"Back to the Blues" has been a long time coming for Portland based guitarist, singer, songwriter and bandleader Mick Schafer. In 2017, Mick assembled some of the best musicians of Portland's talent-saturated blues scene and built his own band.  The "Back to the Blues" album was born in the throws of the pandemic, during which Mick recruited some truly legendary players, including Shemekia Copeland guitarist Ken "Willie" Scandlyn, drummer Jimi Bott, and legendary blues guitarist Jason JT Thomas. Produced by award winning bassist Timmer Blakely, the resulting album reflects Mick's lifelong passion for blues, and finally fulfills the long-held dream born in church choirs as a child, that of spending his life making the music he loves. "Back to the Blues" spent 11 months riding the "Roots Music Report" charts in multiple categories in addition to showing strong streaming numbers and healthy stage sales.