Scottish-born artist Mikie Henderson shares stories on love, loss and life to connect with and inspire fans across the world. Mikies traditional Scottish culture and American country music influences have fused to create a unique and modern sound.
Mikie graduated from Heriot Watt University with a Masters Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2017. 14 months later, lacking both fulfilment in life and the ability to connect with people through music, he quit his engineering job to begin a full-time career in music.
Mikie was born on 14th May 1994 in Wick to the background music of English rock band Smokie’s hit “Wild Angels”. From that very first moment on earth, he was destined to go on to grow his love of music. At an early age Mikie got into country music with early influences such as Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson and George Jones. Outside of country music Mikie is inspired by the music of Queen, The Proclaimers and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Mikies biggest influences are Brad Paisley and Eagles .
Mikie was the front man of popular country band The Chicken Pickers who, over the course of their career, played on the same bill as country stars such as Gene Watson, Leona Williams, Highway 101 and Heather Myles. Mikie featured on numerous episodes of BBC Alba’s programme “Ceol Country” and has appeared several times on Spotlight TV.
Mikie’s debut single “If Only” is an expressive and poignant story of love loss told from a nostalgic and apologetic point of view, yet through the musical arrangement delivers hope and optimism.
This song was originally planned to be a follow-up release, but Mikie felt that perhaps listeners could relate to the lyrics in a different way during the uncertain times of 2020 when the coronavirus struck. “If Only I could make this right” could resonate with the way a lot of people were thinking in 2020 and, for this reason, Mikie decided to make this song his debut single.
In 2022, Mikie made a return to the UK country scene with ‘Victory in Europe Day’, recorded at Puzzle Maker Studios. In his own words, Mikie explains the inspiration behind the track:
“A few years ago on May 8th, I was watching the Victory in Europe Day celebrations on TV – “the War after the War that would end all wars”… I happened to change the channel and couldn’t believe I was watching our MPs debating whether or not to bomb Syria. The irony that that conversation was happening while we were celebrating the end of World War 2, inspired this song. Although I release this song in tribute of the Fallen of all wars – past and present – I also want
to release this song in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.”
2022 also brought us Mikie’s single “Rolled A Six” – a summer anthem fit for the UK
festival scene that embodies what his music is all about.
“I spent many years of my life chasing something – in music – that I’m not sure if I’ll ever get. But I’ve learned over the years, and more recently, that it’s the journey that counts and if we take a moment to look around us – we will see so many things that we are lucky to have.”