One of Irish music’s brightest and best-loved stars, Clare-born accordionist Sharon Shannon combines deep love of tradition with a boundless appetite for collaboration across musical genres, having worked with artists ranging from the late great John Prine to Japan’s Kodo drummers. Her latest album, 2020’s The Reckoning, marked 30 years since she embarked on a solo career, comprising all-new, all-original tunes composed during lockdown, and featuring remotely-recorded guest appearances from Le Vent du Nord, Dreamers’ Circus, Justin Adams and Linton Kwesi Johnson, among others. In Shannon’s uniquely gifted hands, Irish traditional tunes become a truly universal language.

The Trials of Cato won Best Album at 2019’s Radio 2 Folk Awards for their debut release Hide and Hair, catapulting them to the forefront of English roots music. A footstomping blend of folk, jazz, Americana and Middle Eastern flavours, featuring mandolin, banjo, bouzouki, guitar and vocals, their irresistibly dynamic sound continues to evolve apace on forthcoming second album Gog Magog.