Joseph Ronald Drew was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners.
O is the debut studio album by Irish musician Damien Rice, originally released on 1 February 2002, in Ireland and in the United Kingdom. The album is dedicated to Rice's friend Mic Christopher, who died of a head injury in 2001.
Aslan are an Irish rock band from Dublin who formed in 1982. Composed of Christy Dignam, Joe Jewell, Billy McGuinness, Alan Downey, the band has released six studio albums: Feel No Shame (1988), Goodbye Charlie Moonhead (1994), Here Comes Lucy Jones (1997), Waiting For This Madness To End (2001), For Some Strange Reason (2007) and Nudie Books and Frenchies (2012).
Damien Dempsey is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk with contemporary lyrics to deliver social commentary. He sings in English, and to a lesser extent in Irish.
Seize the Day is an album by Damien Dempsey released in Ireland in 2003 on Clear Records via Sony. In the UK it was released via IRL and in the USA it was released on Attack Records a subsidiary of Sanctuary Records. In the UK and USA, the title track was not hidden.
Shots is a 2005 studio album by the Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey which was released in Ireland and the United Kingdom in March 2005. It is the third studio album released by the singer-songwriter. Brian Eno provides backing vocals on the opening track "Sing All Your Cares Away". The album discusses a diverse range of topics including oppression, slavery, drugs and poverty.
Sharon Shannon is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, Sharon Shannon, was the best-selling album of traditional Irish music ever released in Ireland. Beginning with Irish folk music, her work demonstrates a wide-ranging number of musical influences. She won the lifetime achievement award at the 2009 Meteor Awards.
Collaborations is a compilation album released by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor in 2005. The album contains songs recorded throughout O'Connor's career on which she collaborated with a variety of artists, spanning several different genres of music. Many of these tracks appeared on the albums of the artists with whom O'Connor performs. The tracks "Empire" and "Heroine" also appear on So Far... The Best of Sinéad O'Connor, released in 1997. One track - "Monkey in Winter" - had never been never released on CD before, and was previously released as B-side on a 12" only.
Lo'Jo is a French band, gathering a group of France-based musicians of various origins, performing and recording a blend of world music, with strong gipsy, North African as well as French folk elements.
Ciarán Farrell is an Irish composer who has been active in his field since graduating from Trinity College Dublin in 1997. He has composed works for orchestra, ensemble, choir, and solo instruments, as well as for TV and film productions.
The 2009 Meteor Music Awards ceremony took place on 17 March 2009 in the RDS, Dublin. It was the ninth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was recorded and it aired on RTÉ Two on 18 March 2009. The awards show was hosted by television presenter Amanda Byram.
The 2006 Meteor Music Awards took place in the Point Theatre, Dublin on 2 February 2006. It was the sixth edition of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later aired on RTÉ Two on at 21:00 on Sunday 5 February. The awards show was hosted by the comedian Patrick Kielty. A total of seventeen awards were presented at the ceremony. U2 were the largest winners at the 2006 awards, receiving three gongs, Best Irish Band, Best Irish Album for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and Best Live Performance for their 2005 Croke Park shows. The band's bassist Adam Clayton attended the show and picked up the awards. The four international awards were divided between Kanye West, Gwen Stefani and Kaiser Chiefs. The Pogues were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award, whilst Today FM presenter Ray D'Arcy was named Best Irish DJ for a second consecutive year. After the awards Louis Walsh was caught red-handed in an embarrassing situation with Kerry Katona when he gripped her from behind and did something naughty and rude.
