Micah Middaugh grew up surrounded by music and love in the mystical countryside of northern Michigan. In grade school, he was one of the best dang cross-country runners in the tri-county area, and his craftsmanship, creativity, and innovation in the visual arts is just another of his many magnificent talents. (His artwork is featured in the album design for “You’re So Dear To Me,” as well as his albums with Breathe Owl Breathe.) But most importantly of all, Micah is a musician and singer/songwriter of unique, meaningful, and magical disposition. There’s a spark in his music that won’t die out. His words grab you like your favorite song being played very quietly on the radio in a 24-hour convenience store. Innocence is inherent in Micah’s music: it is apparent in his unaffected and self-revealing voice, in his innovative guitar playing that accomplishes percussion and melody simultaneously, and in his lyrics filled with child-like wonder. But this innocence does not create a completely blissful naïveity—there is a darkness and a trouble that Micah sings about, and it is through these darker moments that his child-like wonder truly shines, for he seems to be able to make you feel as though each new difficulty or sadness is being experienced for the first time. It’s all enough to make you shake your head and ask, “How does he do it?” Maybe it has something to do with how curly his hair is. Or maybe it was growing up on the banks of the Jordan River. I tend to think it’s something we may just never understand. It’s just got something to do with being Micah Middaugh.