Crazy Man Michael was, for a fleeting moment in history, one of Guelph Ontario's premiere Celtic and British Folk bands. That's mostly because it was also Guelph Ontario's only Celtic and British Folk band. There are advantages to living in a small town!

Nevertheless, Crazy Man Michael kept the Guelph area's surprisingly large community of folk fans hopping (those that could still hop after that much beer) with an eclectic repertoire of tunes ranging from Canadian maritime songs to traditional celtic instrumentals, to covers of great music from Britain's inimitable Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and Sandy Denny, as well as a wide variety of other sources.

In fact, the name "Crazy Man Michael" actually derives from an early Fairport Convention tune of the same name, penned by then-member Richard Thompson. (What's the song about? Click here to find out.)

CMM--as it became affectionately known--was the bastard child of a pair of other ill-fated and financially disasterous musical ventures (which gave new meaning to the term "Baroque musicians"), and brought together:

lead vocalist Clare McNaul, who also played various percussion instruments,
Blain Bovee on guitar, mandola and backing vocals,
Sally Ludwig as second lead vocalist,
Randy Jackiw on guitars, percussion and backing vocals,
Chris Mills on bass, guitars, harmonica, pennywhistle, concertina, mandolin, sundry other instruments, and backing vocals,
and Mike Kosonic on electric violin and mandolin.

Although their numerous concerts garnered them neither the fame nor fortune that none of them were seeking anyway, they did make enough money to buy beer at the various bars they played in. Good thing too, since none of them could have afforded it otherwise.

Then, in early 2001, disaster struck. (At least, I think some sort of disaster struck. Who can remember these things? Disaster is always striking somewhere, it seems... Wait, I'm rambling... Anyway, back to the band.) Due to the ongoing pressures of so-called "real life," Crazy Man Michael not so much broke up as gradually dissolved, and despite a few "reunion concerts" since then, has resolutely stayed that way.