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Music was strong in the Flatley family and Michael's father had himself been an Irish flute champion. Michael has recalled that his father crafted homemade flutes for him as child, before he could afford a real one, illustrating that creativity and determination was also a prime family trait. Later in life, Michael acquired a precious collection of rare flutes, even including one made of cut crystal. His favourites have always been Irish, 'simple system' flutes, which he prefers to classical, keyed flutes, because he can feel the breath of the notes with his fingers as he plays. While his heart was always dedicated to his dancing, to comfort his soul he always turns to his flute and is said never to travel without one. He has spoken of playing the flute to unwind after a stressful day, and of everything he believes in coming out in the music.

Growing up to the music of great Irish flute players Matt Malloy and Seamus Tansey, it was natural that Michael took to Irish traditional music, and with his brother Patrick an accomplished bodran (Irish skin drum) player, he produced an album of Irish flute music while still in his early twenties, and most interestingly, the tracks included some of Michael's own composition. The album was of course produced on vinyl record, the standard medium of the day, and the content was re-released on cassette and CD, on the Son record label, in 1995. It is no longer available and we can only hope that it will reappear once more as it is a much sought after album. Most interesting about the original production, however, is perhaps the record sleeve - both the front cover and the text of the notes on the back. Michael's wish to be the creator of the whole is clearly visible, as his name is attached to a variety of areas in the credit notes. The photo on the front cover already shows his distinctive sense of style, both in his own dress and stance, and his sense of creating atmosphere with a grand backdrop setting, with the impressive skyline of Chicago by night.

Click belwo to view original notes from the album sleeve

Sleeve 1 Sleeve 2

Click Here to view the CD notes

Michael played the flute as well as danced in some of his performances with the Chieftains in the later 1980's, and in 'Riverdance the Show' in 1995 he played a medley of traditional Irish pieces. That number was an audience favourite, and this author had the pleasure of witnessing it twice at the Point in Dublin in July 1995. The first time it was as recorded on the original show video, but the second time, late that month, Eileen Ivers had joined the 'Riverdance' team, and she and Michael played a fabulous duel between her fiddle and his flute that lasted near ten minutes, rousing the audience to such excitement that the music could scarcely be heard. The two performers were so clearly playing with heart and soul, with superb skill and total spontaneity, that it was Irish traditional music at its very best.
Yet still Michael's flute music remained in the background. Ronan Hardiman always wanted Michael to incorporate his flute music into 'Lord of the Dance', saying "Michael is a world class flautist", but time constraints in the early days of the show meant that it had to wait. With Michael's passion for rhythm patterns, it is not surprising it was the upbeat, energetic style of Irish music that first found its way in when he added a number to the performance, the much-loved 'Celtic Fire' that began life as a pre-show sound check and was introduced on stage at Wembley in 1997. With fiddles, accordian and guitar along with Michael on flute, it became an instant hit, but remained Michael's only musical number onstage until the Hyde Park 'Feet of Flames' show in July 1998. In that show, he also played behind the scene for Bernadette Flynn's beautiful solo, 'Dance of Love', based on the traditional dance tune 'King of the Fairies'. Wishing to showcase his version of one of his mother's favourite slow Irish airs, The Coolin, he did finally perform a flute solo onstage for the first time, captivating the huge audience with 'Whispering Wind'.