Greenshine keeping it in the family
“OUR SONGS ARE DRAWN FROM STORIES WE SEE AROUND US, THE UPS AND DOWNS, TRIUMPHS AND STRUGGLES OF EVERYDAY LIFE”
It didn’t take a lot of time for Noel Shine and Mary Greene to come up with a name for their band – Greenshine – and they didn’t travel too far from home for their singer either, the couple’s daughter Ellie.
Though their songs regularly feature nowadays on John Creedon’s Radio 1 show and other radio stations such as Cork103, the family group have been on the road for decades though it was when they formed a band with their daughter and released their first album as Greenshine in 2016 that they hit the heights of Ireland’s charts.
The Girl In the Lavender Dress reached Number 1 on iTunes Ireland Singer Songwriter chart. Written by Mary Greene it’s a very positive song telling the story of a girl in a lavender dress walking through the fields with her whole life in front of her. Sung with Ellie’s fresh voice, it seemed to strike a note with people.
The latest Greenshine album ‘Family’ was released in June and gigs are coming thick and fast with appearances at this weekend’s Drimoleague Singing Festival, and the Cork Folk Festival next week.
According to Noel, who hails from Clare originally, he’s always had an interest in music, starting
HOME RECORDING HELPS US TO THE BEST WORK WE CAN DO AS IT REMOVES A LOT OF THE STRESS
out on the tin whistle and graduating to a guitar when he turned 13. He played in the Moy Castle Céilí Band and picked up various other instruments along the way as eventually arrived in Cork where his aunt was owner of the famed Phoenix Bar, a venue which hosted some legendary gigs by the likes of Christy Moore, Mary Black, Andy Irvine, John Martyn and Dick Gaughan. He was in a duo with John Spillane for a spell before he met Mary Greene, from Dunmore East in County Waterford originally, at the Cork Folk Festival in 1984.
They teamed up in more ways than one and set off on what seems like a non stop tour of Ireland for ten years, travelling abroad to the UK, Canada and the US as well.
The arrival of their children, Sadie and then Ellie, didn’t stop their gallop though they did settle down more, not travelling as much beyond Ireland’s shores.
They are still travelling from their Reidh na nDoirí base in the Múscraí Gaeltacht. While Ellie sings with the band, Sadie has also been on both Greenshine albums so she’s also regarded as part of the group.
“It was complicated at time trying to juggle a musical and family life,” says Noel. “The grannies came in handy”.
While the band are known for their musicality and harmonies – they’re very much in tune with each other - more and more of their own songs are appearing on their albums.
“Mary continues to be the main songwriter for the band with occasional contributions from myself and more recently Ellie has begun writing with Mary and has had a couple of these collaborations on our latest album.”
A song Noel wrote with Mary as a commission to mark the 40th anniversary of Cork Folk Festival will be premiered at the Gals At Play event on Saturday, October 5, in Cork’s Spailpín Fánach.
Their songs are drawn from their own life experiences, their ups and downs of everyday life and the natural beauty of Muskerry where they live.
After the success of The Girl In The Lavender Dress, Greenshine songs have continued to pop up in the charts.
“Since then several of our singles have reached the top spot on the RTE 1 airplay chart.”
The advances of technology means they can record their albums at home.
“Home recording helps us to do the best work we can do as it takes a lot of the stress out of it and allows us to experiment and to have fun without watching the clock.”
The addition of Ellie to the band has given it an extra dimension.
“Ellie has had a tremendous effect on us in that she has added a whole new dimension to the sound - a third voice in a family harmony has a resonance that is very striking,” says Noel.
“She has brough a depth to the material, contributing songs that are timeless, reaching back into musical history as well as songs newly written.”
Read – and hear – more at greenshine.com.