Patrick Smith is a composer/guitarist/teacher based in Maryland. Although Patrick's passion for guitar performance started at an early age, his interest in composition began to emerge as an adolescent in the form of songwriting. As a guitarist in various bands throughout his young life, Patrick performed an eclectic variety of styles (mostly classic rock, pop, blues, progressive rock, etc.) and could often be found taking on the principal songwriting responsibilities, writing guitar-centric songs in the style of The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen.
As his musical interests widened, Patrick found a new passion in the composition of art music. He studied composition under Dr. Anna Rubin and Dr. Linda Dusman at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), and studied classical guitar under Dr. Zane Forshee. Patrick's music has been performed at UMBC’s Livewire Festival (an annual New Music festival), Carroll Community College faculty recitals, and he has worked with ensembles such as Baltimore’s SONAR New Music Ensemble. His music explores various areas of compositional interest including timbral variety, extended instrumental techniques, imitative counterpoint, and non-functional tonality.
Equally present in his musical life, Patrick has been teaching privately since his early 20s. He has established a reputation as a meticulous, careful instructor who values the individual musical personality of each student, and provides a respectful, productive atmosphere for musical growth. Patrick has been an adjunct music faculty member at Carroll Community College in Westminster, MD since January of 2010, and has been a guitar instructor at Mike’s Music since January of 2010.
Patrick received his Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) in music composition from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in May of 2015 where he was also recognized with the 2015 Music Achievement Award, as well as the award for Outstanding Student in Music Composition for 2015.
Randy Nicklas, also known as Bass Bandicoot, has been making a name for himself in the DMV area for the last 15+ years as a player, educator, producer, and composer. Having much experience with touring and recording with many acts over the years, he has forged relationships all over the country and parts of the world with musicians and artists of all types. Alongside his main focus as an educator in music, he is forging a blossoming solo career as an artist in his own right with sounds inspired by jazz, funk, soul, rock, folk, world, and even video game music and film score. His aim is not only to push the boundaries of music himself and consistently learn more, but is also to help others discover how they can achieve greatness in music for themselves.
Robert “Bobby” Potter (They / Them) grew up in Howard County. Their music journey actually started at Mike’s Music with Bobby taking their first guitar lesson at age 7. Throughout grade school and at Mike’s they hopped around on instruments, playing percussion, bass, french horn, mellophone, and saxophone. Later on, they earned their Bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 2023 and a Master’s of Arts in Teaching in 2025. During college they played a variety of other instruments including Viol de Gamba. They have also performed in a variety of community theatre musicals, such as Be More Chill and Songs for a New World, as an instrumentalist, conductor, and light operator.
Beyond teaching lessons, Bobby has experience in classroom instrumental and special education.
Steve Wagner has been playing and studying guitar for over 50 years. He enjoys both acoustic and electric guitar as well as electric bass. He is happy to teach beginning students as well as more advanced students interested in rock, blues, country and/or jazz. He can instruct students in a variety of right hand techniques including comping, flat picking, hybrid picking and finger style.
No availability at this time.
Nik started playing the guitar at the age of 8 at a little known local music store called Mike’s Music. Under the direction of Steve Colón, he studied a wide berth of genres and techniques ranging from the dizzying harmonic complexity of jazz to the impressive technicality of metal and instrumental rock. He has also studied the electric bass with Andrew Freed for upwards of 3 years, learning funk, soul, and jazz in the style of Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius, James Jamerson, and many other influential bassists. Nik plays electric bass live nearly as much as he plays guitar.
Nik loves listening to and playing music from a large assortment of genres including progressive metal, jazz, rock, R&B, funk, and soul just to name a few.
Nik’s learned technical ability, proficiency in music theory, and performative prowess displays the epitome of what Mike’s Music’s lesson program strives to achieve.
No availability at this time.
Kevin Alexander has been playing music for over 15 years. He graduated in 2014 from McDaniel College with a degree in Music, specializing in Theory and Composition. Kevin first discovered his love for music after learning guitar at age 11, and has since added bass, piano, ukulele, and other instruments to his repertoire. Though he primarily considers rock and alternative to be his favorite music, he has performed and studied a wide variety of styles including jazz, blues, funk, country, and even mariachi. His favorite part about teaching is being able to share his passion for music with others. After teaching at Mike's Music previously in 2015, Kevin is happy to rejoin the Mike's family!