FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
	
Big Ugly Music & Media

847/367-1454
fax 360/364-7664

317 E. Park Ave.	
Libertyville, IL 60048

info@bigugly.com 

European Radio Airplay For Mike Beck CD During Eighth Tour

Libertyville, IL --- Mike Beck's debut CD was released by Big Ugly Music & Media just prior to the launch of Mike's eighth European tour, which commenced in early October 2003.
	This tour brought Mike back to familiar venues in Holland and Germany, and included a first-ever performance in France. Presenting a combination of solo acoustic performances and shows with Mike's Dutch band, Big Eyed Beans From Fryslân, the tour successfully concluded on November 22 in Losser, a town in Holland very near the German border. Fans from both countries turned out to enjoy an unforgettable farewell performance. Mike's Spring 2004 European Tour begins March 25 and runs through May 10, and a tour of Asia is scheduled to hit Japan and Thailand in September and October of 2004.
	Mike's CD has already garnered airplay on radio stations throughout The Netherlands and Germany. Jaap Hoek, host of the renowned CRACKS radio program on Radio Rijnwoude near Amsterdam, said "We are very excited about your CD. Every week, we will play a song off your CD."
	Entitled Mike Beck, the EP features five Mike Beck originals, including The Ghost of Mrs. Adler, written about an historic mansion in Mike's adopted hometown, Libertyville, Illinois. It has quickly become one of the favorite songs in GarageBand.com's Folk/Country category, earning broad praise and advancing into the second round of the competition.
	The first three songs on the CD were recorded last May at Rodisc Studios near Mike's European base of operations, Ravenswaaij, a rural village located about an hour south of Amsterdam. These tracks feature the Big Eyed Beans From Fryslân: Rik Meyer on electric guitar, Jan van Olffen on bass, Ruben Mulder on Fender Rhodes piano, and Boy Brostowski on drums. Rik's scintillating lead work is featured prominently on Mike's composition Body & Mind and an energetic treatment of The Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed.
	The remaining five songs were recorded throughout the Summer of 2002 at several Midwest studios with co-producers Andy Sabin and Alex Hall. The sessions were a "who's who" of Mike's twenty-year musical career, including contributions by Tennessee guitarist Frank Curtis, mandolinist "Mando" Dave Bagdade, the inimitable Toney Ventura, and Chicago folk diva Nora O'Connor, who graces several songs with her lush, stirring harmonies.
	Among the highlights... Grammy-winner Howard Levy's harmonica finesse adorns One Minus One, a poignant ballad Mike wrote about the demise of his marriage. Soaring guitar work by blues great Larry McCray embellishes Mike's interpretation of Warren Haynes' Soulshine and his own Johnny Y., which also boasts a ripping Alex Hall horn arrangement brilliantly executed by Todd Boyce, sax, Brent Sanders, trombone, and Patrick Newbery, trumpet.
	The Mike Beck CD is available for purchase online at www.mikebeck.us, through etailer efolk.org and at regional retail outlets. Big Ugly is currently seeking distribution for the CD in the USA, Europe and Asia.

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Media-friendly photography and additional press materials are available at http://www.mikebeck.us/media
Please call 847/367-1454 or email info@bigugly.com to arrange an interview or request additional copies of Mike's CD.
A complete and up-to-date tour itinerary is available online at http://www.mikebeck.us/live.html