Mike's Story

Mike was born and raised on a small farm in NE South Dakota. He attended a one- room country school for the first 4 grades and then completed his public school education in Langford, SD and Britton, SD. He graduated from Britton in 1967. Mike attended Northern State College in Aberdeen from 1967 through 1971. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a double major of Instrumental and Choral music. Mike paid for college with a series of scholarships and by working for Lu’s Pizza. While in college, he also gave music lessons for Engel Music and worked in the instrumental repair department at Engel’s.

In 1971 Mike was united in marriage to the love of his life, Penny Anderson. To this union, three children were born – Eric, Jared, and Kedrin.

Mike taught Instrumental music in South Dakota for 34 years. During his teaching tenure, Mike served in several leadership capacities with the SD Bandmasters and Phi Beta Mu – a professional music fraternity. Mike was a staff member for the Midwest Ambassadors of Music from 1997 through 2007.

In 2007, Mike became the tour director for this group and served in that capacity through 2013. The Ambassadors of Music specialized in touring Western Europe with a Symphonic Band and Choir comprised of high school students from South Dakota. Mike also served on the staff of the SDSU Music Camp and the Rushmore Music Camp in the capacity of flute instructor. Mike spent several semesters as the conductor of the Northern State University/Community band. He has remained active as a guest conductor and adjudicator in the area.

In 2004, Mike formed Likness Consulting, Inc., which specialized in providing travel opportunities for school music groups. For the next 14 years, Mike facilitated travel experiences for over 7000 students in venues ranging from New York City to Los Angeles and countless destinations in between..

Mike has spent 50 years traveling and performing with several music groups. His first group was a Gospel Quartet, formed in 1967. Other groups he’s performed with include The Marshallaires, The Live Wires, Dacotah Crossroads, and the Uffda Brudders. The Uffda Brudders debuted in 1983 and performed continuously until 2014. (They presented hundreds of shows for thousands of people throughout ND, SD, MN, IA, and WI.) Mike edited and self published several Uffda Brudders Joke books, and helped produce two albums for the group (available here).

Mike is fully retired and is now working on several solo album projects. His first solo album, “Blessed and Lucky Man”, was released Nov. 15, 2021. He is currently a member of the South Dakota Bandmasters (since 1971), the South Dakota Chapter of Phi Beta Mu (A professional music fraternity). ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers), and the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International.