Archive for month: October, 2018

All the way from Co. Clare, Ireland, the prodigiously gifted Susan O’Neill’s soulful & husky-voiced performances are truly something to behold. Using guitar, harmonica, trumpet and a loop pedal, Susan delivers a timeless and powerful blend of the old & new. Her inspirational fusion of soulful folk & her own acclaimed original material makes for an entertaining & enchanting musical experience. Her performances at last year’s National Folk Festival are still being talked about.

We don’t have enough space to list the achievements of Sharon Shannon, the button accordion player from Co Clare, Ireland. She has recorded and toured with a who’s who of the Irish and global music industry, including Bono, Adam Clayton, Sinead O’Connor, Jackson Browne, John Prine, Steve Earle, The RTE Concert Orchestra, The Chieftains, The Waterboys, Willie Nelson, Nigel Kennedy, Alison Krauss and Shane McGowan. Her 12 studio recorded albums to date have all been very different and groundbreaking, mixing traditional Irish with reggae, country, First Nation American, bluegrass, rap, dance, African, French Canadian. The genre-defying star has had multi-platinum album sales and has had several Number One albums, singles and DVDs in her home country. Sharon grew up in a rural community and is part of a family that all play musical instruments and traditional Irish music. However, her career took a massive upward trajectory when in the late 80s she was asked to join the seminal rock band The Waterboys. Her first show with that band, to an audience of 50,000, was the on main stage at perhaps the most well-known music festival on earth–Glastonbury. Here for the first time, in one concert, at Cobargo.

Shane Howard is a prolific Australian songwriter, admired and respected for his integrity and commitment to music. His songs champion the cause of the common man, the environment and the injustices endured by Australia’s Aboriginal people. After 30 years of singing, writing and journeying the globe, from campfires to concert halls, he has consolidated his voice to become an important addition to the evolving folklore of modern song. Howard’s 13th solo album Deeper South redefines the boundaries of Australian folk music and reinvigorates it with poetic and musical mastery. The Shane Howard Trio features the mastery of Howard’s musical companions Ewen Baker (Fiddle. Mandolin) and John Hudson (Guitar, Dobro). The Deeper South show features songs full of music and poetry that are deep and dark, yet illuminated by great shafts of light. This is folk music, but not as we know it.

Performing 150 shows a year worldwide, Nick is known internationally as “Australia’s virtuoso of acoustic roots and blues”. His 35 year career has seen him accumulate every conceivable accolade including Port Fairy Artist of the Year 2014, every blues award in Australia multiple times and twice winner of the Australian Song Contest. “The River Flows” was The Age Blues Album of the Year. He’s toured with John Hammond, Guy Clarke and Ralph McTell and performed more than 300 shows across North America. This is dazzling fingerpicking roots magic and a lifetime’s stories and songs from the world’s musical highways.

With eight albums under his belt, Jordie Lane is widely regarded as one of Australia’s finest singer-songwriters. His acclaimed album ‘Glassellland’ made its debut into the top 100 US Americana chart, and won a slew of praise and awards, including Double J ‘Album Of The Week’, nominated for The Age Music Victoria Awards, and winning ‘Tower Of Song Of The Year’. Descriptions of Lane’s voice land somewhere between Rodney Crowell and Ron Sexsmith, with a musical style driven always by what the song demands of him. From finger picking folk to rock’n’roll roots to storyteller ballads, it is a voice that has taken him around the world, performing major festivals in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, and touring with international legends, Billy Bragg, Old Crow Medicine Show, Neko Case, Cat Power, The Weakerthans, Ruthie Foster, Mary Chapin Carpenter and The Moody Blues.