains a beautiful and brave vision of soul and psyche. Mike Ladd is also included on The Old Vienna Tapes Vol. 1, a live showcase of artists’ performances at the famed Old Vienna Kaffeehaus; and the Ladd Foundation appears on the Iggy Pop tribute collection I Wanna Be A Stooges from Revenge Records. In this new century, Mike Ladd was a member of the funk and R&B band The Valves through 2009 and performed with them all over New England; Ladd released two albums with the Irish Mod band Blackstone Cúil. Ladd has written for The Journal of Music in Ireland (JMI), performs solo, and in various configurations, including the impromptu Celtic/contemporary Banda Gan Ainm (A Band With No Name). Visit www.mike-ladd.com