This is the latest installment in an ongoing series about local musicians.
The Lemon Sisters and the Rutabaga Brothers. The Rhinoceroses with the Angelic Choir. The Cantankerous Casio Tour. The Swamp Gypsies. The Zen Revelators. If you never met Mike Hamer, a musician who is a local legend, just hearing some of the band names he was known for is enough to make you wish you had.
With no further context, he sounds clever and quirky, with a distinctive sense of humor. But man, is there more to his story. And though he shuffled off this mortal coil three years ago at age 69, his inspirational and colorful legacy lives on in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to know him and in new fans who are yet discovering his music and writing.