Mike McGuire

Mike McGuire and his brother Bud were always encouraged to write and perform music while growing up in Northern Alabama. Their uncle, Leon Jackson, wrote the country classic “Love Please Come Home,” which made Mike realize that songwriting was a natural process for expressing your feelings. Mike and some friends formed a band that was later named Shenandoah, which became one of the super Country bands of the 1990s and beyond. The band racked up 26 hits on the Billboard charts and nine studio albums, mostly recorded in Muscle Shoals. Playing drums into the microphone, Mike kept the beat and saw just how important feel-good songs were to their audience. As a result, he wrote or co-wrote several songs including a number-one hit “If Bubba Can Dance (I Can Too).” Mike also wrote “Leavin’s Been a Long Time Comin’” which was so successful a video was made that featured Mike’s longtime friend, Dallas Cowboy’s quarterback Troy Aikman.