The 2008 Meteor Music Awards ceremony was held in the RDS, Dublin, on Friday, 15 February 2008. Nineteen awards were presented. It was the eighth edition of the Republic of Ireland's national music awards. The event was later broadcast on RTÉ Two on Saturday, 16 February at 21:00. The comedian Dara Ó Briain hosted the awards for the first time since 2004 Duke Special and Cathy Davey won the Best Irish Male and Best Irish Female Awards respectively, whilst veteran rockers Aslan won the Best Irish Band Award and Paddy Casey's Addicted to Company won Best Irish Album. For the eighth consecutive year Westlife won the Best Irish Pop Act accolade. Ham Sandwich were presented with the Hope for 2008 Meteor Award by RTÉ 2fm DJ Rick O'Shea. The Blizzards won Best Irish Live Performance for their Main Stage appearance at Oxegen 2007, whilst Muse picked up the award for Best International Live Performance, which also occurred at Oxegen the previous year. The award for the Most Downloaded Song was given to Mundy and Sharon Shannon's chart hit "Galway Girl". The Saw Doctors were presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award and were also amongst the performers at the event.
The 2004 Meteor Music Awards were held on Monday 1 March 2004, hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain. It was the fourth edition of Ireland's national music awards. At the ceremony Damien Dempsey was presented with two awards, Best Folk/ Traditional Act and Best Irish Country/Roots Artist. Samantha Mumba made an appearance in a revealing see-through dress, Colin Farrell was pictured with both Bono and Chris Pontius whilst Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith posed with Sharon Corr after both collected awards. Performers included Lionel Richie, Katie Melua, Counting Crows, The Corrs, Sugababes, Westlife, Hothouse Flowers, The Frames, The Dubliners, Snow Patrol, Paddy Casey and Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club. Award presenters included Dominic West, Bic Runga and Alex Zane, actors George McMahon and Patrick Bergin, No Frontiers presenter Kathryn Thomas alongside Kerry McFadden, Miss World Rosanna Davison, Keith Duffy, Niall Quinn, Deirdre O'Kane, Denis Hickie, Joe Elliott and Hector Ó hEochagáin. The event was broadcast on RTÉ Two on Wednesday 3 March at 21:00.
Siobhán O'Brien is a singer-songwriter who performs with acoustic guitar and harmonica. O'Brien has performed with Bob Dylan, The San Diego Symphony, The Chieftains and supported such acts as Christy Moore, Donovan, Damien Dempsey, Pete Cummings, Sharon Shannon, Henry McCullough, Maria McKee, Mick Flannery, Paul Brady and the Cranberries. Her solo work incorporates traditions of American song, including folk, blues, country, rock and English, Scottish and Irish traditional music.
I'd Rather Go Blonde is the eighth album in a twenty-year career that has seen Eleanor McEvoy establish herself as one of Ireland's most accomplished singer / songwriters. The album features eleven new songs, nine of which were penned by McEvoy, one which was co-written with former Beautiful South man Dave Rotheray and, finally, there's a cover of Good Times by Sam Cooke.
Lifelines is the second studio album by Andrea Corr. It was released on 29 May 2011 as a digital download and 30 May 2011 on CD. The album consists of covers of songs by The Velvet Underground, Kirsty MacColl, Harry Nilsson, Ron Sexsmith, Nick Drake, The Blue Nile and others. The lead single, "Tinseltown in the Rain", was released to the iTunes Store on 17 April 2011. As well as standard CD and digital download releases, the album was released as a special limited edition with a bonus DVD containing exclusive performances and interviews. To promote the album, Corr has performed songs from it at shows in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Salford and at the Isle of Wight Festival 2011. She has also promoted it in media interviews and in performances around Europe.
How About I Be Me? is the ninth full-length album by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor released in Ireland on 2 March 2012 on Shamrock Solutions and 5 March 2012 in the United Kingdom on One Little Indian. The first single "The Wolf Is Getting Married" was released on 24 February in Ireland and got to number 40 for one week, accompanied by a video directed by Roman Rappak, lead singer of Breton.
Almighty Love is the sixth studio album by the Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey. Four years in the making, the album once again features Dempsey with long-time producer John Reynolds with Sinéad O'Connor again providing backing vocals on several tracks.
Gerry O'Connor is a traditional tenor banjo player. As Earl Hitchener said, Gerry O'Connor can be considered at the moment "the single best four string banjoist in the history of Irish Music". He also plays mandolin, fiddle, guitar and tenor guitar.
