Michael Hearst began his musical education in Virginia Beach, where he studied jazz guitar under Woody Beckner. He continued his schooling at Virginia Commonwealth University where he studied under Dika Newlin and Alan Blank. He earned a Bachelor's degree in music composition in 1995. From 1995-1997, Michael worked as a harmonica technician at Hohner Inc. During this time, he began experimenting with recording his own music as well as other bands. This developed into Urban Geek Studios, a home project studio, which he runs to this day, producing and recording a number of bands and projects. Recently Hearst has given lectures at Tufts University, The San Francisco Art Institute, and is currently teaching at VCU.
