According to Ramblin' Jack Elliot, "Mike Beck plays the guitar like a Byrd. His strings do things that mine could never do. They obey the slightest finger-touch commands like a fine Reining Horse Two of his songs were listed in the “13 Best Cowboy Songs of All Time” in the April, 2009 issue of Western Horseman Canadian Folk Legend Ian Tyson explains, “Mike's plowing new ground. He's not re-recording the old Hollywood matinee music from the 30's and 40's. You've got to have focus and keep producing good stuff. He's better than all of those newer western guys.”