Mike Galbraith

As a songwriter, Detroit's Mike Galbraith owes as much to the Replacements as he does Bob Dylan, to Nirvana as much as Neil Young, to Calvin & Hobbes as Ernest Hemingway. Simple truths and insightful storytelling mark modern tales, oft beset by booze and heartbreak—like any good songwriter does. He can be a wordy bastard but tricks people into listening anyhow with hooks and sad songs about women.