Shane opening for Max T Barnes in Cork Opera House

Well it is my own blog so might as well advertise my good news this week.

On March 19th I get to open for the legendary country songwriters Max T Barnes & Craig Curtis on the Cork Opera House stage. Max T, who has written countless hits for many of my idols,(Collin Raye,George Jones,Gene Watson,Randy Travis,Diamond Rio,Joe Diffee, Jodee Messina,Trace Atkins & so many others) has had nine number 1's in the USA.

Max has been a staff writer and producer in Nashville for nearly thirty  years. Working under contract for Sony, Warner Brothers, Polygram, MCA, Island Bound, Curb And Ray Stevens. Early on however he also played lead guitar. Touring with Bobby Bare,  Shelly West,  Joe Sun, Linda Davis and Tanya Tucker to name a few. He did tours with Reba, Garth Brooks, The Judds, Merle Haggard, George Jones and too many more to mention.

Avi McGourty

Today I had the task of sitting back and chatting with a very talented singer songwriter from Tipperary living in Waterford called Avi McGourty. Now while this in itself was a treat for me it was even more so since this was our first time chatting face to face. I have known Avi with several years now and have been trying to get her into the studio for the chat, However schedules just didn't seem to fit and for some reason its taken this long to get it together where both schedules worked .

Fiddlers Dream

There are days when the sun shines down on you and it almost feels like summer, when all you want to do is sit back have a drink , let it be tea coffee, beer and listen to some nice gentle music while the music fills the air around you. Today was one of those days , Ok, I will admit the sun wasn't shining to bright but it had a summer feel and to it. In Studio today the group Fiddlers Dream from Fermoy took time out of their own busy schedule to join me in the studio for a chat about music and song.

Fiddlers Dream are made up of Lisa Howard on Uillean pipes, John Coughlan on acoustic guitar, Michelle Hurley on fiddle,  Ger Ahern on acoustic guitar and rounded off with Padraig O Brien on banjo. the group got together initially playing sessions in Cheers Bar Fermoy and have been getting new tunes, new members and new gigs since they started.

Andy Dunne

Well today after many years of trying to get local entertainer, singer songwriter Andy Dunne into the studio I finally got my wish at approx 1.15 when Andy walked in with his guitar under his arm. It has to be said the reason for the delay would sometimes be my fault or the schedule just didn't work when Andy was free I would be booked up When I had a free slot Andy was doing something else. Andy sat down and we started chatting about music and songs and then I asked him to sing something for the listeners. Up to then I had almost forgotten why I wanted to interview Andy so much and why I thought this talent should be heard by my listeners. As soon as he started to sing his self penned song "Living Proof" I was reminded of the amazing ability that is simple known as Andy Dunne. Andy will tell you himself that first and foremost he is an entertainer but here I would have to disagree a little, he is a gifted songwriter and a gifted story teller who has the unique ability to tell his story in song format. To me that's what Andy is first and foremost, after that there is no doubt that he will entertain you if you ever take the time out to go see him play live.

Tanya Louise

This week I had the pleasure of sitting in the studio chatting to local singer songwriter Tanya Louise. It was one of those days where I was feeling lazy and relaxed and Tanya was laid back and relaxed herself so the interview turned into more of a chat then your typical music interview.  She brought into the studio some copies of her new CD "Better in Twos" All tracks on the CD were written and recorded by Tanya and she plays acoustic guitar on it. Tanya Louise was born in Cork City, Ireland and at 18 years of age her composure and song writing style is that of a more mature writer, She has an elegance and innocence in her writing that also contains a steely reserve and adds great depth to each of the songs. .  From Tanya's early childhood she showed a love and passion for music.

Diarmuid De Guide & Carol Rice

This week we caught up with another regular guest to the program and that was the wonderful ballader Diarmuid De Guide. We were also joined in studio by the fantastic  Carol Rice who manages Diarmuid De Guideas well as other top acts in the music scene.  Diarmuid hails from Blarney in County Cork. He is quite the acclaimed musician with the ability to play Guitar, Harmonica, Banjo, Whistles, Mandolin, Accordion, Bodhran, the list is endless. His musical influences ranges from Christy Moore, The Clancy Brother, Dubliners, Wolfe Tones to The Fureys and Davey Arthur. Diarmuid has a natural ability to play by ear and he soon realised this at the very young age of 7 when he began to play the Tin Whistle in School and picked it up instantly.

