Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Lauer and Greg Byers. They share their story with us below:
The story behind The String Showdown is a bit unusual. The String Showdown didn’t exist until we created it exclusively for G.L. Berg Entertainment in Minneapolis, MN. We’d played a few gigs together, including a Halloween Party and a variety night at a speakeasy, but it was nothing formal. Then, of all things, Mike found a flyer connected to G.L. Berg that was looking for a dueling guitar act.
We played our first gig in March 2020 and a few days later, the Covid-19 Pandemic shut everything down and didn’t play another gig until March of 2021. Now in the fall of 2022, we are playing regularly around the midwest and beyond.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The largest hurdle was starting up and then being immediately halted by Covid. We’d developed our show, were able to perform it once, and then we had to sit and wait a year to play again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The String Showdown is a dueling strings act based in Minneapolis, MN. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Mike Lauer and Greg Byers. In the live show, Mike plays acoustic and electric guitar and sings, while Greg plays electric cello, electric bass, and sings. Mike and Greg perform with tracks which they fully produce themselves, performing piano, mandolin, violin, viola, upright bass, and various synths and keyboards. Our live show is energetic, fast-paced, and intended to engage the audiences through dancing, song requests, and even live karaoke. Mike and Greg are both accomplished improvisers, so there are also dazzling solos and riffs. We’re known for our banter and our ability to adapt our show to our audience, be it hundreds at a festival or a small business’ holiday party. There’s no stage too big or too small for us to play. What sets us apart from other groups is you’ll never get the same show twice. Every time we play, we craft a unique set list, we take requests from the audience, and flex our song choices based on the venue, the client, and the energy of the room.
What’s next?
We’re looking forward to steady growth that leads us more gigs with new clients. We’ve begun talks about recording a studio album potentially in 2023, though, we have other ideas in the hopper as well. Our primary focus is dialing special moments in our show and continuing to entertain any crowd on any stage.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.glberg.com/roster/The-String-Showdown
- Instagram: @thestringshowdown
