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Michael Scott Tracy

Although born in the UK, Mike was brought up from the age of three months by his maternal grandparents in Kilmacthomas Co., Waterford, Ireland. Growing up in an atmosphere where music was an integral part of life, almost every household had its musicians and much of the entertainment was home-based, with friends and family getting together in each others houses and making their own fun.

Mike was encouraged to start singing from the age of three and that love for music and performing has never left him. During his childhood, Mike spent time living both with his parents in England and at his Irish home . Eventually Mike moved to the UK permanently and from the age of 16 worked in the family hotel/catering business, where he still found the opportunity to perform, and was even hired by other local hotels to do cabaret spots.

In 1971, following the death of his father, the business was sold and Mike's mother moved to Wales. Mike opted to stay in England and worked at various jobs for the next year and a half. He managed to keep performing doing guest spots with other local bands/artists & spending some time as a member of ‘The Arran Showband’ playing Irish country & dance music in the Irish dancehalls in London – appearing with such top Irish artists as Joe Dolan, Johnny McEvoy, Larry Cunningham, and Brendan Shine. It was during this time that he paid his first visit to a country music club with a British country band performing American country music in a large but dingy room above a bar to around 150 people. On his second visit he sang his first song (Merle Haggards ‘Sing Me Back Home’) and received his first standing ovation. What he didn’t know was that the venue was part of what was then the Fullers ( a London Brewery) Country Music circuit and that one of the organizers was in the audience that night. Mike was hired to perform as a solo artist on the circuit and so began his lifelong love of and association with American country music.

It was also the motivation for him to start writing his own songs. In late 1972, Mike started his first band, Country Routes (pronounced roots in England) in the UK. Within three months the band was spotted playing in a bar and offered the chance to tour the U.S. military bases in Germany…and so it started. In 1973 the band did its first tour and was immediately booked to return as the support band for some American country artists who were entertaining U.S. troops all over Germany & Europe. The band (now called Mike Scott-Tracy & Country Routes and later shortened to The Mike Scott-Tracy band) worked with such artists as Freddy Fender and Tommy Overstreet culminating with an appearance at the Frankfurt Festival of Country Music with Johnny Cash.

The following years were taken up by touring in Europe. During this time the band broke up, but Mike continued to perform solo or with pick-up bands in various countries. He also put together a second Mike Scott Tracy Band, which toured extensively for a couple of years after which he spent time as a member of the Dutch band, The Tumbleweeds, who had a No. 1 European hit with a cover version of Merle Haggards ‘Somewhere Between’.

In 1981 Mike returned to England and settled into performing on the then-thriving British country music circuit & also returning to his Irish Folk/Country roots by performing in Irish dance halls & venues in the UK. Mike returned to Ireland two years ago and is currently writing songs and performing in hotels & other venues. Although it took just one night all those years ago, it was Freddy Fender who had the biggest influence & impact on Mike. Not only did Freddy encourage him that night to continue writing and playing, but also took time out to teach him the Spanish to ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls,’ which had a profound affect on Mike – that an artist of such magnitude would take the time to encourage and help an unknown has stayed with him and motivated him all his life.

It was this motivation that brought him to do the re-write of that song to mark the anniversary of Freddys death (or was it Freddy still encouraging him even after all this time)?