Mike started piano lessons at age 4, Clarinet at 8, and Bassoon at 13, playing piano in the high school jazz band and Bassoon in the Orchestra. After graduating from Ponca City High School, he joined the US Army.

 

He started in the Army’s Radio and Television service, but soon became part of the US Army Band program with the job designation of Piano Player after graduating from the US Army School of Music. He was assigned to bands at Fort Polk, LA, Berlin, Germany, and Fort Sill, OK.

 

After completing Officer’s Candidate School, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Chemical Corps, serving in various assignments including Operations Officer, Detachment Commander, and Logistics Officer in various units stateside and overseas. He achieved the rank of Captain.

 

Mike was deployed in 1990 as a Chemical and Nuclear Weapons officer by the US Army in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He elected to stay in the Middle East and lived and worked in Kuwait for more than 28 years.

 

Mike Seals has his Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies, with a focus on Jazz Piano Performance, from Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, and his Bachelor’s degree in Music, with an emphasis in Jazz Piano Performance, from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL.

 

His wife Kym is also originally from Ponca City, OK, the daughter of Don and Fran Long. Kym joined him in Kuwait in 2002. While in Kuwait, Mike and Kym formed and managed two musical groups; Bar None, a rock band, and The Kuwait Jazz Trio. Kym managed and ran the sound and lights for both groups.

 

For more than 13 of his 26 years in Kuwait, Mike managed a commercial Kuwaiti company that provided support to the US military in Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, and Afghanistan. He also managed contracts in Lebanon and Syria.

 

He has a son, Whitney, who is an attorney in Birmingham, AL, and three daughters; Dana, who works in Fort Worth, TX, Rachael, who works for the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, and Emily, who lives and works in McKinney, TX.

 

Mike is the Past President of the Ponca City Chapter of the Federated Music Club and is currently the State Jazz Chair for the Oklahoma Federated Music Club. He is also a Life Member of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 1201 in Ponca City and works as the News Director for radio stations KLOR and KPNC, broadcasting live news reports daily and managing the web site PoncaCityNow.com.

Mike is a proud member of Phi Mu Alpha, Alpha Epsilon Lamba and Pi Kappa Lamba.