Michael McGoldrick

Michael McGoldrick

Michael McGoldrick is a folk musician from Manchester, England, born in 1971. He plays flute, tin whistle and uilleann pipes, and is known for work in Irish and Celtic-related folk music.

Career

He is a member of several bands, including Flook, Capercaillie, Eden’s Bridge, Usher’s Island, the Transatlantic Session Band and the McGoldrick, McCusker, Drever collaboration. He was an early member of Lúnasa and plays on their first two albums. He also plays regularly with Afro-Celt Sound System and with Kate Rusby’s band.

While still at school, he helps found the Celtic rock group Toss the Feathers. He also competes in the Fleadhanna with fiddle player Dezi Donnelly and bodhrán player John-Jo Kelly, both of whom he meets through local Comhaltas meetings.

In November 1995, he forms Fluke! with Brian Finnegan and Sarah Allen; the group later changes its name to Flook. After one tour, he leaves to concentrate on other projects. He later leads the Michael McGoldrick Band.

Awards and workshops

He receives the BBC Young Tradition Award in 1994 and the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Instrumentalist of the Year title in 2001. He also gives whistle and flute workshops at the Cambridge Folk Festival and for Folkworks on the Flutopia concert tour.

Solo recordings

His solo albums include Morning Rory, which focuses on traditional playing, Fused, which crosses into other styles including trance, and Wired, which continues the more experimental approach. He also records At First Light with John McSherry, returning to traditional material.