Sharon Shannon
Sharon Shannon, the button accordion player from Co. Clare, Ireland 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 MacGowan. Her 12 studio recorded albums to date have all been very different and groundbreaking mixing traditional Irish with reggae, country, Native 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.
Her album Galway Girl went 4 times platinum in Ireland with the title track winning her the Meteor award two years running for the most downloaded song. Sharon grew up in a rural community and was part of a family that all play musical instruments and traditional Irish music. However, her career took an massive upward trajectory when in the late 80's she was asked to joined 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. Her subsequent debut album was released worldwide and was to become the biggest selling record by a traditional artiste in Ireland.
She has entertained US Presidents Clinton at the White House and Obama inDublin and Irish Presidents Robinson and MacAleese on presidential visits to Poland and Australia respectively. She recently accompanied Irish president Michael D. Higgins on his official tour of China.
Among the many awards she has received including Hot Press and Meteor Awards ,She also celebrates being the youngest ever recipient of the MeteorLifetime Achievement Award. She received an IBAM Award in Chicago in 2015 for her ‘unique contribution to Irish Music’. Other recipients were Darina Allen and actor Liam Neeson. Her music has been featured in several Hollywood movies and she also played a cameo role in the Neil Jordan movie ‘Ondine’. She has worked on a stage producton of JM Synges ‘ The Playboy of the Western World’ which was directed by Jim Sheridan. She co-wrote and produced an album with the High Kings in 2013.
Currently working on a book on her life, she is also writing material for a new album to be released in 2017. This will be her first studio album in four years although she has recorded with many artistes in the intervening years. Sharon is also a passionate animal lover and does a lot of voluntary work and fundraising for various animal rescues. In March 2017, Sharon released her 10th studio album Sacred Earth. A ground breaking album onceagain from Sharon. Produced by Justin Adams,this album mixes Irish music with African and blues and features celebrated African Musicians Abass Dodoo and Seikou Keita as well as special guests including Finbar Furey and Alyra Rose.
A vegetarian for many years, Sharon recently adopted the vegan diet and has launched a vegan brand called’ Sharon Shannons Garden of Vegan’. This was spearheaded by a vegan food truck which will be seen at over 30 Festivals in Ireland and the UK during 2017.