Bio

“infectious and inventive,with brilliant vocals” -Hotpress

“I love it when I hear something this compelling and recognize it on a first listen” - Huffington post

I’m currently in the studio recording my debut album, which is coming along better then I had expected. We have most of the songs recorded and you can listen to the lead single ‘Damn Honey’ above. I hope to get the whole thing finished by the end of the month and will be releasing it in May. From the album you can expect upbeat funky tunes mixed with a hint of deep south guitar picking washed down with a bottle of Jack!

Damn Honey is due out on the 5th March and we are currently booking gigs and radio appearances for Feb and March. I’m also looking at touring the UK and Egypt in the coming months.

Last year was a big year for me. I got to play over 70 live shows and appear on close to 30 radio shows, including 9 BBC primetime shows and RTE Radio 1’s Today With Pat Kenny. I’m looking to return to each of these shows and have been offered a full band recording in the RTE Live Studio in the coming months. In September I brought my band over to Egypt for 2 weeks where we got to play some of the most amazing venues and even perform on National Egyptian TV and Radio.

A lot of people compare my music to that of Ray Lamontagne, Ryan Adams and Paolo Nutini, as you will find elements of jazz, soul, acoustic and rock and even folk which I guess comes from listening to artists like Credence, Van Morrrison, Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder. However, my influences stretch well beyond these icons.

I’ve been performing since I was very young, joining local brass band while still at school was where my musical career and love for the trumpet was born. I then won a music scholarship for school and went onto study orchestral trumpet and music composition at both the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. I also got to play with Irish youth orchestra for a few years.

After college I came very close to joining the army brass band but failed to show up to the drug test!… I know what you’re thinking, but the actual fact is, I found the whole thing very formal and regimented.

I had been singing and playing guitar with a number of bands since I was 13 so the natural progression was to put my hand to writing my own music. In the last three years I have developed both as a songwriter and performer. For the first time ever, I can say with hand on heart, that I feel truly happy with the sound that’s emerging. This is helped by a great backing band, who really get the music and make rehearsals and gigging seem effortless. Since going solo I’ve had the pleasure of opening for the likes of Lionel Richie, Smokey Robbinson and more recently Laura Izibor.

“Simon has put life into jazz/pop music and made himself a cocktail of some cracking song’s, it’s got every angle going for it in both chart and live music success I am loving this Ep all the way” - MusicReview.com

“Bring the Dance is a high energy jazzy number that raises the bar for singer songwriters everywhere. The song’s composition, vibrant sound and Simon’s vocal performance surpass anything released by any recent male, Irish, singer songwriters.” – Dop-d.ie