Lana Gibson

Country Music touches and tugs at the hearts of all and listening to pioneers in Country music such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves are Lana Gibson’s earliest musical memories. Her parents were avid fans of those country greats. Like most singers Lana starting singing at a young age in local talent shows. She then joined a local folk choir and in her late teens and taught herself to play the guitar. Lana married her husband John in 1983. John also plays guitar and has a passion for Country music and introduced Lana to many new singers in the Country genre. That's where her love of country music really began. The couple went on to form a two piece band in early 1992 called “Two of A Kind”. The duo gained moderate success until 2000 playing pubs and small dancehalls around Munster (Southern Ireland).

Ilse de Ziah

Ilse de Ziah was born in Connecticut USA, where she started music theory classes and sat for hours under the piano listening to her mother play Chopin and Bach. From 7 she grew up in Sydney, Australia where over the years she had lessons in Piano, Cello, Pipe Organ, Harpsichord, Recorder and Violin. With sisters and father all musicians too, there was rarely a moment where music was not being played. Ilse’s great-grandmother, a Jewish Hungarian pianist living in Vienna used to sit on Brahms’ knee as a 3yr old, her father being his ear nose and throat specialist and an accomplished violinist. Her Austrian grandfather was a cellist and escaped from Vienna just before WW2 Her Czeck grandmother a pianist with a gypsy background, escaped with him. Her English grandfather was an accomplished violinist and was known to socialize with Jasha Heifez and Fritz Kreizler on their trips to Australia where he moved at 12yrs.

Roy Buckley & Eli O Keeffe

This week we had the double pleasure of two of Corks most talanted musicians joining me in studio. Roy who has been on the show everal times and Eli who we have spoken to over the phone but this was her first live visit to the studio. We started by talking to Roy about his Song writer Sessions and how they are going. We then talked to Eli about her work, her music and how involved she is in the music scene in Cork. She plays along at a lot of live sessions and you can see her backing many other great singer songwriters in the Cork area.

Vincent Lynch

Well its almost 2 years since we spoke with Cork singer songwriter Vincent Lynch. So we caught up with Vincent this week. In a week which saw Vincent release his new song for Suicide awareness in Cork , The song Shine a light is available to buy on I tunes and other online digital stores. Vincent was approached and asked tow rite a song for this worthy cause and he duly obliged with this new song which was recorded in Claycastle Studios in Youghal with the help of John Burke and Warren Tivy.

The Mandolas

Today I had the pleasure of chatting with some members of the group The Mandolas, they are a 4-piece folk/pop group based in Cork, Ireland. The band make use of a wide range of acoustic instruments (mandolin, mandola, acoustic guitar, bouzuki, banjo and viola) as well as incorporating lavish 4-part harmonies into their music. The Mandolas perform original material and combine Irish and English folk traditions with a unique blend of contemporary pop.

 The group consists of Michael Grace (Kilkenny), Colm Hayes (Cork), and brothers Paddy & Dorian Kelly (West Cork/ originally hailing from Yorkshire). Drawing inspiration from the likes of Planxty, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Fleet Foxes,

Willie Collins

Well this week in the hot seat in studio was singer songwriter Willie Collins from Fermoy. I have known Willie for a long time now and about 2 years ago he sent me on a CD of some songs he had written himself and recorded in Fiona Studios in Fermoy. Between his busy schedule and mine it took that long to get him into the station. Today was a nice day looking back over previous times, talking music and having a chat about the scene today.

The Rivets

This week in studio I had two very talented guests who have been in the studio with me before on separate occasions, David Blaize was on talking about his own song writing and Che Horgan was in with the group The Wall St Thieves. The Rivets however are a second project that David and Che work on when not busy working with other bands and writing songs, They are a Dynamic Acoustic Duo who guarantee to give you a show to remember, performing Classic 50's & 60's Rock’n’roll songs you all know & love. With rhythmic guitars and melodic harmonies, this band will have you singing and dancing along to every song.

