Instrumentalist Sharon Shannon is known for her skills on the accordion and fiddle but there is one big misconception she battles against.

“Loads of people say to me: ‘I love your voice,’” she says. “A lot of the time I don’t even put them wise in case they would be embarrassed.”

Too polite to correct people’s well-intentioned remarks, Sharon is as down-to-earth as you would expect. She is also a musician who is not afraid to experiment, from mixing traditional Irish music with hip hop to the African beats incorporated in her latest album.

Originally from Corofin in Co Clare, Sharon and her three siblings were raised with music.

“My parents were always stone mad for music, always loved music,” she says. “They started us off playing music when we were very young – I was only eight. We all started off on tin whistles and progressed on to other instruments a few years later.”

Years later, when Sharon’s mother pushed her to pursue a third-level education, it became apparent music was more than a hobby.

“I did go to college in Cork for a year – that is as long as I stuck it out. I took up the fiddle when I was down there and I played it for around eight hours every day,” she says.

“Then after that … my mother really wanted me to continue (to third-level education). My older sister was beginning a secretarial course in Limerick, so that was my compromise. I said how about I do this course with Majella, then we’ll call it quits.”

Looking back, she understands her mother’s concern,

“I must have given her so many heart attacks as a teenager because she wanted us all to have really secure jobs. To her, the idea of playing music for a living wasn’t secure. I suppose she was very right to be worried, you have to be at the right place at the right time.

“All during that time and my school years, I had gigs. I had plenty of gigs the whole time. I was really lucky that I never had to have a normal job to pay my bills.”

Perhaps helped in no small part by her own popularity and the success of other acts, Sharon thinks it is easier to make a living out of trad music in Ireland.

“Trad music wasn’t half as popular when I was a teenager. I was one of the only students in my class who used to play,” she says.

“These days there are more playing music for a living, a lot more than 25 years ago or 30 years ago when I was trying to negotiate with my parents.

“There are hundreds and thousands of young people playing music for a living these days. Riverdance did amazing things for dancers as well.”

However, Sharon, who grew up on a farm, almost took another path – show jumping.

“Our horses were pets. We used to bring them inside with us. We had this gentle way of training them as well, it was never forced. It was all positive and encouraging them. I adored the horses. I felt we were a team. I don’t do it any more though – the music took over,” she says.

“I hate cruelty to animals. I’m very involved with trying to promote animal rights and animal welfare. I love all animals, not just companion animals,” she adds.

Galway girl

Undoubtedly, Sharon’s most popular collaboration was with Mundy for Galway Girl, which she originally recorded with Steve Earle. The song, now a wedding staple, enjoyed a huge amount of radio play in 2007 and 2008 and has resulted in another misconception.

“Loads of people think I’m from Galway but I’m a proud Clare woman,” she laughs

“I’m just amazed by the success of it … it seems to be never-ending,” she adds.

“It had several lucky breaks – it was on a Bulmers advert and it was on the film PS I Love You, so that was a big thing for it in the States. Ray D’Arcy was a great supporter as well, he played it on Today FM an awful lot, as did Tom Dunne. Radio play is the biggest key of all to something becoming successful.

“It would be good to get some kind of campaign going to get Irish music played more on the radio and get some good, decent support going. Some DJs are great but it would be great if everyone loved (trad music).”

Sharon’s new record, Sacred Earth, is out now. It’s her 10th solo studio album.

“There is a lot of different styles on it. There is a one familiar thread or theme throughout … we have African rhythms running and playing along with it,” she says.

The use of African music is something she has been thinking about for a long time.

“I never has the opportunity to do it, or the funding either. At long last, it’s done now. We had help from an amazing musician called Justin Adams, who has done and awful lot of work with African musicians in the last 20 to 25 years.”

Sharon may not sing, as some think, but she has her own sound.

“I just really love, adore, straight, traditional Irish music, but I like to keep it fresh as well,” she says. CL

Sacred Earth by Sharon Shannon is out now