It can’t be easy being the daughter of a living music legend, particularly when you decide to follow the same career path. But Shana Morrison, the only child of Van and his former wife Janet Planet, appears to have handled it with few problems.

“I try not to worry what other people are going to think and just try to figure out what feels comfortable and right for myself,” she says. “This December I’ll have been singing professionally for ten years and I’ve never felt any pressure to perform in a certain style or to package myself in a certain way. People who know me know me because they’ve walked into a bar and saw me sing and later they might find out who I’m related to.”
Shana’s parents separated 30 years ago when she was just three years old and she was brought up by her mother in San Francisco, where she still lives. Any questions about her relationship with her father are deemed strictly out of bounds, even though he appears on two tracks on her current album, 7 Wishes.
“It wasn’t even planned that he would be on the album,” she explains. “We were in the studio and we listened back and we thought, ‘who could we get in to do the solos?’ I thought I’d like a harmonica on one track and then I thought well, ‘who’s a better harmonica player than my father?’ It just kind of came together that way and he sang as well which was great. It was very nice of him to do it.”
Her primary influences are, like her father’s mainly black music but her own style, she says is hard to pin down.
“Growing up I was primarily listening to soul, blues and jazz, then I was into Rickie Lee Jones, Steely Dan The Pretenders and Fleetwood Mac. Right now I like everything from Lucinda Williams to Solomon Burke.
Finally has Van offered any advice on her career and has she any plans to perform with him in the future?
“I can’t think of anything specifically he’s offered in the way of advice,” she says glazing over slightly at the mention of her famous dad. “As to whether we’ll perform together again – who knows?”

Shana Morrison appears at The Errigle Inn, Belfast (October 23); Roddy’s, Belfast (24); and Opera House, Cork (26). 7 Wishes is out now on Vanguard Records