Michael Barton

Michael’s career as a bassist began in the suburbs of Chicago, performing with college ensembles while still in high school, and frequenting clubs in the city before having a driver’s license. These early experiences led him to the University of North Texas, where he earned a Bachelor’s (1998) and Master’s Degree (2000) in Jazz Studies. There he learned the language of music, composition and arranging – and experimented with audio recording and production. After graduating, he continued working as a session player and sideman in Dallas.

In the college library, Michael had studied not only music but the images that surrounded it. Returning to Chicago in 2002, he began to expand his art beyond music, to visual creation and photography. In less than a decade, he progressed from receiving his first camera, to full-time photographer, to decorated Master of Photography. His work has seen publication in numerous international photography magazines, been displayed in galleries across the United States, and garnered a long list of awards and accolades. With his accomplishments as a photographer, he became an in-demand educator, teaching throughout the United States. In 2013, he became the youngest-ever recipient of a Fellowship from the American Society of Photographers. Following this achievement, Michael began seeking ways to reconnect his love of visual art with his obsession for music.

Later in 2013, he began building artisanal musical instruments – first electric basses, then guitars – both for his own work, and custom designed for other musicians. Returning to his career as a bassist, Michael found himself performing as a sideman at dozens of venues in the Chicago area, including Jazz Showcase, Andy’s Jazz Club, Green Mill, House of Blues, on tours across the Midwestern states, and on several albums. Eventually, Michael’s instrument workshop expanded to crafting snare drums and drum kits. To date, he has built more than 30 basses and guitars, and has added custom multi-effects pedals to the repertoire.

In 2020, while quarantined with COVID, the music and vision for his largest-scale album as bandleader began to form. He used this freedom to compose, perform, produce, and create a multi-sensory experience; a confluence of ideas stemming from his years of exploration. Released in November 2025, The Anxiety Suite includes an eight-song LP, a written narrative, a collection of photographs and prints, and handcrafted wood accessories. This album not only marks a convergence of Michael’s multifold artistic facets, but suggests these paths are expanding rather than narrowing.

Another way to perceive the inability to paint; “Everything is a canvas”.

Awards

Master of Jazz Studies, University of North Texas

Fellow, American Society of Photographers

Gear

Michael Barton Art handmade Basses

Michael Barton Art speaker cabinets

Michael Barton Art effects and pedals

Aguilar bass amplifiers