| Biography | Michael McGoldrick is a folk musician who plays Irish flute, uilleann pipes, low whistle and bodhran. He also plays other instruments such as acoustic guitar cittern and mandolin on some of his tracks.
McGoldrick has been a member of several influential bands. In 1994 he was awarded the BBC Young Tradition Award, and in 2001 he was given the Instrumentalist of the Year award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
McGoldrick was a founder-member of the Celtic rock band Toss the Feathers while still at school. He also competed at that time in the Fleadhanna with Dezi Donnelly (fiddle) and John Joe Kelly (bodhrán), whom he had met at local Comhaltas meetings. He made appearances at various local and national festivals and ran whistle/flute workshops at the Cambridge Folk Festival and for Folkworks on their "Flutopia" concert tour.
McGoldrick formed the band Fluke! (later renamed as Flook) with Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen in November 1995. After one tour, he left to pursue other projects.
He was an early member of Lúnasa from 1997 until roughly 2000 and played on their first albums. He also joined Capercaillie in 1997, playing on six albums (one live) up to date.
McGoldrick has played regularly for Afro-Celt Sound System and Kate Rusby's band. As of 2011 he leads the Michael McGoldrick Band.
He has recorded Five solo albums: Morning Rory showcases his traditional skills. Fused explores several other musical genres including jazz, while Wired, released in October 2005, takes the experimental approach of Fused even further. Aurora, released in 2010, And his latest release Arc 2018 He also recorded an album, At First Light, with John McSherry (also ex-Lúnasa) going back to his traditional roots.
Between 2007 and 2013 McGoldrick played with the house band for the Transatlantic Sessions (Sessions 3-6) including performing some of his own compositions/arrangements.
In 2010 Michael replaced John McCusker, joining Tim O'Brien on Mark Knopfler's US leg of the Get Lucky Tour. This being a success, he was invited (and accepted) to stay on for the remainder of the World Tour in Europe when John McCusker had returned. He went on to play on the next Mark Knopfler album, Privateering and played with the band for the subsequent World Tour. McGoldrick also recorded for the 'Ceol Tacsi' project with many other British and Irish artists. |