My name is Mike Alder. I am originally from Kansas City, Missouri.Growing up in the 80’s I loved music from as far back as can be remembered. Always a fan of guitars it was evident I would eventually pick one up. After being in a couple of rap bands in the early 2000’s I started playing to create music even without producers. This opened up a lot of different music to my open mind. I fell in love with music by Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Guy, and some not so old artists like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Sublime, Foo Fighters, The Roots, and Outkast. Born in the late 70’s I feel like I lived through an incredible era for music and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I moved to Portland Oregon in 2005 for work and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. I stopped making music shortly after moving here. I started focusing on photography and videography. I starting writing Poetry about Portland and a violinist friend of mine told me I needed to make original music again. I started putting my Portland poetry to music and saw that people were enjoying it. I will continue to write and try to bring joy to people through music.The song “When We Roll By” is the second installment from my Portland Poem series. Stay tuned for the third installment song and video.