Childhood and early life

Auerbach was born in Ohio, and is the son of Mary Little (née Quine; b. about 1948), a teacher of French, and Charles Auerbach (b. about 1950), an antique dealer. His father is of Polish Jewish descent and his mother is of part Manx descent. His maternal cousin, twice removed, was philosopher and logician Willard Van Orman Quine, and his second cousin once removed was the late guitarist Robert Quine. Auerbach grew up in a family with musical roots. Auerbach became infatuated with blues after listening to his father's old vinyl records during his childhood, his first concert was Whitney Houston with his mother at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. His second concert was a Grateful Dead show with his father at the Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland. He was influenced early-on by his mother's side of the family, notably his uncles who played bluegrass music.

Auerbach described himself as a normal teenager in high school who smoked marijuana and captained the soccer team at Firestone High School. For a year, he attended McGill University in Montreal. He was heavily influenced by Junior Kimbrough in college, eventually resulting in his dropping out to pursue the guitar more seriously. "I've listened to him so much, it's just how I hear it... I studied him so much... Getting F's in college, when I should've been studying, I was listening to Junior Kimbrough's music instead". Other major influences include: Robert Johnson, R.L. Burnside, Clarence White, Robert Nighthawk, T-Model Ford, Hound Dog Taylor, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Kokomo Arnold, Son House and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Performances and bands

The Barnburners

Auerbach was a member of a band called The Barnburners before forming The Black Keys in 2001. The Barnburners included Auerbach, Jason Edwards and Kip Amore. The Barnburners were a blues-based band that performed in Northeast Ohio clubs and released a 6 track album called The Rawboogie EP. The album includes the Junior Kimbrough song "Meet Me in the City", which Auerbach later covered with The Black Keys on their Chulahoma studio album.

The Fast Five

The band "Fast Five" toured with Auerbach in 2009. The Fast Five's other members drew from the band Hacienda and percussionist Patrick Hallahan from My Morning Jacket. The original percussionist, Bob Cesare, was unable to perform with the Fast Five because of a death in his family.

Dan and fellow Black Keys member Patrick Carney met the members of Hacienda at a club, Emo's, in Austin, Texas while watching a band during the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Upon seeing one of the Hacienda band members hit on an intoxicated woman, Carney walked over and leaned in saying, "Dude, trust me, that's a bad idea." After becoming acquainted with each other, Dan e-mailed Hacienda a month later asking for more demos, which eventually led them to being asked to open for The Black Keys and Dr. Dog at a show in Austin, Texas. Afterward, Auerbach asked Hacienda to travel to Akron, Ohio where they would be his "guinea pigs" while recording Keep It Hid.

The Arcs

During the Bataclan Theatre massacre, Auerbach and his band The Arcs were performing at the similarly-sized nearby venue, Le Trianon. Auerbach subsequently stated, "I know people that were there last night. I know people who are like, ‘What am I gonna do -- see the Arcs or the Eagles of Death Metal?" And I've woken up feeling very out of sorts. What do you call it, survivor's remorse? Why the hell did it happen there and not where we were playing? I'm just so brokenhearted about all those people."

Awards and honors

At the 2013 Grammy Awards, Auerbach won the award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

In 2010, he joined the 9th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.

Personal life

Auerbach was married to Stephanie Gonis, with whom he has a daughter, Sadie Little Auerbach, born in 2008. In February 2013, it was reported that the couple are in the midst of divorce proceedings.

Discography

For a more comprehensive list, see The Black Keys discography.

Solo

• Keep It Hid (2009)

With The Black Keys

• The Big Come Up (2002)
• Thickfreakness (2003)
• The Moan (2004)
• Rubber Factory (2004)
• Chulahoma (2006)
• Magic Potion (2006)
• Attack & Release (2008)
• Brothers (2010)
• El Camino (2011)
• Turn Blue (2014)

Blakroc

• Blakroc (2009)

The Arcs

• Yours, Dreamily, (2015)

