At Home With... Sharon Shannon

For almost 20 years Sharon Shannon has been mesmerizing audiences at home and abroad with her exhilarating accordion playing. The Clare virtuoso’s latest album, Renegade, sees her once again blending styles and genres into an accessible melange of sounds.

When not touring the world, Shannon spends her time in Galway where she is lucky enough to have two homes. Her main abode is a period terraced house near the promenade in Salthill, which she shares with long-time boyfriend Leo.
“I’ve actually lived around here since 1988 but I bought this place about seven years ago,” she explains. “I like old houses and I love doing them up. I got the builders in straight away to put in a nice big kitchen – a nice bright space which is perfect for having friends over for sessions – and we have a lot of sessions (laughs).”
In fact, her home has hosted a good many dinner parties. “The way it usually works is, if there’s a gang of us in the pub after closing time, we head back somewhere. Usually it ends up being my house.”
Presumably, the long suffering neighbours have become well used to the late night sounds regularly wafting from the Shannon household?
“Oh they don’t hear too much as the walls are nice and thick, but they love music anyway and they’d generally be invited in to join the party,” she says.
“Only the other night we had a fantastic time playing records and dancing. This guy Nathan Pilatzke from Canada and his brother John do this amazing dancing – kind of jazzy, but they move their whole bodies. There was a whole rake of us there and it was fantastic. We’ve had everyone in from Maura O’Connell, to Damien Dempsey and Declan O’Rourke. It’s usually all about loads of tunes, laughing a lot and crazy dancing.”
Shannon works hard for much of the year touring and recording. She’s just about to head over to the UK for some dates and she heads back to Australia for a tour this autumn, before embarking on an Irish tour in December. A self-confessed homebird, she likes nothing better than spending time in Galway doing as little as possible.
“I just love being at home,” she beams. “People ask me all the time to go on holidays with them, but I love every minute that I spend here. I’m very good at relaxing, just doing nothing, but I have three dogs and they take up a lot of time.”
She enjoys walking on the promenade and going for a swim in the sea. She also likes to cook. “I love hearty food, there’s a chicken casserole thing I do with loads of garlic. But I love curries, Thai food fish anything really. I don’t watch a lot of TV or DVDs but I might sit down and watch a bit of comedy stuff like Family Guy and Friends. I don’t like Lost, but there’s this thing called Heroes I’ve been enjoying lately.”
While the Salthill pad is her main hang-out, today we find her in her other home – a restored stone cottage located in the heart of rural Galway between Craughwell and Kilcolgen, which she co-owns with long time manager John Dunford.
She uses it mainly for writing and recording: “It was a total ruin when I bought it, but we’ve done it up and it’s lovely now and it’s saved us a fortune in studio time. Most of the time I’m here for work but for me it’s not real work. I like just writing and chilling out. It’s still home for me – a friend of mine Cathriona lives here all the time and she keeps the house looking lovely, with flowers all over the place and she’s a great cook as well. We have a lot of sessions here too and there’s loads of bunk beds for anyone who wants to stay over.”
Looking back over her two decades in the spotlight Shannon has more memories to savour than most, including a Late Late Show special dedicated to her and playing in the White House for President Clinton to name just two highlights. But she recalls her early days playing with The Waterboys as a special time in her career: “I went from playing in small pubs to headlining the main stage in Glastonbury and that just blew me away,” she says. “It was an amazing couple of years, a magical feeling and a very happy time for everyone in the band. I was so young as well, so it really opened my eyes. But I was really well looked after, staying in nice hotels, travelling in tour buses. And we had sessions everywhere, all the time.
“But at the moment, the way the live scene is going, the gigs are bigger and better than ever,” she concludes. "I have an amazing time on the road with the big band. It’s a big powerful monster of a rock and roll band. I’ve never been happier.”

Renegade is out now on the Daisy label.