iSound

With a smokey voice, and rich guitar work, Michael Barretto mixes fine blues with a streak of island sunshine. He's is a pioneer of a hybrid genre that crosses urban and island music and is simply called Island Blues. The results are hearty crowd-pleasing sets filled with smooth rhythms, swampy backbeats, and thoughtful lyrics. Michael has played in over a dozen countries including Germany, and Australia, and although he is based in Hawaii, he does not play "Touristy" ballads or "Hawaiian" reggae music. Besides solo tours, Michael performs with various bands on the road. While in Europe he is frequently accompanied by "The Brian Kramer Band", and in Australia he's often accompanied by "The Bullock Island Band". Michael is a member of Grammy winner Taj Mahal's "The Hula Blues Band" that's been touring every year since 1995. Michael Barretto was born in 1954 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He got his first guitar (a Kalamazoo) at the age of si...