Michael Cohen began writing lyrics while still in High School in Los Angeles in the late ‘60’s. After taking up guitar he started writing his own material, but focused more on blues and ragtime finger-picking. He played in a number of Washington State cover bands in the ‘70’s and early ‘80s. In 1988 Michael formed the band Lip Service to perform his newly written original material. Over the next decade Lip Service played at festivals and coffee houses across the Pacific Northwest. Their music could be heard on radio programs in the greater Seattle area, and they appeared on Sandy Bradley’s Potluck, broadcast nationwide on NPR. Lip Service recorded two albums of original music, “Love & Romance Game” and “Like Magic” produced at Lion Dog Studio in Seattle.
In 1994 Michael and fellow Lip Service member Liz Sumner moved to New England and settled in Marlborough, NH. They discovered the area’s thriving music scene and began performing as Fuzzy Logic. In 2000 they released their first CD “Doing The Best I Can”. The group gradually morphed into a septet, that focused on performing Cohen’s music. Their second CD “Almost” was released in 2007, followed up with “Snow Shadows” in 2011.
Starting in 2000, Michael began combining his interests in composing and storytelling into writing musicals. “Moon Fever” debuted in September 2003, followed by “The Neon Coconut” (2005), a reworked “Moon Fever” (2006) which was nominated for best original musical at the New Hampshire Theater Awards, “Amelia Rules!” (2007) based on the popular graphic novel series, “Transference” (2008), the music & lyrics for “Cartoon Ink”(2010) a pilot for a kid’s TV series. “Joanie’s Phone” (2011) and “Beauty and the Geek” (2012). He formed a cabaret group “Complicated People”, to perform songs from his musicals. He recently wrote the music for a short theatrical piece entitled “Café Straits”. He was a founding member of Small Pond Productions, a community theater production company based in New Hampshire.
Michael enjoys good music of all genres and likes being challenged to compose in a particular style. Among his many influences are Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilbert & Sullivan, Leonard Bernstein, Brian Wilson, Lennon & McCartney, Ray Davies, Jerome Kern, Stephen Sondheim, Maurice Ravel, Brian Wilson, and Jacques Brel, and traditional folk musicians around the world.