Michael Cooney's father, Bernard ("Barney the Hat") Cooney, was born and
raised in Cicero, Illinois -- headquarters of famous prohibition mobster,
Al Capone. When he was 14 he would sometimes tell his mother he was going
to church, then get his guitar from the woodshed and sing in "speakeasies".
Gangsters would cry and shove money into his guitar. Later he sang
table-to-table at restaurants with his brother on violin. By then he knew
hundreds of songs and had a reputation for being able to sing any song
requested. (His brother later played violin for two years in the Detroit
Symphony before they figured out he couldn't read music.) Maybe that's
where Michael got his ability to sing hundreds of songs of all kinds and
play a whole carload of instruments.
Michael was born in 1943 in Carmel, California and grew up (mostly) in
Tucson, Arizona (where his dad moved to manage the NBC radio station). His
parents divorced early and Michael spent much time in foster homes and the
orphanage there and in California during his early years. Hardly was he out
of high school when he took to the road, hitch-hiking and riding freight
trains for two years -- to Boston and back, up the west coast, to Colorado
(where he spent a few months in Denver and Boulder, recovering from the
broken leg he got his first time skiing), before "settling" [i.e., renting
apartments] in various parts of California for a couple years.
But the lure of the "Mystic East" was irresistible, and in 1964 Michael
went to New York City, then Boston. Since then he has lived in various
parts of the northeast, plus seven years in Toronto and a year in Richmond,
Indiana. Realizing a life-long dream, in 1987 he moved to Maine where he
now lives in a 180-year-old house near a small lobster-fishing village on
the rocky coast.
Michael learned his music from hundreds of people, well-known and unknown.
He credits Pete Seeger and Sam Hinton for his interest in traditional folk
music and the history behind the songs. Also for his wanting to "help
others to feel what I feel when I hear this great old stuff". He credits
Sam, and his old travelling partner, Grady Tuck (now deceased) for his
relaxed ("Perry Como school of folk music") performing style.
Michael has been helping others to experience the beauty, power and humor
of old and new songs for over 35 years, in countless halls, clubs,
coffeehouses, etc., in the US, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain and Europe.
He has performed, lectured or done residencies at hundreds of US and
Canadian colleges and schools of all levels. He has performed at most of
the major North American folk festivals (some many times), including The
National Folk Festival, Smithsonian, Newport, Mariposa, Winnipeg,
Vancouver, Monterey, Berkeley, San Diego, Hudson River Revival, Old Songs.
He has been a performer and mc at the Philadelphia Folk Festival
semi-regularly since 1966 and for 12 the last 14 years.
Michael was six years on the board of the National Folk Festival in
Washington, DC., in 1984, artistic director of Canada's Mariposa Folk
Festival, in 1986, Artistic Director of Philadelphia's "Maritime America
Festival" (part of "We The People 200 - the National Celebration of the
200th Anniversary of the United States Constitution"), and a consultant to
many other festivals. He was a member of the Music Panel of the Maine Arts
Commission for four years and head of the panel in 1992-93. For twenty
years Michael was a director of, contributor to, and columnist for the US's
oldest national folk music magazine, Sing Out!
Michael founded The Friendship Letter, "a neighborhood newsletter for
people who don't live near each other" in 1993. At home he likes to putter
around in his workshop, mess about with computers, musical instruments,
books, and boats. He ever seeks "neat songs", good and fun stuff (and
subscribers) for The Friendship Letter, and more time.
Michael Cooney
PO Box 278
Friendship, Maine 04547
207/354-6971
mbc42@mail.ctel.net