Bio
Michael Lille is a Virginia native and award winning singer/songwriter who has traveled the globe and shared his music and love of adventure with friends and fans for nearly 5 decades.
Lille is a winner of the 1993 Kerrville new-folk songwriting award as well as a first place winner in the Telluride Troubador competition in 1996. In addition to his solo work, Lille is a member of The Sherpas (with fellow new-folk winners Tom Prasada-Rao and Tom Kimmel), SGGL, the popular DC/Charlottesville-based quartet, and Man from Tuesday with San Diego based songwriter Andy Lund. Lille was also one-third of The Famous Unknowns with fellow VA musicians Robbin Thompson and Lewis McGehee.
During Michael’s years in Nashville he opened shows for Alison Krauss, Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon, Leo Kottke and Little Feat, and his four solo projects feature guests such as Alison Krauss, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Valerie Carter, Victor Wooten, John Jennings, Bonnie Raitt guitarist George Marinelli, and James Taylor violinist and vocalist Andrea Zonn.
From 1997 to 2018 Michael also represented Elixir Strings and Taylor Guitars as a product specialist/demo player, artist relations director, and International Sales Manager covering Canada, SE Asia and the US. In 2018 he returned to making music full-time.
Lille’s love of the road began in 1983 when he moved to Aspen, CO. There, he befriended Dan Fogelberg, who often joined Michael at his solo shows. Michael has lived in Austin and Nashville where he also added his guitar playing skills to dozens of fellow singer-songwriter’s recordings.
After a year long trip thru New Zealand, Australia and southeast Asia, Michael returned to North America where he was the house musician at Panorama ski resort in British Columbia. The following summer he was bitten by the whitewater bug which began a 15 year love of whitewater kayaking, taking him to exotic destinations including Nepal, Bhutan, Costa Rica, Mexico, France, Morocco, The Grand Canyon and dozens of other North American rivers and streams.
Lille is also a motorcycle/Harley enthusiast covering as many miles as possible on two wheels.
Michael spends time traveling in Gus the Bus, visiting friends, touring the National Parks, seeking adventure on the perfect motorcycle highway, as well as making music as a solo artist and with his compadres spread around the country.
With 2023 releases from The Sherpas, “Promise to Harry”, and the self-titled, “Man from Tuesday”, now out on all streaming platforms, Michael will be beginning work on his 5th solo project.