Mike Key shows off the camera he uses to shoot weddings.Ringgold’s Mike Key is a new member of the Tri-State Gospel Music Association for Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
Key began playing the piano at age 4 and started traveling and playing the piano when he was 13. Now he plays the piano at First Baptist Church of Lakeview in Fort Oglethorpe.
Key mainly concentrates on photography and DJing, though. Modern Bride Magazine named him in the Top 150 Bands and DJs that play at weddings. The Chattanooga Times Free Press has named Key in the Top 3 “Best of the Best” DJs since the category started several years ago.
Key began DJing at weddings in 1988. At that time, he was a radio personality.
“A friend of mine bought a mini warehouse at an auction and he sold me 300 CDs for $50 to give me my starting music for DJing,” said Key, an alum of Ringgold High School. “Now, I have over 11,000 songs. Every week, I buy five to 10 songs a week.”
Key said on average, he works 150 events annually. He already has plans to DJ at 80 weddings this year, working up to three weddings per weekend.
“I have almost every Saturday booked in May,” he said. “I travel to do weddings. I’ve had weddings in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. Facebook brings me a ton of business. I got to do a Verizon party at the area managers’ meeting at the Music Center in Nashville.”
Key worked in the Catoosa County Tax Commissioner’s Office for 10 years before going full-time DJing weddings.
“My favorite part of DJing is when customers stay friends with me on Facebook,” said Key. “I go back to take photos of them at events. I like the creative side of photography. I try to get emotion when I take photos of people.”
A single father of two sons – Jonathan, 12, and Benjamin, 14 – he gets help from his fiancee, Sherrie Williamson, both with family and work. She has helped him with his photography and DJing for three years.
“I had 2,900 ‘likes’ on my nighttime Catoosa County Courthouse photo on Facebook,” said Key. “I’m photographing doctors at doctor’s offices now. I do lots of head shots for Realtors. The Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce has done wonders for my business.”
Even though Key is a hard worker, he has been battling health issues off and on. Due to a wreck he was in three years ago in East Brainerd, doctors found he had kidney cancer.
“I had a partial nephrectomy. I’ve gone for regular CT scans ever since,” he said. “It’s never came back and doctors say I’m clear for another five years.”
But the coast wasn’t all clear. After complaining of stomach aches every day, doctors discovered Key has been battling a hernia ever since his cancer surgery. He recently had surgery to correct the problem.
“I feel amazing with my energy level now,”said Key. “It’s amazing how much better I feel.”