Sharon Shannon

Today, I got the chance to interview on of my hero's in the music world, Sharon Shannon, before her forth-coming gig in "The Grainstore" in Ballymaloe on Sunday night March 31st. Sharon best known for her work with the accordion, also plays the tin whistle and melodeon as well as the fiddle. Her 1991 album, Sharon Shannon, is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released on Ireland. Beginning with Irish folk music, her work demonstrates a wide-ranging number of musical influences, including reggae, cajun music, Portuguese music, and French Canadian music. She is an avid supporter of animal welfare groups MADRA and Animal Health Animal Rescue. She won the lifetime achievement award at the 2009 Meteor Awards.


At eight years old, Shannon began performing with Disirt Tola, a band from County Clare. With Disirt Tola, Shannon toured the United States at age fourteen. Shannon also worked as a competitive showjumper, but gave it up at age sixteen to focus on her music performing. Shannon similarly abandoned studying at University College Cork. In the mid-1980s, Shannon studied the accordion with Karen Tweed and the fiddle with Frank Custy, and performed with the band Arcady, of which she was a founding member.

Shannon began her own recording career in 1989, working with producer John Dunford and musicians such as Adam Clayton, Mike Scott and Steve Wickham. The work with Scott and Wickham led to Shannon's joining their band, The Waterboys. Shannon was with the band for eighteen months, and contributed both accordion and fiddle to their Room to Roam album. Her first world tour was with The Waterboys. Like Wickham, she left the group when Scott and group member Anthony Thistlethwaite wanted to move the band back to a more rock and roll sound.

In 2004 Sharon Shannon released the album Libertango with guest spots from Róisín Elsafty, Sinéad O'Connor and the late Kirsty MacColl.
In 2005, she appeared on Tunes, a collaboration with Frankie Gavin, Michael McGoldrick, and Jim Murray.
In 2006 a celebration of 15 years of recording came out with The Sharon Shannon Collection 1990-2005 .
In 2007 Shannon has worked with Belinda Carlisle for her album Voila.

As a solo musician, Sharon Shannon has toured Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and Japan. She has also performed for politicians such as Bill Clinton, Mary Robinson and Lech Wałęsa.
Shannon has played benefit concerts for causes that she supports, such as animal welfare.

MADRA Patron Sharon Shannon pictured with her dogs Lily and Bengy at the launch of the Canine Carnival fundraising event at Brigit's Garden  in aid of MADRA Dog Rescue and Adoption.

For more information log on to www.madra.ie and www.ahar.ie

She continues to record her music and perform with her tour band, The Woodchoppers. A live version of Galway Girl recorded with Mundy was the most downloaded track in Ireland in 2007, winning a Meteor Award In 2008, Shannon featured in the Transatlantic Sessions. In 2009, she played "Galway Girl" live at the Meteor Music Awards 2009, where she also picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award and won Most Downloaded Track again for Galway Girl with Mundy.

Albums
Sharon Shannon (1991)
Out the Gap (1994)
Each Little Thing (1997)
The Diamond Mountain Sessions (2000)
Live in Galway (2002)
Libertango (2003)
Tunes (2005)
The Collection 1990-2005 (2006)
Live at Dolans CD & DVD (2007)
Renegade (2007)
Saints & Scoundrels (2009)
Upside Down (2009)
Flying Circus (2012) with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra

Listen in to the Shane & Sharon interview here.

 

Shane Supple interviews Sharon Shannon by Shane Supple on Mixcloud