A History to Date..........................
Noel Shannon comes from Ireland's second city Cork. Situated in the middle of the south coast and a major music centre in Ireland, it's no wonder that a city which has produced such fine musicians and songwriters such as Rory Gallagher, Jimmy Mc. Carthy and Freddie White ; would also have a strong musical influence on this outstanding performer.
Noel's earliest musical exposure began in traditional music and Ballad singing and gradually drifted into the 'pub scene' around his native Cork in 1986. During this period '86 - '92 Noel performed extensively on the scene in Cork as part of a very successful duo called "Shoestring". At one venue this duo held a Sunday night residency for two years and supported groups in Cork such as The Fureys, The Dublin City Ramblers and The Wolfe Tones.
Having come to the Netherlands in 1992 and now based in Zwolle, Noel concentrated on playing on the Irish Pub circuit in Germany between 1993 - 1998, at first using Holland as a base and later from out of Scandanavia.
In recent years Noel has also performed extensively in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and has made the odd "excursion" to Spain and Greece. Noel has decided since 1998 to concentrate "indefinitely" on performing in Holland .
In 1992 Noel Recorded his first CD in Holland entitled "Reason or Rhyme" and further a live recording in 1999 at O Kelly's Irish Pub in Groningen with a colleague and close friend, Mark Gilligan. Samples of these CD's can be heard also on this site.
Since 1992 Noel has performed at numerous festivals in Holland and Europe, the most famous being the annual Irish Festival in Bergen - op - Zoom organised through the "Celitc Shop", and his plans for the future are to record another CD in 2001 and to continue to perform on the Dutch circuit.
With a total range of material in his repetoir from traditional Irish music to acoustic Rock and everything in between, including songs of his own creation, this outstanding and experienced performer can rise to any challenge and deliver a pleasurable and entertaining experience for any listener. Definitely an artist not to be missed
In 2001 Noel recorded a new CD which again feature a combination of his own material and "borrowed material".. This long awaited CD produced and aranged by Chris Jones is a serious attempt to demonstrate the versatility of this artist. "Best Foot Forward " contains origonal & covered material and all in all is well worth the effort to obtain a copy.
PRESS QUOTES:
Frankfurter Presse said :
"Shannon, the solo little guy with the totally smooth head, metallic
baritone & only guitar but with a big show talent, really got the audience
excited"
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