Mike Roos was born and raised in John Mellencamp country, otherwise known as Southern Indiana.  He started writing songs in 1972 and has amassed a catalogue of over 300 songs, while teaching writing, literature, and journalism full-time at the University of Cincinnati.  He plays all the instruments and does all the vocals on all of his recordings.

In 1986 he released his first original collection, Kangaroo (Sleeping Dog Records), an intense cycle of rock songs about the life of the mind, including "Fourth of July in the Asylum," "Hole in My Head," and the title song.  He followed Kangaroo with Songs From the Flood Wall, 15 meditations on the light and the dark of love, recorded in Tennessee during the aftermath of a divorce.  More mellow and acoustic than Kangaroo, Songs From the Flood Wall nevertheless cuts deep with numbers like "Rear View Mirror," "All Along the Flood Wall," "Fuel to the Flame," and "Like a Barracuda."  

In the 90s, he took a sabbatical from music and wrote two books, a novel about a young architectural student and a non-fiction book about an over-achieving Indiana high school basketball team in 1963.  Then in 2003, he started writing songs again, while teaching himself banjo, mandolin, and dobro to give his music a more old-time rootsy flavor.  By 2007, he was ready to select a batch of songs to record and spent the next three years recording piecemeal, as time permitted with his heavy teaching responsibilities.  But early in 2011, he was ready to share his new creations with the world, and the result is Begin 2, 13 heartfelt originals filled with comments on life in the 21st Century and the search for meaning.  These include a song on Hurricane Katrina ("New Orleans") and a banjo blues on the Virginia Tech massacre ("Blacksburg").  Like all of his work, it's touched with humor, but isn't afraid to venture into the abyss.  Life may be filled with suffering, but in the end, it's better to be than not to be.  Begin 2 is philosophical, spiritual, and poetic, but mostly it's impassioned. Mike really believes it's the best thing he's ever done. 

Mike is now gearing up for the next recording project, which he says will likely be more electric, more roots rock.  And the search for meaning continues.