Sharon Shannon Interview

Cat talks the enigma that is Sharon Shannon!

CAT: Yeah, I know. The same thing with singing, isn't it...even though you're half way there with the voice as the instrument, you still have to learn about the construction of music don't you?

Sharon: Oh, the tunes were all engrained into us from when we were very young anyway, and then once we started playing we used to...it was a great social thing for us as well and we really loved it. We used to go up playing for ceilidhs all through...from the ages 10, 11 we were out, out meeting other young musicians; it was a great social life for us as well, when really all our friends in school didn't have the benefit of that.

CAT: I bet they didn't! So you've been here at Cambridge [Folk Festival] for many years, how does the vibe this year compare?

Sharon: Oh it's great! Well first of all, amazin' weather. It's great. It makes a big difference when there's all smilin' faces when you're lookin'...playin' and the audience is all happy.

CAT: Y'know I don't know how you do it! I just couldn't go on stage in front of all those people. Do you ever get nervous before you go on?

Sharon: [laughs] Well sometimes, yeah sometime, I get very nervous depending on the gig but most of the time it just...something I've done since I was very young like we used to play for ceilidhs so we were on stage playing for hundreds of people dancing and stuff like that.

CAT: And do you feed off the crowd?

Sharon: Seeing them enjoy themselves is really good.

CAT: You've got a new album out haven't you? Tell me about that....

Sharon: Yeah, that's what we were kind of reproducing on stage earlier on, the new album. And it's kind of a collaboration between Michael McGoldrick, Dezi Donnelly and me and Jim Murray, the fella that normally plays the guitar with me. So we all wrote...wrote tunes, brand new tunes for the album er...

CAT: A true collaboration.

Sharon: Yeah and....erm.. it's been amazin'...we're really really delighted with it and erm...there's lots of other people playing on the album as well.. There's a big brass section and fantastic bass and drums and...

Continued