One of the world's best acoustic guitarists (just ask Total Guitar and Music Radar), Mike Dawes has made fans globally with his exciting and inviting brand of fingerstyle, percussive guitar. He first gained prominence on YouTube with millions of views for solo arrangements such as Metallica's "One",  Gotye's "Someone That I Used to Know", Van Halen's "Jump", his own tune "The Impossible" and others.  He has gone on to team up with players like Tommy Emmanuel, Periphery, Nick Johnston, Plini and more for collaborative, worldwide tours and videos.  Greg and Mike took a break from both of their busy touring schedules for this episode of Gristle! 3:49 - Growing up Guildford8:33 - The exhaustion only kicks in when the touring stops, days off13:13 - Doing everything yourself vs hiring out control of your career, and the importance of touring / building an audience23:58 - The Music Industry in a post-COVID world25:04 - Ben Lacy, creative fingerstyle, and Mike’s own virtuosic chops 32:18 - How Mike works on timing as a solo player37:44 - What inspired Mike to originally pick up the guitar42:39 - The passing of the late, great EVH, and surviving COVID lockdown (mentally and fiscally)49:50 - The digital age, guitar, AI, and how everything moves forward64:14 - Being true to oneself as an artist and performerTotal Length: 76:30