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MIKE SLAJCHERT began playing guitar at about the age of 12, and by his late teen years was playing his own brand of rock and R & B regularly in the Chicago area, most notably with The Union Jacks. In his late 20s, he morphed into a solo performer and continued to play until the 1990s. He took a hiatus from performing and recording for that decade to deal with personal tragedy – the death of his 4 year-old son. With the new millennium, Mike began to play again, and also to go back to the studio. It was from this time that Blackbirds came into being. Not a touring or performing group, Blackbirds is more of an ongoing project. From this project came a series of 5 CDs; the first two, Blackbirds and Anatomy of Melancholy are out of production, though still available digitally. The last three are available through the usual online sources, including iTunes and Amazon, and hard copies can still be ordered through CDBaby.com or from this website (or directly from Mike, if you run into him.)
Mike plays all the instruments for Blackbirds; several friends have collaborated on vocals when a female voice has been needed, most notably Claire Hellige, Jasmine Quintana, and Sam Grams. Mike still performs occasionally. His pet projects have been charity fundraisers with the very talented Chicago performer Matthew Scharpf. The current focus has been raising money for the ComPadres, a group that supports the chaplaincy work of Father John Barkmeyer. Father John tends to the needs of our service men and women and their families back home. He has served multiple tours in the Middle East and will be returning to Afghanistan for a 12-month tour in April of 2012.
Thanks for listening.
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