Not the Mike You Thought

This is for those of you who think that Mike is a totally sweet, kind, patient man. He is those things, but there’s another Mike, too.

Way back when Mike was playing with Grammy-nominated Ace Cannon, the band frequently traveled in a large van with a trailer for their equipment attached to the back. Mike usually positioned himself as driver; Ace rode shotgun; and the other guys grabbed seats and benches in the back. On this particular night, they had left one gig and had driven through the night toward the next one. Everyone was asleep except Mike, who was a little bored.

Some time after sunrise, he spotted a tow truck ahead of him hauling the disabled cab of a tractor-trailer rig. The “broken” vehicle was hooked up so that the front of the cab was facing the back. Glancing up, one might think that a big rig was staring you down. Oh what an evil thought occurred.

Mike moved over into that lane and closed in as near as he could safely get to the front bumper of that backwards 18-wheeler cab. At the right moment, he tapped his brakes hard and let out a yell for effect. Guys in the back flew awake screaming, and Ace let out a yell and grabbed his chest. Mike – well, he was the guy laughing for the next several miles.

The real miracle of the story is that Ace did not have a heart attack and that Mike continued to work with him for some time to come.