Blake Mickens is a professional bassist and music educator with a decade of experience. He has been playing professionally since 2015, getting his start playing in rock bands as a teenager and grew to love and play many styles. During his early years playing music, he was a member of many high-level St. Louis jazz ensembles Including the St. Louis Legacy Ensemble and The Jazz St. Louis All Stars. He obtained a degree in jazz performance from Webster University in 2022, graduating magna cum laude and receiving departmental honors. 

 

Blake spends much of his professional life performing. He is the leader/songwriter/bassist for many local alternative/indie bands including Inches from Glory and Puhoy. With these bands he has gotten the opportunity to open for national touring bands such as Prince Daddy and the Hyena, Into It. Over It., Slow Joy, and Harrison Gordon. He has also been an active member of St. Louis's jazz scene, playing with acts such as The Ian Buschmann Project, The Bennett Wood Quartet, The Brothers Lazaroff, and Carolbeth True as well as music directing/collaborating with many local solo acts including Rachel Deschaine, Mitchell Matthews, and Dannie Fuller. 

 

As well as being a passionate performer, Blake is a dedicated teacher. Blake has worked with the education programs for organizations such as Jazz St. Louis and The Sheldon, working closely with the Jazz Academy program at Jazz St. Louis, as well as The Jazz Story and Missouri Music Programs presented by The Sheldon. He has been teaching individual and group lessons on bass, guitar, and music theory to all skill levels and age groups since 2018. As a teacher, his goal is to give students the tools to understand music as more than just notes on a page, but to truly make music a language.