Mike Uva once knew how to play the trumpet, but that was a long time ago.

Mike wrote songs with the eclectic Emily Rock Group and now, on his solo recordings, he explores a varied sonic palette -- intricate electric and folk-guitar figures, slinky bass lines, fuzz-keyboard bursts, tape loops, and electric piano cascades. Against this detailed backdrop, he casts a lyrical spell of surprising melodic invention: haunting tales of loneliness and hallucinatory despair, odes to suntan lotion and kitchen spatulas, cowboy-chord reworkings of Elizabethan song, and comic meditations on a weird and beautiful existence.

Mike's first solo home-recording was "Hook Boy." His second solo release is "Where Have You Been."

Mike Uva regularly performs with his band Hook Boy (the name of the one-handed misanthrope in the title song from Uva's debut.) Fleshing out the bedroom vibe of the home-recorded albums, the group’s subdued and wholly original sound has drawn comparisons to The Band and also to "a plush carpeted dream." Hook Boy has appeared with Cat Power, The Decemberists, Nina Nastasia, Trailer Bride, Lilys, Clem Snide, Brian Straw, and April March.

Mike Uva appears on the debut record from SleepyKid (Get Hip Records). He also plays guitar with Cleveland's favorite pop sensation Machine Go Boom.