Michigan Music History Podcast -- MMHP989 · Scott Baker, Gary Johnson, Fred Reif, Mike Beattie

Michigan Music History Podcast--Mike Richards: A Year In The Life With ADABOY!

·1 hr 7 min·4 clips

Atta Boy started from one friend’s response, then became a mission for people who have overcome adversity.

The MMHP and the 989 broadcast from the Historical Museum of Bay County in Bay City. The room is live and local. Mike Richards joins the hosts as the guest from Attaboy. The conversation starts with where he grew up. He describes moving between Vassar and Reese, with family ties that stayed rooted in Vassar. That back-and-forth becomes part of the story. The hosts connect it to their own regional memories. Richards talks about finishing school in Reese after time in Vassar schools. He also says he later returned as the Vassar band director for about four or five years. That detail turns the conversation from biography into a longer local loop. From there, the talk shifts toward performance and recording. Richards and the hosts move into how songs are made and what still feels alive in them. He draws a contrast between music that has heart and music that gets locked into a rigid grid. The language stays blunt and practical. The conversation lands on the idea that some current music sounds technically perfect but less human. Richards pushes back on that kind of polish. He and the hosts talk about how pop can become the point instead of the song. That leads naturally into his view of Attaboy as a family-owned operation. Richards explains the business setup around the band. His wife owns the Attaboy merchandising LLC, and he owns the Attaboy LLC. The discussion pauses for a quick definition check on what LLC means. The exchange stays casual and unforced. That stretch opens into a broader reflection on the music business. Richards says his view has changed over the last year. He talks about artists building brands on shock, sexuality, or dark imagery. He does not present that as a path he wants to follow. Instead, he frames Attaboy as something built on love and lifting people up. The contrast is clear. The hosts respond in the same conversational register. They keep asking, confirming, and letting him finish the thought. The episode keeps its museum-table feel all the way through. It sounds like people with shared regional memory talking through old names and current priorities. At the end, the show points ahead to another Attaboy track tied to the Detroit Lions. The title given is "Uncaged." The episode also promises a return in two weeks. The sign-off thanks the museum, the guests, the listeners, and the voice of the show.

As heard by us

A loose local talk that ties Michigan roots to how Attaboy thinks about music, business, and purpose.

The episode has a loose, local feel, with Mike Richards talking with the MMHP crew about growing up around Vassar and Reese before the conversation turns to Attaboy and the work behind the band.

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Why you'd press play

Michigan roots, Bay City studio time, and a plainspoken take on making songs with heart.

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