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.

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.

Tommy Flemming

Tommy Fleming has many times been described as the “Voice of Ireland” and is one of Ireland’s top entertainers. I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk with Tommy before his up coming concert in Youghal on Saturday April the 13th 2013.

Tommy, who was born in Aclare Co. Sligo, Ireland in 1971 and was the youngest of six children, started singing while still at school. While fronting his own local band, a chance encounter with Phil Coulter at a charity function near his home lead to a big break onto the world stage where Tommy appeared as a guest singer on Phil’s USA tour. This then lead to the singer entering into the music business as a solo artist.

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.

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.

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.

Ray Lynam

This week I had the chance to chat on the phone with a legend in the Irish Country music scene Mr Ray Lynam. Ray was born in Moate, County Westmeath. Ray Lynam played saxophone with a local group, the Merrymen, while still at school. He was so greatly influenced by the recordings of George Jones and Buck Owens that in his early career, he carefully reproduced their vocal styles in his own singing. In 1969, he became front man for the Hillbillies, a band led by lead guitarist Kevin Sheeran that also included Billy Condon (both later members of Daniel O’Donnell’s band). In 1970, a recording of ‘Busted’ attracted attention, while the follow-ups, ‘Sweet Rosie Jones’ and ‘Gypsy Jo And Me’, firmly established Lynam on the Irish country scene by their chart success. In 1971, 

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.

Pierre Bensusan

Today it was a privilage to chat with world renowned guitarist Pierre Bensusan before his upcoming gig in The grainstore Ballymaloe Co Cork. If “World Music” is music that pays tribute to the spirit of a collection of human beings through distinct rhythms, traditional instruments and harmonic colors,

French-Algerian guitarist, singer and composer Pierre Bensusan can be recognized as one of the most eloquent and diverse world musicians of our time. Born in Oran, French-Algeria, in 1957, when France was decolonizing its Empire, Pierre Bensusan's family moved to Paris when he was 4.

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,

John Blek & The Rats

On this occasion I was joined in studio by members of the John Blek and the Rats band, in the hot seat were John and band member and fellow musician Robin. This week we were talking about their upcoming gig in Coughlans Bar in Cork a new venue for bands songwriters and musicians which Cork musician Edel Curtin has taken on herself to run in association with Coughlans, its for bands to preform in a new warm venue. While in studio the lads preformed a few songs and for those that have not heard from them "John Blek and the Rats are a six-piece folk and country group from Cork City whose infectious brand of Americana influenced balladry has travelled up and down the roads of Ireland, the UK and Europe for the last two years."

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?