Michael Johnathon w/ 

Jim Bizer

Michael Johnathon is a folksinger, songwriter, concert performer, an author and has a worldwide radio audience approaching a million listeners each week. He also created the worlds first multi-camera weekly series broadcast on the Internet.

Soon enough, he began performing concerts at hundreds of colleges, schools and fairs. He performed Earth Concerts, performed benefits for the homeless, farm families, and played for shelters helping battered women and children. In all, he sang to over two million people in one four-year stretch. Billboard Magazine headlined him as an “UnSung Hero.” He has been featured on CNN, TNN, AP, Headline News, NPR, the Bravo Movie Channel and several syndicated radio shows.

A few years ago, Michael created his own record company, PoetMan Records USA. The first official release was his first book and CD gift set called WoodSongs.  The book included the 16-song, all-acoustic WoodSongs compact disc. The musical highlight of the album is a duet of a mountain song titled New Wood that Michael sings with the legendary Odetta and an eight peice cello section. Other featured musicians on the CD include Grammy winning banjo master JD Crowe, Appalachian icon Jean Ritchie, mountain musician Homer Ledford and others.

 The success of that project eventually resulted in the creation of radio’s only live audience program dedicated to brilliant but unknown artists. The show, called the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour (which Michael writes and hosts each week) is now broadcast on over 400 radio stations in 32 countries across the USA and around the globe.

Michael's seventh album, HomeStead was released in 2004. The CD has Sam Bush, Rob Ickes, Ronnie McCoury, Mike Cleveland, John Cowan, JD Crowe and others helping out. The album highlight is THE CRIMSON ROSE TRILOGY based around the song and short story THE GARDEN. On this song, Michael plays mandolin with seven time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year RONNIE McCOURY on an epic work full of French horns and lyrical drama.

Jim Bizer’s songs are a unique blend of humor, catchy melodies, and his own personal view of the essential craziness of being human - served up with monster guitar playing and vocals.  His songs have quickly earned accolades: three times he has been selected as a finalist in Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk competition and he was recently awarded the Grand Prize in the Great American Song contest. Most recently, he was among the very first to be invited to participate in the song competition at the 2004 Mountain Stage NewSong Festival in Charlestown, West Virginia.  His latest CD, Connected, was released in 2004.