Shannon McNamee

Shannon McNamee is Assistant Editor of the Journal of Music.

Latest Music Appointments and Awards (November 2024)
A round-up of recent news from Limerick Jazz, NI Music Prize, the Camille Awards, Culture Ireland, West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival and the Contemporary Music Centre, and Tønder Festival.
Latest Music Appointments and Awards (October 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards including news from the Arts Council, National Concert Hall, Maynooth University, Frank Maher Classical Music Awards, IMRO and more. Compiled by Shannon McNamee.
‘An absolute love letter to Cork’: An Interview with Jonathan Pearson of the Quiet Lights Festival
Jonathan Pearson – currently based between LA and Ireland – and production company Islander have recently announced the fifth edition of the alternative folk festival Quiet Lights. He speaks to Shannon McNamee about the ethos of the festival and its Cork roots.
‘We missed the community and we missed the artists’: Black Gate Launch Fundraising Campaign for New Venue in Galway City
The new premises on Flood Street will include a music venue, bar and recording studio and will open in the coming months.
'We’ve recorded in the back of people's cars, fire escapes. Wherever we can record, we’ll record': An Interview with Bricknasty on the Release of their new Mixtape
Dublin-based band Bricknasty have just released 'XONGZ አስቀያሚ ጡብ’, a collection of tracks blending R&B, jazz and soul with improvisation. Fatboy, Dara Abdurahman and Louis Younge from the band speak with Shannon McNamee.
Latest Music Appointments and Awards (September 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards including news from Sligo Baroque Music Festival, the Arts Council, Music Network, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Fingal County Council. Compiled by Shannon McNamee.
'We just wanted to get people dancing': Ar Ais Arís Club Night Releases Second EP
Hannah Hession from the Ar Ais Arís electronic club night in Galway speaks to Shannon McNamee about their newly launched label and the ethos behind their events.
Latest Music Appointments and Awards (July/August 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards including news from the Fedora Prize, Improvised Music Company, Glyndebourne and more. Compiled by Shannon McNamee.
'There was this echo of Irish and something calling me to the tradition': Amano and Kalabanx Release Experimental Irish-Language EP
Kerry singer-songwriter Amano speaks to Shannon McNamee about her new release with Kalabanx that combines sean-nós and electronic music. She performs at Fuinneamh festival in Dundalk next month.
'Something extra in their hearts': Another Love Story Marks 10 Years
Emmet Condon of Another Love Story speaks to Shannon McNamee about plans for this year's festival, which takes place on 23–25 August.
‘It’s community-driven … it feels kind of DIY and grassroots because of where we've come from’: Féile na Gréine Announces 2024 Line-up
Limerick festival to feature Trá Pháidín, Landless, Blue Whale, Tandem Felix, Anenome, Junk Drawer and Crying Loser.
Latest Music and Arts Appointments and Awards (June 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music and the arts, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from Improvised Music Company, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, WDR Funkhausorchester in Cologne, ASCAP, the Arts Council and more.
Latest Music and Arts Appointments and Awards (May 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music and the arts, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from the Arts Council, Dublin Sound Lab, Contemporary Music Centre and Chamber Choir Ireland, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Music Network, Lime Tree Theatre and Belltable, Project Arts Centre, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Latest Music Appointments and Awards (April 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from the Centre Culturel Irlandais, RTÉ, Opera North, Dublin City Council, Berklee College of Music, and Waterford City and County Council.
New Irish Music Releases (3 April)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles compiled by Shannon McNamee, including Lemoncello, Ar Ais Arís, Aengus Hackett Trio, Anselm McDonnell, Seán Clancy, Rufous Nightjar, Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and more.
Latest Music Appointments and Awards (March 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from the RTÉ Choice Music Prize; University of Galway; Cork International Choral Festival; First Music Contact; Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship; and Glyndebourne.
New Irish Music Releases (8 February)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles compiled by Shannon McNamee, including NewDad, Leonard Barry, Niamh Regan, Ailbhe McDonagh, Megan Nic Ruairí, Ispíní na hÉireann, Houseplants, and Pádraic Keane, Aidan Connolly, Fergus McGorman and Ruairí McGorman.
Latest Appointments and Awards in Music (January 2024)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from the Brit Awards, NÓS, the Clarsach Society and the Edinburgh International Harp Festival, Sligo Jazz Project, Opera North, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The Irish for Hip Hop
'Ó Bheal', a new documentary on Irish hip hop, was broadcast on TG4 earlier this month. Shannon McNamee reviews.
Latest Appointments and Awards in Music (December 2023)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from Maynooth University, the Arts Council and University College Cork, the Royal Philharmonic Society, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, the National Concert Hall and Music Leaders Network.
New Releases (30 November 2023)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles compiled by Shannon McNamee, including Michael Gallen, Penji, Rachael Lavelle, Junior Brother, NewDad, Sam Perkin, Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, Réalta, Louis Stewart, Resurgam, and more.
Latest Appointments and Awards in Music (November 2023)
A round-up of recent appointments and awards in music, compiled by Shannon McNamee, with news from the Frank Maher Classical Music Awards, the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, the NI Music Prize, University of Galway, Scottish Opera, the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble, BBC Radio 1, the Barbican, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the BBC Philharmonic.
New Releases (24 October)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles compiled by Shannon McNamee, including CMAT, The Line, Ye Vagabonds, The Mary Wallopers, Nealo, Naomi Berrill, Kojaque, Martin Simpson and Thomm Jutz, and more.
New Releases (21 September)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles compiled by Shannon McNamee, including Mick Flannery, Crash Ensemble, Elaine Malone, John Francis Flynn, TRÚ, Sorcha Richardson, The Mary Wallopers, Danny Carroll and more.
New Releases (10 August)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles including Alfi, Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Myles O'Reilly, Rhiannon Giddens, Mick Flannery, Plúirín na mBan, Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band, Soda Blonde, Tony Linnane, Orla Gartland and more.
New Releases (29 June)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles, including Grian Chatten, Ailís Ní Ríain, Brigid Mae Power, Ailbhe McDonagh, Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Myles O'Reilly, Cairi Jacks, Alfi, Clare Sands and Brian Finnegan, ØXN and more.
New Releases (1 June)
The Journal of Music's regular round-up of recent albums and singles, including CMAT, Slow Moving Clouds, Daniel Luke, Dani Larkin, Síle Denvir, Sandra Joyce, Willzee, Bricknasty and more.
A Generation Without Hope
In the music of today, you can hear the hopelessness of today's youth as they face a catalogue of dark, gloomy issues, writes Shannon McNamee.
CMAT Sees Us Through
Irish pop singer CMAT's debut album went to number one in the Irish charts in its very first week. An original songwriter with a witty online presence, she has come to mean even more than that for her fans, writes Shannon McNamee.
David Keenan's Sense of Place
Over the last decade, a number of remarkable artists have emerged from the music scene in Dundalk, David Keenan key among them. This month, he released his poetic second album, "What Then?". But what is it about this border town that generated a different type of music scene, and why now? Shannon McNamee writes about her home county and Keenan's unique voice.