Musical collaborations

Artist	Album	Role	Year
SSM	EP1	Recorded, Engineered	2006
SSM	SSM	Recorded, Engineered	2006
Patrick Sweany	C'mon C'mere	Guitar "One More Time"	2006
Brimstone Howl	Guts of Steel	Producer, engineer, Mixer	2007
John Doe	A Year in the Wilderness	Guitar	2007
Nathaniel Mayer	Why Don't You Give It To Me	Co-producer, co-mixer, Guitar, Drums, Vocals	2007
Radio Moscow	Radio Moscow	Producer, engineer, Mixer, Acoustic Guitar	2007
Patrick Sweany	Every Hour Is a Dollar Gone	Producer, engineer, Mixer	2007
Black Diamond Heavies	A Touch of Someone Else's Class	Producer, engineer, Mixer	2008
Buffalo Killers	Let It Ride	Producer, engineer, Mixer	2008
Hacienda	Loud Is The Night	Producer, engineer, Mixer, BG Vocals, Guitar	2008
Jessica Lea Mayfield	With Blasphemy So Heartfelt	Producer, engineer, Mixer, arranger, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Bass, Drums, BG Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer, Hammond Organ, Toy Piano, Lap Steel, Percussion	2008
The Ettes	Danger Is EP	Producer, engineer, Mixer	2009
The Ettes	Do You Want Power	Producer, engineer, Mixer Piano "No Home"	2009
Nathaniel Mayer	Why Won't You Let Me Be Black?	Co-producer, co-mixer, Guitar, Vocals	2009
Hacienda	Big Red & Barbacoa	Producer, engineer, Mixer	2010
Cadillac Sky	Letters in the Deep	Producer, engineer, Mixer, Waterphone, Vocals	2010
Parting Gifts	Strychnine Dandelion	Guitar	2010
Shivering Timbers	We All Started in the Same Place	Producer, engineer, Drums, Mixer	2010
Jessica Lea Mayfield	Tell Me	Drum Loop, engineer, Guitar (Acoustic), Moog Synthesizer, producer, Vocals	2011
Brian Olive	Two of Everything	Engineer, Mixing, producer, BG Vocals	2011
Reigning Sound	Abdication... For Your Love	Producer	2011
Dr. John	Locked Down	Producer, Guitar, Percussion & Background Vocals	2012
Hacienda	Shakedown	Producer	2012
JEFF the Brotherhood	Hypnotic Nights	Mixing, producer, BG Vocals	2012
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals	The Lion the Beast the Beat	Composer, Handclapping, producer, Vocals	2012
The Growlers	Hung at Heart	Producer	2013
Hanni El Khatib	Head in the Dirt	Producer, Bass, Guitar, Background Vocals, Percussion	2013
Bombino	Nomad	Producer	2013
Connie Britton	The Music of Nashville: Season 1 Volume 2	Producer, guitar and vocals on "Bitter Memory"	2013
Valerie June	Pushin' Against a Stone	Co-producer, guitar and vocals on "Wanna Be On Your Mind"	2013
Ray LaMontagne	Supernova	Producer	2014
Lana Del Rey	Ultraviolence	Producer, handclaps, shaker, electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, synthesizer	2014
Nikki Lane	All or Nothin	Producer	2014
Lee Fields	Emma Jean	Guitar, vocals	2014
Cage the Elephant	Tell Me I'm Pretty	Producer	2015

Musical equipment

Guitars

• Fender Jerry Donahue Telecaster
• Harmony Stratotone H47
• Harmony H78 Hollowbody
• Harmony Heath TG-46
• Harmony Rocket
• Gibson Firebird VII
• 70's Gibson Les Paul Deluxe
• 60's Gibson SG Junior
• Guild Thunderbird
• Supro Martinique
• Silvertone U1
• Silvertone 1454
• Rickenbacker 360
• Ibanez SG copy
• Ibanez Rocket Roll
• National Map
• Teisco Del Rey SS-4L

Amplification

• Fender Quad Reverb
• Marshall JTM45 and vintage Marshall 8x10 cab
• Fender '65 Twin Reverb Reissue
• Fender Musicmaster Bass
• Fender Super Reverb
• Victoria Double Deluxe

Effects

• Ibanez Standard Fuzz
• Sovtek Big Muff
• Gibson Maestro Fuzz Tone
• Tubeplex tape delay
• Fulltone Tape Echo
• Boss TR-2 Tremolo
• Analogman Sunface
• Boss Super Shifter
• Boss Super Octave
• Nu Wah Fuzz Wah

[ Source: Wikipedia ]