Mick Antonio was born in 1920 in Smythesdale, Victoria, about 20 kilometers southwest of Ballarat. Growing up with six sisters and three brothers, he started out as a boy soprano in school choirs but switched to hillbilly music and yodeling at 15 after teaching himself guitar. He joined the army in 1940, serving until 1946 and performing in Army entertainment shows. In 1947, he moved to Sydney to audition for EMI, but touring before recording wasn’t possible with a young family, so he returned to Ballarat. Mick went on to represent Ballarat in Top Town contests, win the Roy Rodgers Hillbilly Contest of Victoria, place second in Australia’s Amateur Hour, and become a semi-finalist in Swallow Parade and later in Australia’s Amateur Hour again. He won the Midlands of Victoria Hillbilly Championship in 1956, hosted his own sponsored radio session on 3CV, and raised £2,000 for charity through popularity votes. Performing across Central Victoria, he wrote many of his songs and recorded with Planet, W&G, and Crest International. His track ''Can I Sleep In Your Barn'' appeared on the compilation 'Country & Western, Volume 3' in 1967. Honored with induction into Tamworth’s Hands of Fame in 2008, Mick died in 2009.
'Yodelling Album' 1960 Planet
'Mick Antonio' 1964 W&G
ALBUMS
'Love Knot In My Lariat' 1977 Crest International
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