Mike Salow is a multifaceted musician with decades of playing experience. He graduated with honors from McNally Smith College of Music receiving a B.M. in guitar performance along with a music business minor. One year after graduating, Mike was asked back to McNally Smith to join the guitar & ensemble departments as a teacher where he taught from 2013 to McNally Smith's sudden closure in De...
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Mike Salow is a multifaceted musician with decades of playing experience. He graduated with honors from McNally Smith College of Music receiving a B.M. in guitar performance along with a music business minor. One year after graduating, Mike was asked back to McNally Smith to join the guitar & ensemble departments as a teacher where he taught from 2013 to McNally Smith's sudden closure in December of 2017.

Mike is currently a teacher in the instrumental jazz program at St. Paul Conservatory of Performing Artists, an arts focused high school located in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also head instructor and founder of Ideal Music Lessons, an in-home and online music lessons service based in the Twin Cities. Outside of teaching, Mike has had extensive gigging experience with various artists ranging from rock to R&B, heavy metal to jazz, country to hip-hop and so on.

Currently Mike is lead guitarist & backing vocalist for Minneapolis based rock band, Chester Bay. After joining the band in September of 2009, Chester Bay toured throughout the upper Midwest, was featured in Rolling Stone magazine, and also opened for national acts such as Candlebox, Los Lobos, Fitz and the Tantrums, and The Avett Brothers. Aside from Chester Bay, Mike co-founded the Twin Cities progressive metal band, Ideology, along with drummer, Charlie Engen. Ideology released their debut self-titled album in fall of 2016 and are yet to announce their sophomore release. Mike is currently working on the release of his debut solo album, "The Hunt", due out in Spring of 2021!
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Mike is endorsed by Kiesel Guitars and Arobas Music (makers of Guitar Pro). He has been featured on TruthInShredding.com, received an Outstanding Solo award at the Elmhurst Jazz festival, in Chicago, with the Kirkwood Community College Jazz Big Band, and has also had success in select international guitar competitions via YouTube, placing 1st in two, and was a finalist in two others. Most recently Mike won 1st place in the #solocontest2016, which was put on by Mayones Guitars & Basses, Mesa Boogie, Gruvgear, Toontrack, Line 6, and John Browne of the band Monuments.


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