Mike Dubose is what Bob Dylan would sound like if he had grown up listening to punk rock! Mike Dubose was born in Liberty, Texas on February 26, 1977. He moved to Austin at age 6 and started playing guitar at age 13. His influences during his teens ranged from Nirvana, The Sex Pistols, The Beatles, Uncle Tupelo, Metallica and Guns N Roses,to Leonard Cohen, Mark Lanegan, Johnny Cash and Townes Van Zandt. He formed Missing Ingredient in 1996 [. The band opened up for such acts as Son Volt, Elliott Smith, Wilco and Yo La Tengo. Missing Ingredient released the CD "Consolation Prize" in 1999. It garnered positive reviews, decent radio play and sales. Missing Ingredient dissolved in 2000 and Mike went on to do solo performances and recording. Having grown up around the talent that has sprung out of Austin, such as James McMurtry and Tish Hinojosa, Mike has shared the stage with Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Pete Seeger, Elliott Smith, Indigo Girls, Foo Fighters, Son Volt & WIlco. In addition to performing solo, Mike put together Mike Dubose and The Dissidents in 2006 Dubose's lyrics are introspective, dark and personal. For Mike, the songwriting process is cathartic, a way to heal emotional wounds, process trauma and move forward. "Music is the best therapy for me," Dubose told DJ Loris Lowe in 2003. "Instead of paying a shrink $200 an hour for therapy, I GET paid for my therapy." During the Bush administration Dubose penned more political songs and played at many protests against the Iraq war, including a seething performance at Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey, outside Crawford, Texas. In 1999 The Austin Chronicle described Dubose as "the love child of Kurt Cobain and Lucinda Williams." Mike finds it "an amusing and fairly accurate description." Other artists that Mike cites as influences include Steve Earle, R.E.M., Alex Chilton, Dubose's longtime friend and mentor James McMurtry and Neil Young. "If there's any artist's career that I'd like to emulate, it would be Neil Young." said Dubose in 2008. "I like the fact that Neil has Crazy Horse, to whom he's extremely loyal, but he also goes off on his own and does acoustic records or albums with other musicians. I'd like to follow a similar path." APEI Records signed Mike Dubose solo and with The Dissidents in 2010. Mike Dubose's solo acoustic record "Head Above Water" is available for purchase on Last.fm, CDBaby, ITunes and Amazon. The CD can also be streamed on Spotify. "Head Above Water" will be physically released on September 8, 2012. Tours are in the works to support the record. Mike Dubose and The Dissidents are slated to begin work on their debut CD sometime in 2013. Like "Head Above Water," it will be engineered and mixed by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording in Austin Texas. Leonard Cohen's producer Roscoe Beck will join Bill Teags as a co-producer. www.mikedubosemusic.com www.reverbnation.com/mikedubose www.facebook.com/mike.dubose www.facebook.com/mikeduboseandthedissidents