The musical story of Dan Auerbach begins with The Black Keys, the blues-rock duo he formed with drummer Patrick Carney in Akron, Ohio. Auerbach and Carney had been playing and recording music together since the mid-90s when they were at high school, yet the band didn't make their live debut until 2001. They have since recorded five studio albums, starting with their 2002 debut, The Big Come Up. Auerbach himself was into music from an early age, stemming from a particular fondness for his father's bluegrass records and being related to highly regarded guitarists Robert and James Quine. Early blues artist such as Robert Johnson and Joe Hill Lewis - proponents of finger-picking guitar styles in the early stages of guitar amplification - particularly struck a chord and a teenage Auerbach taught himself guitar by playing along with the records. Hound Dog Taylor would also be a huge influence on Auerbach, who bought the same model guitar he used and also taught himself how to play slide guitar by listening to his albums. As well as improving his guitar playing techniques over time, Auerbach meticulously surrounded himself with vintage gear including valve amps, tape machines and old microphones and eventually built his own home studio, Akron Analogue. It was in his studio that Auerbach wrote, recorded and produced his first solo album Keep it Hid, which was released to great acclaim in February, 2009. The songs for the album were written over a number of years between Black Keys tours and Auerbach played all of the instruments on the album himself, save for the occasional guest part by family and friends.