About Mick

Mick Ryan started singing at the age of sixteen and, by the age of 18 he was neglecting his ‘A’ levels to gig in folk clubs with his school friend and musical partner John Burge. ‘Mick Ryan and John Burge’ went briefly professional in the mid to late seventies, performing at clubs and festivals all over the country, and making an album (‘Fair Was the City’) on the prestigious ‘Leader’ label.

Having also formed the ‘super group’ ‘Crows’ with folk duo ‘Silas’ (James Patterson and Ralph Jordan), in 1978, Mick went on to greater prominence. ‘Crows’ made two albums (‘Crows’ on the ‘Dingles’ label, and ‘No Bones Or Grease’ on the ‘Dragon’ label). In reviewing the second album, ‘fRoots’ described Mick as definitely the most underrated singer in the country.

By this time, Mick was writing much of the material performed by the band and, in 1987, he started writing with recent recruit to the group Steven Faux. Mick and Steven were runners up in the 1987 Vivien Ellis prize for stage musicals and, in 1989 they wrote (respectively) words and music for the Radio 4 ‘musical documentary’ ‘One Bohemian Night’.

In 1990 Mick wrote, and co-wrote, songs for Graham Moore’s highly popular ‘folk musical’ ‘A Tolpuddle Man’. Subsequently, Mick  has, thus far, written four ‘folk operas’: ‘A Day’s Work’, ‘The Voyage’, ‘Tanks For the Memory’ and ‘The Navvy’s Wife’. All have been highly successful at festival, arts centres and other venues around Britain and Ireland, and have been unanimously well reviewed.

During this time he has had a very successful duo with Pete Harris, making five albums on the ‘WildGooose’ label, and (for the past four years) with virtuoso guitarist Paul Downes, with whom he has made two albums so far (also on ‘WildGooose’).

As with the show albums (‘WildGooose’), the various duo albums have received a great deal of critical and popular praise. Mick currently has two shows in rehearsal, ‘The Pauper’s Path to Hope’, with the ‘FolkShows’ company,  and ‘Who Stole Christmas?’, with the ‘Feast of Fiddles’ company. He has two songbooks published with Jacaranda Music.