'I haven't been right since!' is how Mike Dugger describes his introduction to Irish traditional music. Mike, a commercial artist, designed the poster for a De Dannan concert in Kansas City and received complimentary tickets. Mesmerized by their performance, Soon, Mike bought his first guitar and soon pursued the tenor banjo, mandolin and finally learned the idiom on the fiddle.

As a founding member of the group Scartaglen, Mike toured throughout North America playing at most of the major venues in North America with band mates, Connie Dover, Roger Landes and piper Kirk Lynch. He has also taught intermediate fiddle at the Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina for four years and was engaged by Seamus Connolly of Boston College to lead the slow sessions at Gaelic Roots and be a stage manager for 3 years. Mike has since formed the band Sunrush and Glen Road with the great Northern Irish flute, whistle and banjo player Turlach Boylan and occasionally Connie Dover.

Though a nerve injury sidelined his career on stringed instruments, Mike, undaunted by his condition completely relearned his efforts on guitar and learned how to play the button accordion with power and verve. Listen carefully and hear those heart-felt themes in his tunes and songs; dark events underscored with his optimistic faith in human nature. In performance, Mike's sunny personality and honest nature combine in  a compelling presence: the focus of hushed attention during his unaccompanied songs and the musical backbone of Kelly’s instrumental sets.