Irish virtuoso guitarist Shane Hennessy has established himself as one of the leading guitarists on the world stage, known widely for his fingerstyle, flatpicking, and percussive guitar-playing approaches. His energetic live performances and his cinematically-vivid compositions tie in influences from Bach to Beyoncé – and everything in between! With a unique style of solo guitar playing that encompasses the range of a whole band – covering drums, bass, rhythm and lead lines – Shane builds a complete sonic world entirely on his own.

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A musician from a young age, Shane credits his background in Irish traditional music as the base on which he has built his genre-defying musical explorations. Initially a concertina player under the tuition of the renowned Mícheál Ó Raghallaigh, he achieved successes in the Fleadh Cheoil competitions in Ireland. He then turned to the guitar aged twelve inspired by the music of James Taylor. Becoming more interested in songwriting and in music in general, it was when he discovered the styles of Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins that his interest in solo performance blossomed. Since that time, he has toured the world with thousands of shows under his belt, four albums of music, and a proven track record as a performer, songwriter, arranger, accompanist, and session musician.

 

Billed as “one of the most exciting live performers of his generation, with an ability to move between styles and genres with ease” by Irish Music Magazine, audiences can never be too sure what will come next during the exciting mix of jazz, blues, country, soul, traditional Irish music, and world music he offers. With the addition of some smooth vocals, genre-hopping improvisations, and well-arranged covers, it makes sense why music legend super-producer Nile Rodgers (CHIC) thinks that “his style is killer, it’s really cool stuff”, and why guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel says that Shane “transcends the guitar the same way Muhammed Ali transcended boxing”.

 

Over the course of a performance, Hennessy brings the audience from elatory highs to the depths of reflection, delivering stories, anecdotes, and off-the-cuff remarks with the same passion he holds for the music he performs. He says himself that it is hard to describe in words what he does on stage without experiencing it in person, but it becomes clear upon witnessing his performance why his tour schedule is so hectic. In 2019 alone, his tour schedule covered much of mainland Europe, Russia, and the United States, the pinnacle of this world tour being a solo set at the prestigious MerleFest in North Carolina, widely recognised as a mecca of Americana and Roots music in the USA.

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Along with his career as a solo artist, Shane has also been involved in production and writing with a number of artists including Chloë Agnew (Celtic Woman), Lisa Canny, and The Ashley Davis Band. He has also given numerous lectures and guitar workshops all over the world for guitarists and musicians eager to learn more about his unique musical approach. Shane is an official educator on TrueFire.com, and hosts a channel 'The Fretboard Atlas' on the TrueFire platform. Shane is also a MusicNotes.com Signature Artist and publishes his guitar arrangements via the MusicNotes.com database.

 

Still, given his successes to date, Shane is always eager to keep pushing the boundaries of what he can do on one guitar. To quote RTÉ Radio host Marty Whelan: “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!”

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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the postponement of most concerts until further notice, Shane has kept busy by releasing two studio albums, launching a teaching platform, and taking advantage of numerous online and virtual performance opportunities. At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Shane began streaming live concerts from his home in Ireland on all his major social media outlets. His third studio album Rain Dance was released on a livestream concert supported by Culture Ireland's #IrelandPerforms initiative in April 2020 which garnered an enormous audience of 120,000 people.

 

In December 2020, Shane released Idircheol, an album of original Traditional Irish-influenced music composed specifically for solo guitar, a project supported by The Arts Council (Ireland). Shane also featured prominently in the TG4/Creative Ireland production "Samhlú" in December 2020, where Shane was featured not only as a performer in the show, but also composed music for the show, and took the role as guitarist in Bill Whelan's piece of the same name, "Samhlú". Shane also featured in the US Embassy in Ireland's Creative Minds Showcase series during Summer 2020, and was awarded a Music Network Music Capital grant in late 2020.

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In 2021, Shane launched his teaching channel The Fretboard Atlas in partnership with leading teaching platform TrueFire.com. He has appeared as a featured artist twice on national television, firstly on Temple Bar TradFest (The Dublin Castle Sessions) and again on Fleadhfest TV. In 2022 Shane appeared as a headline act for the first time at the prestigious Walnut Valley Music Festival, (Winfield, Kansas) home of the world fingerpicking and flatpicking guitar championships. On March 16th 2023, Shane débuted on The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, performing his original composition "Effervescent". Later in 2023, a seven-week tour encompassed much of the United States, including numerous festival headline sets.

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Shane is currently working on new music to be released in 2024.