Rob Carlile

Rob Carlile was the guest this week. I have to say meeting Rob for the second time was great fun, The last time I spoke with Rob he was on the show as part of the group "The Buachaills" In his own time Rob writes songs, and plays with different bands. In his own right Rob Carlile is a talented singer songwriter who is going places.

Fintan Lucy

This week Fintan Lucy form Cork took the hot seat in the studio and we spoke about music, his songs and of course where it all began. Fintan is a songwriter who writes from the heart. After all his first song was written in Dingle as a poem about a broken heart, I think it was his own broken heart he was writing about. His style varies most of his songs start out as poetry and over time becomes a piece of music which is added to or changed as it goes through the process.

Dirty Voodoo

I met with local band Dirty Voodoo (and yes thats the way they spell it) and we had a chat and talk about music the local scene and the aspirations of the band. The band consists of David (Dom) Mulcahy who has been playing guitar since he was 16. Dom met Sean in 2004 and through the love of the guitar and the music, they struck up a friendship. Tommy Collins knew Sean while they were in another band and another friendship was formed. The lads had heard of Colin and decided they needed a contemporary soulful singer to compliment their band, so they asked vocalist Colin Lee to join Dirty Voodoo. Colin, Sean. Tommy and David met up for a jam one night, where the final member to join Patrick Rusty Gleeson sat in on drums, Rusty decided to sit in with the lads on drums for a bit of fun and Dirty Voodoo was complete, since then they have never looked back.

Jaded

This week I had the pleasure of chatting with Jaded, a four-piece rock band from Youghal on my radio program, we got a chance to talk about music, their smash hit video and life as a young group growing up in East Cork. I started with the usual questions following on from their success with their new video on Youtube. In a little over 2 months the video Jaded - a story so far directed by an uncle to one of the lads, has amassed a little over 110,000 hits, now that’s a lot of likes and most of them from foreign countries. So what’s the secret behind the success of this group?

Ken Cotter

This week I also had the chance to chat with Ken Cotter, singer & songwriter based in Cork. Ken is noted for his strong voice, captivating melodies and astute lyrical composition. His live performances are steered by a confident guitar and a well-honed stage craft. Ken started playing guitar at the age of 12, and over the next few years found himself penning songs in the style of his heroes, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg. But it was in the songs of Jimmy MacCarthy, Paul Brady, Luka Bloom and many other Irish Singer Songwriters, that Ken began to feel most at home. These great Irish performers helped him shape his sound and acquire the confidence to sing in his own voice about his own experiences. As a teen Ken was also listening to The Jam, The Who, U2, Big Country, Echo And The Bunnymen, as well as Irish homegrown rockers, Something Happens, Light A Big Fire and Cactus World News. Radiohead became a big influence. However, gradually Ken began to discover his own style.

Des Collins

This week we spoke to local Cork singer songwriter Des Collins. Des was born and raised in Douglas, Cork, Ireland. He first took up the guitar as a teenager and played in various bands around Cork city during the 1960's & 1970's. Then in 1977 he gave up music to concentrate on business.Des is married with 5 sons and 14 grandchildren, the most recent grandchild Lucy only coming into this world last week, and after a lifetime in business working hard, Des decided to return to his roots in music in 2009. It was only then, he began writing songs for the first time.

The Wall St Thieves 3

Well I had the lads back in studio today, after their last visit its been mad with the amount of calls from listeners asking "when are they coming back on" to keep everyone happy we got them back into studio again.  The Wall Street Thieves are a four piece rock group. The band was started by Che Horgan and Eric Doherty in 2008.  There has been a couple of changes in the bands line up since then, having had Colin Morgan drumming to be replaced by Dereck O Shea who was later replaced by James Zinkant who is currently with the band. The lead guitarist, Eric Doherty, has been replaced by Dave O Callaghan. The line up is completed by the solid Shane Norberg on Bass who is also doubling on harmony vocals. Ranging in age from early to mid twenties, the members invoke an era when songwriters had something to say and music had substance.