SHARON SHANNON BIG BAND

Supported by Hannah Acfield

THU 08 MAR @ 7:00PM

Price: $40 + bf
Bookings: (02) 9550 3666
Tickets: On sale now @ THE FACTORY THEATRE; Buy tickets online

Legendary Irish musician SHARON SHANNON is renowned for embracing all musical genres and collaborating with many different artists including U2, Sinead O’Connor, Wille Nelson, Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, Nigel Kennedy and Christy Moore to name a few…..

She is the only traditional Irish musician to cross-over into mainstream pop/rock and have number one singles, albums and DVDs in the Irish pop charts. Her version of the Steve Earle penned The Galway Girl with Mundy on vocals was the biggest downloaded single in 2008 and 2009. She is a multi-platinum selling artist and has won several Meteor Awards including being the youngest ever recipient of the Meteor Lifetime Achievement Award. Her music has been featured in several Hollywood movies, TV series and an award-winning Bulmers TV commercial campaign.

In March 2012, she takes her big band to Australia and New Zealand. As well as bringing the finest of talent from Ireland and the UK, she is also recruiting some of Australia and New Zealand’s top musicians to create a truly unique and global sound. Selecting music from her renowned repertoire and new compositions from Shannon herself, the line-up will create a sound which will have the Shannon’s trade mark tone (she plays custom built Italian accordions from the 200 year Castagnari family workshop) at the centre but will be backed by rock solid rhythm section and feature jazz, funk, blues, bluegrass intonations in the mix.

This cross-cultural/cross- genre collection will bring together, for the first time ever in a series of unique performances, the top Irish, English, Australian and New Zealand musicians in concert.

With Shannon leading the way on accordion and whistle, the 8 piece band is composed of acoustic and electric guitars, drums, bass, keyboards, fiddle and saxophone.

THE LINE-UP

RICHIE BUCKLEY – SAXOPHONE Described by the Irish Times as ‘extraordinary ‘, Richie has played with some of the all time greats including Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Bob Dylan, The Spice Girls, Georgie Fame… “Richie playing manages to be simultaneously passionate and gentle, romantic and elegiac”

DONOGH HENNESSY – ACOUSTIC GUITAR Donogh is one of the better-known guitarists in contemporary Irish traditional music. He was a founder member of the Irish super group “Lúnasa”, for 8 years. Their last album was nominated for Folk album of the year 2004 in the BBC Radio 2 Awards.

BRETT HIRST – ELECTRIC BASS Gifted with a natural talent for the instrument, Brett Hirst is one of Australia’s top jazz bassists. Since his arrival in Australia in 1998 from his native New Zealand, he has become a musician to contend with. His big tone and strong supportive rhythmic ‘feel’, combined with his ability to play convincingly in a number of idioms, have made him first choice bassist for many of Australia’s leading musicians.

MATT MCMAHON – PIANO AND KEYBOARD Considered one of the distinguished new voices in jazz in Australia Matt was classically trained before he pursued an interest in jazz in his late teens. McMahon has won the National Jazz Piano Awards in 1999 and the Freedman Fellowship for Jazz in 2005; he is also considered a fine composer and leads his acclaimed trio and quartet releasing CDs for Kimnara Records.

HAMISH STUART – DRUMS For 35 years, Hamish Stuart has been one of Australia’s grooviest drummers across most styles. His work has graced and deepened the music of Ian Moss, Tina Harrod, Marcia Hines, Jade McRae, Jackie Orszaczky, Vince Jones, The Catholics, John Waters and more.

GERRY PAUL – ELECTRIC GUITAR AND BANJO Originally from Dublin, but grew up in Wellington, New Zealand, where he still spends a couple of months a year spearing fish and writing songs. Co founder of the group GRADA, Gerry also tours with legendary Nashville songwriter Tim O’Brien. Gerry is currently working on writing a series of children’s songs.

DEZI DONNELLY – FIDDLE Dezi ‘Fiddle on Fire’ Donnelly is a Manchester based Fiddle player. One of the founder members of the legendary Celtic Rock Band ‘Toss the Feathers’. Dezi comes from great family tradition of fiddle playing and began playing fiddle at the age of seven.

Culture Ireland