Sitting comfortably on a leather sofa in his North Austin apartment Mike Milligan is a cool, laid-back cat of few words. He has intelligent, dark eyes and a contagiously bright smile. The calm demeanor takes me by surprise. I’m used to Milligan on stage, where he is a force of nature, a bundle of musical energy, an explosive, emotive singer and one of the best harp players the blues has ever seen. His talents as a singer, musician and songwriter could easily lead him to New York, LA or Chicago. His chose to remain in Austin.

“I was living in Houston before coming here,” said Milligan, “I moved to Austin in 1990 and the music scene blew me away. I felt like I had come home.” Since then, the bluesman has called Austin home and the blues community has come to know him as The Working Horse of the Blues due to his work ethic, relentless vitality and tireless playing. So, what keeps him going? “This is what I love to do,” said Milligan, “This is my life. This is my passion. Playing.”

A regular at Antone’s, B.D. Riley’s and Maggie Mae’s, where he’s been holding the Blue Monday Blues Jam for the past six years, Milligan has a couple of records and four European tours under his belt. For all that have seen him live, one thing is clear: the man exemplifies what a charismatic, zealous frontman should be. “Nothing specific goes through my mind when I get on stage,” said the singer, “playing with passion is just the way it comes out of me.”    

Milligan has been a performer since day one. He was always singing as a kid, studied voice and percussion in college and has been doing music all his life. His love for what he does was rekindled after a forced six year hiatus. “I was married back in 1988,” said Milligan, “I was working a regular job and not playing. I was actually married when I got to Austin. Then she was out of my life and a month later I was down on 6th Street.”

If you ask him what he would do if he had to move away from music again his answer will be short and dead serious: “I’d die.” With such strong feelings towards music, Milligan’s philosophy about the blues comes as no surprise. “Blues is life,” said Milligan, “Blues is always about life. When I write my songs I tell a story. Even if it’s something that came from my imagination, there is an emotion there; it relates to real life.”

Milligan’s apartment is full of writing pads full of songs in different stages. On his living room table, a small recorder patiently waits for words that might catch the songwriter while doing other things. “Songs just come to me,” said Milligan, “I hear the chorus first. I usually write that down and then write a song around it.” After that, Milligan usually gets together with Scott Unzicker, lead and rhythm guitar for The Altar Boyz, and guides him to the right melody using his voice and the music in his head. The process works very well and his efforts with The Altar Boyz have produced two great records, “Going Up” in 2007 and “Holdin´ On” in 2009. Both albums take the blues to special places via great musicianship and Milligan’s songwriting chops.

As a musician and music lover, Milligan has eclectic interests that contribute to his creative harp work. During the interview, names as diverse as Al Di Meola, B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix were dropped. From jazz fusion, which Milligan used to play as a percussionist, to Hendrix’s inventiveness on the electric guitar, everything is used as a way of taking the blues to new places. “I don’t want to play what everyone has already played,” said Milligan, “I want to create new shit!”

While remaining creative and innovative has not been a challenge, the changing musical landscape in Austin is something that troubles Milligan. With two or three downtown gigs every week, the bluesman has been a firsthand witness to Austin’s musical evolution. “Back in the 80s and early 90s there were a lot more bars downtown,” said Milligan, “More bars were dedicated to the blues. Now they’ve all turned into freaking martini bars. Thankfully there are some that have stuck with the blues, places like the Blue Moon, the Dizzy Rooster, Maggie’s, T.C.’s Lounge…that’s a real old blues honky tonk!”

After talking to him for a while, you realize why Milligan seems so relaxed: he is a man that knows things and has seen things. He’s mellow on the street and fiery onstage. Life drives his writing and there’s a sense of purity that comes from that even if the blues music around your songs takes steps in new directions. He has found a balance. He knows what things matter and which ones to let slip by and he confidently writes and sings about them. Mike Milligan’s confident, noiseless smile is proof positive that true talent is usually very humble.    

If you want to catch Mike Milligan and the Altar Boyz in action, just check their website. They have a concert at Antone’s on Sunday that blues lovers shouldn’t miss.