Music may have saved his life.  After surviving cancer at age 16, music became his helpmate in processing the ‘big questions’ that came to him at an early age.  At 18, he took his newly found passion for life and music to traveling the country in a van with a group of wacky Catholic ‘hippies’ giving spiritual retreats to young people.

College found him criss-crossing through Europe with his guitar.  It was through hanging with monks deep in desert monasteries and, later, living in the Vatican as a seminarian in his 20’s on the way to becoming a priest, that he discovered his true calling was that of a songwriter.  He left the seminary and landed in his native Southern California, beginning his quest to re-invent himself as an artist.  Years later, he is now a seasoned performer and award-winning songwriter.  What would a person with such a story have to say about life? Plenty, especially when magnified through the prism of a song.

Meet Michael Tiernan.  Through the experiences of what could be ten lifetimes, Michael is an artist who has plunged into and explored the deep spaces of personal and worldly conflict, the beauty of love and nature, as well as the meaning of suffering and the pervasive unhappiness that threatens our human experience on all sides.  In his music, he resurfaces from these depths with a positive yet real outlook for all of us, while taking us on a sonic joy ride through the many genres he straddles in his music.

Michael is set to release his 8th album, “For Others” in the summer of 2024, and performs regularly in the Southern California region and beyond, as well as engaging corporate audiences with creativity and songwriting workshops.  His music has been featured on several TV shows over the years and he was won several songwriting awards, in addition to being named a two-time Los Angeles Music Awards winner, and most recently, the 2023 San Diego Music Awards winner for Best Acoustic Song.  Michael is the proud dad of 2 teenagers and resides in Vista, CA, with his wife, Tracy.