Biography
An instrumental figure in the garage-rock revival of the 2000s, singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach achieved slow-burning success as one half of Grammy-winning duo The Black Keys before moonlighting as an in-demand producer where he added his magic touch to records by everyone from Dr. John to Lana Del Rey. Born in Akron, OH in 1979 to a French teacher mother and antique dealer father, Auerbach captained the football team at high school but after briefly attending the University of Akron, it was his passion for music that he chose to explore. Inspired by the sounds of Robert Johnson, R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, Auerbach then formed his first band, The Barnburners, a blues combo who played the Northeast Ohio scene and released the six-track The Rawboogie EP before disbanding in 2001. In the same year, Auerbach teamed up with a former high school classmate, drummer Patrick Carney, to form The Black Keys and after cutting their lo-fi 2002 debut, The Big Come Up, on an 8-track tape recorder, began touring up and down the country on a shoestring budget. In 2004, the duo made their national TV debut on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (NBC, 1993-2009), began licensing their music to various commercials and scored their first US chart entry with Rubber Factory. But mainstream success proved to be elusive until 2008's major-label debut Attack & Reverse, a Danger Mouse-produced collection of songs originally intended for Ike Turner. However, rising tensions between the odd couple, largely caused by Auerbach's increasing dislike towards Carney's wife Denise Grollmus, threatened to derail their rise to the top and the pair briefly went on hiatus. Having already produced records by the likes of punk-blues outfit Brimstone Howl, alt-country chanteuse Jessica Lea Mayfield and R&B veteran Nathaniel Mayer, Auerbach then released his own solo album with 2009's Keep It Hid, an organic blend of country, blues, gospel and psychedelia recorded in his home-built studio in Akron which Carney reportedly knew nothing about. Auerbach toured the LP with a backing band, The Fast Five, that he assembled from various members of Hacienda and My Morning Jacket. But after patching up their differences, Auerbach and Carney eventually returned triumphant in 2010 with Brothers, a triple Grammy-winning affair which sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. 2011's El Camino continued their chart ascent, produced an MTV crossover hit with "Lonely Boy" and allowed the duo to embark on a sell-out arena tour. But Auerbach also found the time to helm records such as Dr. John's Locked Down and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals' The Lion, The Beast, The Beat,, resulting in a Grammy for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2013. Inspired by the acrimonious break-up of Auerbach's marriage to Stephanie Gonis, 2014's highly-personal Turn Blue saw The Black Keys reach number one on the Billboard 200 for the first time, while Auerbach added to his production credits with work on Ray LaMontagne's Supernova and Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence.
