Michael Tolcher is an American singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 who blends pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

, and urban grooves

Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

. He was born in Front Royal

Front Royal, Virginia

Front Royal is a town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,589 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County.-Geography:Front Royal is roughly west of Washington, D.C....

, Virginia, and has lived most of his life in and around Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

.

Biography

Growing up just south of Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, Tolcher, who got into music at a young age and wrote his first song at five, had his first public performance in his church choir around the same time. He was into sports his whole life, and ended up running track at UTC

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...

 and Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

. He was injured in 1996, then began to focus on music. He got his start at the Olympics

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....

 in Atlanta as a street performer. Tolcher soon began touring in small venues around the country. Eventually arriving in New York City, he recorded his album I Am

I Am (Michael Tolcher album)

I Am is Michael Tolcher's debut album, produced by Pop Rox. It was released on Octone Records on 4 May 2004.Four of the songs had previously appeared on Tolcher's self-titled EP, released in 2003....

with producers Pop Rox in late 2003. It was released on Octone Records in 2004, and he toured as opening act for such artists as Maroon 5

Maroon 5

Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. While they were in high school, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bass guitarist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick formed a garage band called Kara's Flowers and released one album...

, Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...

, Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...

, Gavin Degraw

Gavin DeGraw

Gavin Shane DeGraw is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is known for his songs "Chariot", "Follow Through", "I Don't Want to Be" , "In Love with a Girl", and "Not Over You".-Early life:DeGraw grew up in the Catskills in South Fallsburg,...

, G Love & Special Sauce, The Funky Meters, Pat McGee Band

Pat McGee Band

The Pat McGee Band is a rock band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed by frontman Pat McGee, who attended Longwood University in Farmville, VA. On the heels of his solo release From the Wood in 1995, the Pat McGee Band signed with Warner Bros. Records subsidiary Giant Records in 1999...

, Everclear

Everclear (band)

Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...

, The Clarks

The Clarks

The Clarks are an American rock band from the Pittsburgh region, originating at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of twenty years, they have produced a total of 12 studio, live and solo releases, selling near a quarter of a million copies....

, Hanson

Hanson (band)

Hanson are an American pop rock band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by brothers Isaac , Taylor , and Zac Hanson . They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations...

, and Sister Hazel

Sister Hazel

Sister Hazel are an alternative rock band from Gainesville, Florida, whose style also blends elements of folk rock, pop, classic rock 'n' roll and southern rock. Their music is characterized by highly melodic tunes and generally optimistic lyrics. The band's instrumentation often features abrupt...

.

Tolcher's song "Sooner or Later" was the theme song for ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

's 2004–2005 series Life As We Know It. It also appears in the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 sitcom Scrubs

Scrubs (TV series)

Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...

at the end of the episode titled "My Rite of Passage".

His song,"Bad Habits" featured in the episode "Near Wild Heaven" in the second season of One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill (TV series)

One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...

.

His song "Mission Responsible" was used as part of a public service announcement for the American Lung Association

American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease.-History:...

 in 2004.

His latest recording, "Speed Feels Better" was licensed out by Hilton Hotels and used for their 2008 Beijing Olympics Campaign. The song is his first single from his second album due out in 2009. An acoustic version is featured on the EP "See You Soon"

His EP In the Meantime was released on March 10, 2009 and features "Speed Feels Better", "Wanting You Now", "Speed Feels Better Acoustic", and "Speed Feels Better" video. The "Speed Feels Better" video features cameos from various athletes: Amanda Beard

Amanda Beard

Amanda Ray Beard is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist . She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke ....

, Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick

Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

, Barry Sanders

Barry Sanders

Barry Sanders is a former American football running back who spent all of his professional career with the Detroit Lions in the NFL. Sanders left the game just short of the all-time rushing record...

, Kimmie Meissner

Kimmie Meissner

Kimberly Claire "Kimmie" Meissner is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 World Champion, the 2007 U.S. National Champion, and the 2007 Four Continents Champion...

, and Rick Ankiel

Rick Ankiel

Richard Alexander Ankiel is a Major League Baseball outfielder who is currently with the Washington Nationals. He bats and throws left-handed....

.

In April 2010, Michael spent a week educating attendees of the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, FL. He instructed the crowd on the effects of the correct song in film or television episode, the writing process, and shared information on how to get new music into the motion picture industry. Others in attendance at the Sunscreen Film Festival were, John Travolta

John Travolta

John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...

, Patrick Wilson (actor)

Patrick Wilson (actor)

Patrick Joseph Wilson is an American actor and singer. Wilson has spent years singing lead roles in major Broadway musicals, beginning in 1996. In 2003, he appeared in the HBO mini-series Angels in America...

, Ethan Suplee

Ethan Suplee

Ethan Suplee is an American film and television actor best known for his roles as Seth Ryan in American History X, Louie Lastik in Remember the Titans, Frankie in Boy Meets World, Randy Hickey in My Name Is Earl, Thumper in The Butterfly Effect, Dewey in Unstoppable, and his roles in Kevin Smith...

, and Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams

William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta...

.

EPs

• Michael Tolcher EP (2003)
• See You Soon EP (2008)
• In the Meantime EP (2009)

External links

• Michael Tolcher official site
• Michael Tolcher collection at the Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  's live music archive