Biography
For nearly thirty years, Mike Dekle maintained a career as an agent with State Farm Insurance Company while also pursuing songwriting opportunities in country music. Numerous country performers have interpreted his compositions, among them Ricky Skaggs, T.G. Sheppard, Moe Bandy, the Whites, Hank Thompson, and Keith Whitley. Kenny Rogers committed six of Dekle’s songs to record. In 1997 Tracy Byrd reached the Top Ten with the Dekle-Mac Wiseman collaboration “Don’t Love Make a Diamond Shine.” During a late-’90s interview Dekle remarked, “I consider myself a sensitive southern storyteller who is extremely blessed to have been given a creative talent.”
Dekle entered the world in Panama City, Florida, and began violin lessons at age twelve. While still in high school he played in both the Georgia All State Orchestra and the University of Georgia Orchestra; by his junior year his attention had shifted to the guitar his father had given him.
The songwriting approaches of Bob Dylan, John Denver, John Prine, and Doc Watson shaped his own work, leading him to appear at folk venues and speakeasies throughout the late ’60s. Much of the late ’70s found him in Nashville seeking work as a performer and songwriter. After failing to secure interest from publishers or labels, he arranged to cut a single track in 1982. Through the late songwriter Roger Bowling he connected with Byron Hill, a writer and producer affiliated with ATV Music Group Nashville, who produced the debut recording “Scarlet Fever.” Kenny Rogers recorded the song months later, sending it to the top of Billboard’s country chart.
Dekle’s association with Rogers continued when the artist placed him under an exclusive contract with Lionsmate Music; that arrangement lasted until Rogers divested his stake in the company in 1987.
Afterward Dekle joined Song Source, Inc., where he wrote additional material for country acts. He established his own publishing firm, Square D Music, in 1990 and administered his catalog there until affiliating with Almo Irving Music in 1994.
Dekle entered the world in Panama City, Florida, and began violin lessons at age twelve. While still in high school he played in both the Georgia All State Orchestra and the University of Georgia Orchestra; by his junior year his attention had shifted to the guitar his father had given him.
The songwriting approaches of Bob Dylan, John Denver, John Prine, and Doc Watson shaped his own work, leading him to appear at folk venues and speakeasies throughout the late ’60s. Much of the late ’70s found him in Nashville seeking work as a performer and songwriter. After failing to secure interest from publishers or labels, he arranged to cut a single track in 1982. Through the late songwriter Roger Bowling he connected with Byron Hill, a writer and producer affiliated with ATV Music Group Nashville, who produced the debut recording “Scarlet Fever.” Kenny Rogers recorded the song months later, sending it to the top of Billboard’s country chart.
Dekle’s association with Rogers continued when the artist placed him under an exclusive contract with Lionsmate Music; that arrangement lasted until Rogers divested his stake in the company in 1987.
Afterward Dekle joined Song Source, Inc., where he wrote additional material for country acts. He established his own publishing firm, Square D Music, in 1990 and administered his catalog there until affiliating with Almo Irving Music in 1994.
Albums
