About Mike Michael Ayles is a Montreal-based musician specializing in the traditional music of Ireland and Quebec. He also holds a physics degree from McGill University and could give you a convincing explanation of the conservation of momentum (linear or angular) if pressed. As a multi-instrumentalist, he is at home on the guitar, tenor banjo and wooden flute. He has played with nearly every traditional musician in the Montreal area (and a few other areas, as well), a testament to his versatility and willingness to adapt to whatever the situation calls for. Michael has played concerts, festivals, dances, workshops, weddings and parades with his own groups and has filled in for missing musicians in a host of others. He was also one of the organizers of the 6th Avenue House Concert series, and for two years shared the hosting of an Irish session every Monday at the Café l'Utopik in Montreal.

Originally drawn to the folk world by an interest in Irish music, Michael first came to hear Quebecois music at the sessions in Montreal where he played regularly. Since then, he has devoted himself to absorbing as much of the two different repertoires as possible, learning countless dance tunes and songs in both idioms. He has also been known to dabble with folk music from America, Brittany, Scotland, Sweden and Eastern Europe, though less extensively.

Michael's formative experiences came from his first groups, the pub band 139 South and the contradance group Garton's Crimson Avengers. Since then, he has played with numerous groups for concerts, festivals and dances all over North America. Michael has shared the stage with groups like Genticorum, Tuna and the McDades, and artists like Laura Risk and Lissa Schneckenburger.

These days, Michael's musical focus is with his Quebecois traditional group, La Part du Quêteux. Their first CD, C'a l'air d'aller, was released in early 2004 and the follow up, Paye la Traite, came out in 2007. He also released his first solo CD, Over the Bridge, in 2006. Details about these recordings can be found here.

In September 2006, Michael returned to his scientific roots and began a Master's degree in Medical Physics at McGill University. He is researching novel modalities of lung cancer therapy in parallel to his career as a musician.