Originally published in DoSavannah
August 25, 2015
Singer Mike Farris will tell you he has had two separate careers.
In 1990, he formed a Southern rock band that achieved considerable success. In 2001, he struck out on his own, singing music with a spiritual basis.
Farris will bring his Soul of America Tour to Mars Theatre in Springfield on Aug. 29. Performing with him will be his nine-piece band.
He is somewhat stunned at the popularity of his tour.
“I didn’t realize it would blow up the way it has,” he says. “We’re booked through April.”
Farris’ life wasn’t always this easy. When he was 11, his parents divorced. He began using drugs and alcohol at age 15 and almost died from an overdose when he was 20.
After recovering, Farris formed the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies in 1990. They had considerable success and recorded three major-label albums before breaking up.
“I was 21 or 22 when I formed the band,” Farris says. “Success came fairly early.
“I was expecting it to happen quicker than that, actually. When you’re young, you’re like that.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, which is a good thing,” he says. “I think at that time what I felt was my drive and belief in what the possibilities were.”
Years ago, Farris played Savannah as part of the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies.
“I’m really looking forward to being down there,” he says. “I love that part of the country. It’s a unique, special place.”
After the band members parted ways, Farris sang with SCW, Peaceful Knievel and Double Trouble, the backing band for Stevie Ray Vaughan. He also became a Christian and stopped all drug and alcohol use.
Since 2001, Farris has been a solo act rooted in early American gospel and blues. He has recorded three studio albums and two live records.
His first solo album, “Goodnight Sun,” was released in 2002 and his second, “Salvation in Lights,” in 2007.
The live album, “Sunday Night Shout!,” was recorded at the Station Inn in Nashville in 2008 and released in digital format. In 2009, Farris released “SHOUT! Live.”
After Nashville was hit with flooding in May 2010, Farris and other Nashville musicians recorded a charity EP, “The Night the Cumberland Came Alive” under the name Mike Farris and the Cumberland Saints. His latest album, “Shine for All the People,” won the first Grammy Award for Best Roots Gospel Album on Feb. 8.
Previously, Farris had won the 2008 Americana Music Award for New and Emerging Artist and the 2010 GMA Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year for “SHOUT! Live.”
“I was honored,” Farris says. “I was overwhelmed, in a way. I’m always surprised but I’m never really surprised.
“I’m not sure if I react to things like that. I never got ecstatic and crazy excited.
“I’m the only one to win all three of those awards,” he says. “It’s a testament to the kind of music I play, how broad-reaching it is.”
With his new career, even touring is enjoyable.
“I used to have an extreme disdain for touring,” Farris says. “Now I enjoy it a lot. I enjoy interacting with people now.”
Farris has appeared at music festivals such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Merlefest, Telluride and Bonnaroo.
“Spiritual music is the foundation of what I do, with a nine-piece band,” he says. “In spite of that, we’re embraced at rock festivals — all major rock festivals.
“We can play Bonnaroo and play the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest,” Farris says. “Then we can turn around and play at church on Sunday morning.”
Originally published on July 29, 2015.
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