Mike Seeger (born August 15, 1933 in New York City, New York; died August 7, 2009 in Lexington, Virginia) was an American folk singer, multi-instrumentalist (autoharp, banjo, fiddle, dulcimer, guitar, mouth harp, mandolin, dobro) and folklorist.
Seeger devoted his life to singing, playing, and recording old-time and bluegrass music, including producing the first bluegrass LP, [m=650666] (Folkways, 1957); co-founding The New Lost City Ramblers (1958); recording numerous live performances in the 1950s; writing one of the first definitions and explanations of bluegrass (1959); and advocating for bluegrass bands to perform at the Newport Folk Festival.
Seeger's father was Charles Seeger, folklorist and musicologist; his mother was Seeger's second wife, Ruth Crawford Seeger, a modernist composer. Peggy Seeger is his sister, and Pete Seeger was his half-brother.
In 1970, Mike married musician Alice Gerrard. Knowing each other from the folk music circuit since 1956, Mike and Alice became a couple after the death of Alice’s husband in 1964 and the end of Mike’s marriage with Marjorie Ostrow in 1966. They raised Alice's four children and Mike’s three children from their previous marriages together. Due to their shared interest in old-time music, Mike and Alice collaborated on performances, recordings, and projects, such as the formation of the Strange Creek Singers. The couple separated in 1981.
Inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame in 2018, as well as The Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Received six Grammy nominations.