Mike Salow is an American guitarist and music educator from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated with honors from McNally Smith College of Music, where he received a Bachelors of Music in guitar performance with a minor in music business.

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TEACHING EXPERIENCE: Currently Mike provides 1-on-1 coaching to guitarists from all over the world and also provides subscription based guitar tutorials to hundreds of guitarists on his Patreon. You can also find Mike sharing free guitar lessons, tips, and tricks on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok, where between the 4 platforms he has amassed over 250,000 followers, with the majority of followers on Instagram. 

After graduating from McNally Smith College of Music in 2012, Mike was invited back to join the guitar department as a teacher where he taught from 2013 until McNally Smith's sudden closure in late 2017, after which Mike taught guitar, jazz ensembles, recording arts, and music theory at St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. From 2024 to 2026 Mike was co-owner and director of marketing at FretboardBiology.com, an online guitar program designed by Joe Elliott (former VP of education at Musicians Institute).

STAGE EXPERIENCE: With over 2 decades of professional gigging experience, Mike has been fortunate to share the stage with an array of acts such as Fitz and the Tantrums, Great White, The Avett Brothers, Candlebox, Los Lobos, Bleeding Through, Veil of Maya, and many others. Mike gigs regularly with a variety of groups who's styles range from blues to jazz, R&B to rock, pop to metal, etc... Most notably, as lead guitarist & backing vocalist for the band, Chester Bay. In 2010 Chester Bay was featured in Rolling Stone magazine as they were due to release their debut album. Mike also co-founded the progressive metal band, Ideology, with drummer, Charlie Engen (of Five Finger Death Punch), and Mike has been a hired gun for solo artists Nate Amor (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and Adam Bohanan (The Voice: Season 26).

 

NOTABLE ACCOLADES: In 2009 Mike won an outstanding solo award while performing with the Kirkwood Jazz Ensemble at Elmhurst Jazz Festival in Chicago. In 2016 Mike won 1st place in the #Solocontest2016, an international guitar playing competition hosted by Mesa Boogie, Line 6, Toontrack, Mayones Guitars, and John Browne of the band Monuments. In 2021 Mike released his debut solo album entitled, The Hunt, which can be streamed on any platform and features performances from Per Nilsson of Scar Symmetry, Jack Gardiner, and Al Joseph.

 

You can also hear Mike chatting with professional musicians from around the world on his podcast, Creating a Life in Music, available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Guests have included Eric Hutchinson, Scott Henderson, Brett Garsed, BERNTH, and many others.