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| About Mike |
| MIKE SALAS All in good ... time (Cue rim-shot) Still waters run deep. "Yeah, I can beat that." |
| Mike has been playing in bands in the San Fernando Valley for over 25 years. Coming from a musical family, he took up the drums in Junior High School, and soon joined the family band, Grupo America. The band included Mike’s brother, Joe on Tenor Sax, his cousins Ruben on Keyboards and Armando on Trumpet, Uncle Serafin on Bass, Edward Wake on Guitar, and Enrique Escobedo on Vocals. A later addition to the band was current Persuasion member Dennis Sambolin. Grupo America played a mix of Mexican dance music:, 50s oldies, 70s R&B and contemporary Rock. All of these musical styles are reflected in the original songs written and arranged by members of the band. The band recorded 3 albums under the "Discos Puerto Vallarta" record label and enjoyed regional success with some of their singles receiving airplay on Spanish radio stations throughout California, Washington and Arizona. The second album was released south of the border, which led to a tour of Mexico, as well. Mike and Dennis went on to join On The Side, another local band, playing a wide variety of rock and R&B and new music. They played mostly 'casuals', along with festivals in and around Los Angeles. Mike stayed with On The Side into the early 90s and played various gigs with Sabor Latino and Los Sencillos during this period as well. In the 90s, Mike expanded his musical experience by joining an R&B band called The Tri Angels (with current Persuasion member Johnny Barro) and by doing several studio recordings with local songwriter Jesus Hernandez. Mike later divided his time between his cousin Greg Alcantar's Mexican Banda, Grupo Trebol, a brief stint with 818 and finally The Pirates (also with Johnny Barro). In the spring of ’98, during a recording project with Jesus Hernandez, Mike met guitarist Mario Quiroga and later joined his great Latin Jazz/R&B group, The Q-Band, where he played for the next six months. In October of the same year, Mike was invited to join Persuasion and be reunited with old band- mates Dennis and Johnny, and when he’s not busy with RainPace, he continues to perform with Persuasion. In the summer of 2002 Mike was invited to join Willis McNeal’s R&B group by his good friend and RainPace Bassist Michael Hunter. The band stayed together for about a year and recorded a few demos and performed at various local venues. The two Mikes enjoyed working together during this time, locking in their sound and groove, and they looked forward to finding an opportunity to play together regularly. In late 2006, Mike Hunter invited Mike Salas to join him in a new band: RainPace. Their unique blend of Rock, Jazz, Western Swing and R&B lets Mike draw from his many musical influences and he’s very proud of the new RainPace CD, Knowledgeable Music Affordable Price. |
| Click photos for larger images |
| RainPace is... |
| Kerry Phillips |
| Valerie Tullous |
| Mike Salas |
| Mikey Hunter |
| (Click photos for bios) |
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| Bob Evans |
