Mick McAuley from Kilkenny was born into the well-known musical McAuley family and has been playing Irish Music from a very early age. In fact, his first public performance was when he was featured on tin whistle by the late great Irish tenor, Frank Patterson at the age of five. Mick took up accordion at the age of nine and has since become one of the leading exponents on this instrument in Irish Music. During his teenage years he mastered several other instruments and competed successfully in numerous competitions. By his late teens he had toured extensively throughout Europe at concerts and various cultural festivals as part of the family group and other ensembles, and also as a solo artist. Mick moved to London in 1991 and recorded and toured regularly with the London- based Ron Kavana Alias band and was part of “The Bucks” with Ron, Terry Woods and piper Paddy Keenan. Returning home for a while in 1994, Mick recorded and toured with Niamh Parsons’ Loose Connections, Karan Casey, Paul Brennan of Clannad, and eurovision winner Eimear Quinn.It was while spending time in New York during the mid to late nineties that he joined the band SOLAS and has recorded and toured with them during the years since. 2003 saw the release of Mick’s debut solo album, “An Ocean’s Breadth” which received rave reviews and was heralded by the Washington Post as “ Celtic Album of the Year”. While the album re-affirmed him as one of the best accordionists in Irish music, it also established him" as one of the finest and most unique singers in Ireland." In 2005 Mick recorded a duet album with Winifred Horan titled “Serenade” which was also well received by listeners and critics alike, and has been described as “ …a classic ….. that should be part of any Irish Music fan’s collection.” Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.