Biographical Info

Mike Lightnin’ Wells hails from North Carolina and has had a long time interest and fascination with the ukulele. His main interest is in the mainland style of uke which was made popular during the jazz age during the 1920s and he has a repertoire of over one hundred pieces originating from this era. He owns a family of at least a dozen vintage ukuleles of various sizes and shapes including banjo ukes and a tiple. Lightnin’ also possesses one of the top collections of vintage ukulele 78 recordings including obscure as well as famous ukulele artists from days gone by. He has a particular interest in the few known African-American ukulele performers and in the pre-blues, vaudeville and ragtime type of tunes which were so popular at the time. He has conducted successful ukulele classes and workshops in the U.S. and abroad in such locations as Port Townsend, WA., Swannanoa, N.C. and Bremen, Germany.

Lightnin’ Wells has been performing for over fifty years and gained his renown mainly as an acoustic folk/blues player. He recorded and traveled for many years with North Carolina Piedmont blues performers Big Boy Henry, Algia Mae Hinton, George Higgs and John Dee Holeman. Besides performing, Wells is also a musical researcher and writer contributing to the Encyclopedia of North Carolina, the North Carolina Literary Journal as well as several recent liner notes projects for the German Bear Family record label. Former N.P.R. radio journalist and musicologist Paul Brown recently said of Lightnin’ Wells; “an enigma and a wonder. When you hear him, you hear the old time music makers speaking through him. More than anything, you hear something that is sincere and real, in a way that precious little music performance is nowadays. There’s no varnish here, just the unvarnished truth expressed through a deep and good natured soul.” https://lightninwells.com/