Mike Dawes

On Thursday, Oct. 8th, 2026 the Community Center for the Performing Arts proudly welcomes Mike Dawes to the WOW Hall.
Mike Dawes is an English guitarist known for composing, arranging, and performing multiple parts simultaneously on a single guitar. He is regarded as one of the world’s most creative modern fingerstyle guitarists, with a repertoire spanning original viral videos and popular arrangements, alongside mainstream chart success performing with Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues. Dawes was named ‘Best Acoustic Guitarist in the World’ two years in a row (2017 & 2018) by Total Guitar Magazine & MusicRadar reader polls, with numerous 2nd place rankings in the proceeding years. YouTube personality Rick Beato named Mike ‘one of the finest acoustic guitar players in the world.’ His debut release, a solo guitar arrangement of Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used to Know,’ quickly became a viral hit with tens of millions of views on YouTube. This success has been duplicated and expanded upon numerous times since with songs like ‘One,’ ‘The Impossible,’ and ‘Jump’ across multiple video platforms.
His reputation has invited him opportunities to collaborate with GRAMMY Award-winning artists such as Tommy Emmanuel, with whom he recorded the duet record ‘Accomplice Vol. 3,’ and the GRAMMY-nominated metal band Periphery, with whom Mike joined on their 2024 double single release. Mike is featured on multiple Justin Hayward live releases, including Spirits…Live, which debuted at #2 on the US Billboard Chart. Dawes also has a strong reputation as an educator, acting as a columnist for Guitar World and Acoustic Guitar magazines, as well as teaching guitar masterclasses all over the world, creating apps, publishing degree-level literature, appearing as a TV judge on SKY TV’s ‘Guitar Star,’ and more.
Recently, he contributed electric guitars to Mentrix and Gareth Croker’s stunning soundtrack to Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, with other session work featured on TV shows such as AMC’s Better Call Saul. Mike’s passion, however, is performing. He has shared the stage with acts as diverse as Tommy Emmanuel, Christopher Cross, Periphery, The Aristocrats, Justin Hayward, and the Athens State Orchestra in 2023 alone.
His third studio album, Galactic Acid, is anticipated for release in August 2024
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQdOCzLH6d4