Mick Lynch about himself in 2009.

I was born in the late 1950s into a family of singers. My father and older brother were fond of ballads while my mother and sister leaned more to the pop side of things. My abiding memories of family get-togethers, holidays and long car journeys are of sing-songs, pub singing, competitions and the dreaded ‘Noble Call’¹. As a boy, I had a find boy contralto voice until an unfortunate kick in the throat left me a tenor bass. In the late 1970s, however, a different music called and in 1978 I joined my first punk band. Moving to London in 1984 I joined a band called “Stump” and achieved extraordinary success leading to national and international tours, television appearances, a major recording contract and an inevitable fall from favour. As lyricist for “Stump” I recorded 2 ½ albums, 5 E.Ps and numerous demos.

Returning to Cork in 19995, I rekindled my interest in traditional music and began to write my own material.

Since 1998, I have been performing as ‘Don for Chickens’² in the pubs and clubs of Cork and beyond, playing a mix of traditional, country and punk in a “stand up comedy” framework. Support slots include The Fall and Alabama 3. As a writer for Dowtcha Puppets!³ I also compose comic songs and songs for children’s theatre.

¹Nobel Call: A point of etiquette in a singing session where the last singer has the power to ‘call’ on another singer for a song.

²Don for Chickens: ‘Don’ is a card game, popular in working class areas and now restriced to parts of Dublin, Cork and Belfast. Similar to ‘Bridge’ it is a game of two teams and all cards are used. The chickens involved are the prizes for the winners for a knock-our tournament. Thus, Don for Chickens becomes Don for Turkeys at Christmas, Don for Lamb at Easter etc.

³Dowtcha Puppets: Website http://www.dowtcha.com