Shane Hennessy is an Irish virtuoso guitarist, songwriter, & composer. Coming from a background in Irish traditional music, Shane has been captivating audiences globally for the past few years, with sell-out solo tours in Europe, Russia, and the United States under his belt, as well as regular appearances at major international music festivals including the prestigious MerleFest. His most recent album ‘Rain Dance’ has been hailed as “a triumphant reaffirmation of his virtuosity and compositional excellence” by Irish Music Magazine. He has appeared as a guest of Tommy Emmanuel, worked with Grammy-winner Bill Whelan (composer of Riverdance), and counts Nile Rodgers of CHIC as one of his most high-profile fans and supporters.
Described by legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel as “a brilliant entertainer and an amazing musician who transcends the guitar the same way Muhammed Ali transcended boxing”, Shane has developed an unmistakably unique voice as a fingerstyle guitarist, blending his native Irish music with elements of jazz, country, blues, funk, classical, soul, world, and hip-hop, both vocally and instrumentally.
His live shows are known for their energy and variety - anything from Bach to Beyoncé! Irish Music Magazine have called him “one of the most exciting live performers of his generation”, and attest to his “virtuosity and compositional excellence” (April 2020 edition).
In 2019, Shane was a firm favourite on the festival scene in the United States, appearing at prestigious roots festivals such as MerleFest and Appaloosa, as well as numerous Irish and Celtic Festivals including Milwaukee Irish Fest (WI), Kansas City Irish Fest (MO), Irish Fest Chicago (IL), Michigan Irish Music Fest (Muskegon, MI), and many more.
Shane has released four albums of original music - Zephyrus (2015), and Marrakech (2017), and most recently Rain Dance (2020), and Idircheol (2020). In 2017 he sold out a solo show in Ireland’s National Concert Hall for the release of Marrakech. In 2020 he released Rain Dance on a livestream supported by Culture Ireland’s #IrelandPerforms initiative which garnered an enormous worldwide audience of 120,000 viewers. He has also received funding from The Arts Council of Ireland to produce Idircheol - an album of solo guitar music that combines Irish traditional influences with his unique fingerstyle guitar approach, music from which featured in the 2020 TG4 Television production ‘Samhlú’. Shane performed as the lead guitarist in a six-piece ensemble, alongside pianist Máire Carroll and contemporary group Crash Ensemble, for the 2018 world première of ‘Educo’ by Riverdance composer and Grammy-winner Bill Whelan. Shane is also a MusicNotes.com Signature Artist, and is an official educator and course creator with the TrueFire teaching platform.
To quote Marty Whelan of RTÉ Radio (Ireland): “There was part of me that didn't really believe that he could do what he does on one guitar until he came into the studio, sat down in front of me, and played. I thought there had to be loops, or extra tracks, or recording tricks, and there was none of that - my jaw dropped! What a talent!”