Cross Cultural Music, Song & Dance on the banks of the Bann.
Mickey Crawley
Mickey Crawley was originally from Cushendall
and his Mother bought him an accordion which he began playing at twelve years
old. He started off playing and singing in the house, family parties and
neighbour’s gatherings in the Glens. Once married and moved to Dunloy his wife
Margaret encouraged him to join Dunloy Comhaltas to learn traditional music
after the death of his brother. His tutor at the time was Ronnie Bamber from
Cullybackey and from that grew a great friendship which lasted right up until
Ronnie passed away a few years ago. Ronnie introduced Mickey to the fleadh
scene and from there he met a lot of friends and other musicians. He played and
sang in various groups including the Skerry Ramblers, which was a Dunloy based
folk and traditional group. He began to experiment more in the country music
scene but never steered far from his traditional music roots. During this time
Mickey and Margaret raised three children, Michael junior and twins Martin and
Moira. Moira and Martin carried on Mickey’s music tradition through Dunloy
Comhaltas and eventually formed their own family group. To the present day
Mickey still plays at various sessions and parties and still attends the local
fleadhs. The family group has now expanded to include Mickey’s grandchildren, Marcella,
Grace-Anne and Mary-Theresa.
