Michael "Jr" TashMichael "Jr" Tash was born in 1965 in Silver Spring, MD. He has been around music from an early age. Mike's father, Ken, had been a singer in the DC area during the 60's and had established an impressive collection of records from the classic singers of the 40's and 50's. Little did he know this had quite an impact on the budding guitarist. In 1975, something happened to launch Mike into the world of music - KISS. Once he saw Kiss he knew he had to play the guitar. He got his first guitar - a cheap acoustic - at age 11. Next came high school and the electric guitars and loud amps, as he moved into the world of heavy metal. 

In the early 80's Mike met DC guitarist Steve Jacobs and discovered the blues. The original Bad Influence was formed in 1988 with bassist Rick Haveland, who gave Mike the nickname "Jr" due to the age difference between them.

For almost 25 years, Jr has been a fixture on the East Coast blues circuit. He has performed at numerous clubs, festivals, made multiple appearances at NAMM shows, and was recently inducted into the Northern Virginia Blues Hall Of Fame. 

Jr is currently endorsed by Epiphone Guitars, GHS Strings, Quilter Amps, Seymour Duncan Pickups, StageClix Wireless, Peavey Electronics, Ethos Custom Leathers, Levy's Leathers, PedalSnake cable systems and Gator Cases. These endorsements include print ads in guitar magazines, social media posts, as well as personalized pages and inclusion on the official websites of these companies.