Search Results for 'Etta James'

Celebrate the power of women in the history of the blues with ‘Ladies in the Blues’ music theatre show, from the gospel roots of the 1920s, through vaudeville and jazz, to the blues rock of the sixties and seventies.

TRACY BRUEN is something of a Renaissance woman - singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, band leader, theatre director, and actor - talents that will combine at her Galway show next week, ahead of her German tour.

SHE GREW up 100 miles from London in the English East Midlands city of Leicester, but being away from the metropolis has proven an advantage for Mahalia, and her dreams of a career in music.

JOE FOX is not a man who does things in the traditional manner. He is a musician who admits he used to believe, "music always seemed like a very elitist thing”, and once thought it was odd that a friend of his kept a guitar in his house.

Raised in the heart of Mayo, surrounded by her musical family Joanne Keegan was encouraged to develop her innate talent for singing, playing guitar and fiddle from the age of ten. Her father Tony sang American country and often rebel songs at bedtime and Marion her mother ensured she received a rich traditional upbringing. She discovered Etta James, BB King, Sippie Wallis, Janis Ian in her early teens and it was a natural progression for her to move towards studying Dramatic arts and music performance. Gaining confidence singing in musicals she joined a band in Galway as a backing vocalist but it was whilst busking around Europe in her late teens that she discovered her true voice. After many years of diarising her experiences she attended IMRO song writing workshops in Dublin and Killarney, writing with Kieran Mc Evoy which cemented her vocation.

THE BLACK Magic Big Band celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion the band will be in concert in An Taibhdhearc this evening at 8pm.