Mike Dawes

On 18 September 2026, Òran Mór in Glasgow welcomes Mike Dawes, an English fingerstyle guitarist who builds full arrangements on a single steel‑string: melody, bass, percussion and accompaniment running at once. Raised in Guildford and first drawn to electric guitar, he shifted to acoustic in 2008 and shaped a sound at the crossroads of instrumental rock, folk and pop, balancing original compositions with finely worked reworks. His set here should lean on Galactic Acid while revisiting earlier milestones like What Just Happened? and Era, plus a few arrangements that recast familiar songs without vocals. Live, Dawes plays with groove-driven tapping, harmonics, muted hits and shifting tunings, keeping the pulse steady and the themes clear rather than flashy. Along the way he has shared stages with Tommy Emmanuel and collaborated with Petteri Sariola, Plini and members of Periphery, and his Accomplice Series, Vol. 3 with Emmanuel hinted at his sense of dialogue. In solo format, that same precision becomes a narrative thread, where patterns lock, melodies surface and fade, and the guitar carries everything without needing a band.