Real name: Michael Edward Lilly

Effective period / Period of releases: 1972 - 1977

American banjo player and singer. Born May 24, 1950 in Dayton, Ohio, died February 12, 2020 in Dayton. Mike Lilly played banjo for the Powell Brothers at seventeen and for Larry Sparks in one of Larry’s best early bands. He and Wendy Miller left Larry’s band and performed together for a while, making some LPs for Old Homestead. Mike went with the Country Gentlemen for a few months before returning to Dayton. He and Harley Allen formed the Allen-Lilly Band, which was popular in the Dayton area, putting out one LP on the Folkways label. Later, Mike formed his own band, Mike Lilly and the Country Grass, and cut an LP on Old Homestead.