Michael "Jr" Tash

Washington Area Music Association nominee for Best Blues Instrumentalist

Michael "Jr" Tash was born in 1965 in Silver Spring, MD. He has been around music from an early age. Mike's father, Ken, had been a singer in the DC area during the 60's and had established quite a collection of records from the classic singers of the 40's and 50's. Little did he know, this had quite an impact on the budding guitarist. In 1975 something happened to launch Mike into the world of music - KISS. Once he saw Kiss he knew he had to play the guitar. He got his first guitar - a cheap acoustic - at age 11. Next came high school and the electric guitars and loud amps, as he moved into the world of heavy metal.

In the early 80's Mike met DC guitarist Steve Jacobs and discovered the blues. He sold all of his guitars to purchase the 1960 Fender Stratocaster that he is still seen with. His first public appearance as a blues guitarist was at a little biker bar called Hunter's Pub in Wheaton, MD. Soon after that Mike could be seen playing in the house band at Fatty's in Rockville, MD.

The original Bad Influence was formed with Bassist Rick Haveland (who gave Mike the nickname "Jr" due to the age difference between himself and Mike), singer/guitarist Tom Swanton and drummer Fred Hillyard in 1989. The band went through some changes, including Whop Frazier on bass and vocals (as heard on the first Bad Influence CD) before settling in with the current line-up.

For almost 20 years, Jr has been a fixture on the East Coast blues circuit. He has performed at numerous clubs and festivals and more recently at the NAMM shows on both coasts.

As well as being the guitarist, Jr also manages and books the band. He produced both CDs and does most of the promotion and marketing for the band.

Jr is currently endoresed by Epiphone guitars, Kustom Amps, Peavey Electronics, Levy's straps, GHS Strings, Spectraflex cables and PedalSnake cable systems. Check him out.