The Sharon Shannon Trio at Cottingham Civic Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire, Feb 10, 2023

Since the lockdowns lifted, the Irish accordionist Sharon Shannon has been touring enthusiastically and prolifically, even breezing into the fairly low key village of Cottingham, on the edges of Hull. Its Civic Hall lies right in the central market square, mostly presenting tribute bands, but occasionally booking acts such as Electric Six and Arrested Development. The gig is seated, and the audience of around 200 starts out with attentively cocked ears, roused into fully-cheering enthusiasm by the end of Shannon’s second set.

She’s touring with her trio this time, flanked by a pair of acoustic guitarists, Jim Murray and Jack Maher. When strumming, each of these players adopts a hard, percussive attack, as with many acoustic folk artists in recent times. Cranked up by a tough PA system, the duo lend a powerful momentum to the faster numbers, with more intricate embellishments usually handled by one player at a time. Shannon herself has a lusty approach to the button accordion, favouring fast runs of intricate vigour. Murray and Maher each take the pace down when they sing their original ballads, designed to give the band a rest, but also to broaden the mood palette.

Shannon also played a clutch of reels on her tin whistle, further opening out the range. She places a sponge under her left wrist, as the accordion fervour increases, offering ‘Duo In G’, which she picked up from an old De Danann album. Then a dainty mandolin makes a few appearances. It’s inevitable that a Shannon gig will climax with ‘Music For A Found Harmonium’, penned by Simon Jeffes of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. There is sound reason for this tradition, as it’s a phenomenally danceable number, and remarkable for the continually climaxing runaround of its key theme. This can’t be followed, other than by taking things down to a calmer level, with Steve Earle’s ‘Galway Girl’, another regular Shannon inclusion. This was the third time that your scribe has witnessed Shannon since late 2019, and there was a particular energy to this showing, a detail in the playing relationships that survived well in a concert setting, and a gradual awakening around the audience, genuinely responding to the growing momentum.