Micah P Hinson

Hometown: Abilene, TX

Debut album from Texan singer-songwriter, produced by The Earlies released September 2004

Born in the southern US town of Memphis, Tennessee, on the day that President Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt, Micah (pronounced my-kah) Paul Hinson was raised in a Christian fundamentalist household. As a teenager, Hinson and his family moved to Abilene, Texas, where he became a member of the local music scene. It is here, where Micah first met his then muse a Vogue cover model and widow of a notable local rock star. Introduced to her, and in turn Valium and other narcotics, it was not long before Micahs muse turned into the Black Widow as he now refers to her, and he hit a horrible twist of events. In the Spring of 2000, he was caught forging prescriptions and was sent to county jail I ended up losing my car, my home, all my money, my instruments and recording equipment, and basically my entire family.

At the age of 19, Micah found himself homeless and penniless, wandering from pillar to post, sleeping on friends floors. He was eventually forced to declare himself bankrupt and moved into a motel and acquired a mundane telemarketing job. During this period, Micah still managed to write around 30 songs on borrowed instruments and equipment.

In the winter of 2003, with help from his old friends from Texas, The Earlies, Micah revisited these songs from his lost period to record his debut album, Micah P. Hinson and the Gospel of Progress. As producers and arrangers of the record (under their Names On Records guise), The Earlies trademark of lush strings, beautiful keyboards and eerie backdrops harmonise perfectly with Micahs honest and exposed style (be sure to check out the lap steel, accordion and piano interplay on Beneath the Rose and the Jack Nietzsche-esque jangling psychedelic soul of At Last, Our Promises).

Some collaborations are simply destined for greatness. However, the record never loses sight of Micahs own unique voice his twisted, dark tales of love and loss are matched only by a cracked vocal and songwriting that belies his mere 22 years. Drawing inspiration from his young, yet eventful life, Micah has managed to create a truly timeless sounding record. With the simplest of bittersweet lyrics, he evokes the strongest of emotions.