A performing songwriter & benchmark artist in the Gulf Coast Americana/Texas Music genre, J. Micheal Laferty calls South Padre Island, Texas, “home”, and spends his time happily wandering between the Rio Grande, New Orleans, and the Florida Keys. His music, a tongue-in-cheek reflection of his island lifestyle and tropical surroundings which provides him with a repertoire of material that weaves seamlessly in and out of all facets of human emotion, is characteristically delivered with a sly smile and a blazingly wicked wit that immediately engages the audience. It is easy to see why fans, and media alike, compare Micheal with such notables as Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Jimmy Buffett. With five releases under his belt on the Umpqua Records label, the most recent being the 2012 release HOT SUN-COOL WATER-SANDY BOOTS, Micheal is growing his fan base “one song at a time” both here in the States and Europe. His full schedule of daily appearances during the summer season on the resort destination of South Padre Island, frequent festival appearances, respectable national radio airplay on terrestrial mainstream stations, and “heavy rotation” on virtually every internet/satellite market which caters to the “TropRock” listeners, have combined to firmly define Micheal as a benchmark Artist in the Americana/TropRock/Texas Music market. As Micheal calls it, "Americana from the Tropical Tip of Texas. Texas Music...Island Style!"