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Name: Mike Clayberg
Member Since: July 2001
DMH Roles: Songwriter, guitarist, radio promotions, record distribution, and label lackey. I also operate the website.
Hometown: None. I was an Army brat and moved every year or two. On move ten I returned to the state of my birth (Virginia) in time to settle down for a few decades.
Childhood Pet: None (See hometown rationale.)
My Favorite Self-Penned Original and Why I Wrote It: I originally wrote "Join me in Drinking" while trying to start a country band. The first iteration was pure punk rock and the country band was born later.
Key Musical Influences: Maybelle Carter and The Carter Family, Doc Watson, Black Flag, Norman and Nancy Blake, Johnny Cash, the Dead Boys, Clarence White, Tony Rice, Discharge, The Stanley Brothers, Hank Williams, Jerry Garcia, The New York Dolls, and the Ramones.
Dream Cover: "Walls of Time" written by Peter Rowan during his time in Bill Monroe's band.
Musician I'd Like to Trade Places With for a Day: Tony Rice.
Favorite Gig Memory: Arriving late to The Band Tribute show at Strathmore (bad traffic) and wading through a sea of people to reach the stage just in time for sound check.
Favorite Quote: "Eighty percent of success is showing up."—Woody Allen, director/actor/comedian
Top 10 Desert Island CDs: I'd rather have a guitar than CDs.
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 A lifelong musician, Mike Clayberg has played many styles of music. From his punk days with Malefice to the day when he cofounded Dead Men's Hollow, music has always been a driving force in his life. Raised around the globe by two music-loving parents, Mike could only rebel against their chamber choirs and symphonies by listening to the Beatles and AC/DC. It was, however, his long childhood summers in Alabama which seemed to have sealed his musical fate. With not much to do, he listened to the radio, especially at night when the AM signals came in strong, carrying haunting voices singing ageless songs. It's those same ageless songs that Mike enjoys playing and singing now, so the circle is indeed unbroken in that respect.
As a songwriter, Mike blends his many years of musical experience into songs that hark back to the old days while staying true to the complexities and concerns of modern life. The way he sees it, if one's ancestors have tramped the rocky New England coasts, southern mountains, Tennessee foothills, and western prairies to the wide Pacific shore, traditional American music is woven into the DNA and the soul. This realization has led Mike to wholeheartedly embrace the americana music tradition with hopes of carrying it on to new generations through his work with Dead Men's Hollow as well as his solo endeavors.
Mike studies guitar under Karl Straub and is learning the language of Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Norman Blake, John Hurt, Tony Rice, and occasionally, Clarence White. He is also inhaling and exhaling a whole mess of fiddle tunes. Mike plays a Martin D28, Johnson Tricone, and an early American guitar (Ashborn Model 2, ca. 1855) for Dead Men's Hollow and can frequently be found singing high, lonesome harmony. Mike plays an assortment of other stringed instruments from baroque to modern and is currently studying viola da gamba under Dr. Tina Chancey.
The photographs on this page were taken by Brett Davis in the chapel and on the grounds of Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC.
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