Singer from Ireland.
With three critically acclaimed albums under her belt, Donegal singer/songwriter Jacqui Sharkey has become a well-known name on the UK and Irish music scene.
Raised just south of Glasgow, Jacqui’s music career began as a teenager on the city’s folk scene, and despite pursuing a career in Law in her native Donegal, she continued to indulge her passion for music. Jacqui held centre stage fronting Donegal rock and pop band 'The Jury’s Out', both as lead singer and keyboard player. Over the years, she also took to the stage regularly as a singer and as a musical theatre star in productions such as Florence in Chess, Satine in Carry On Moulin Rouge and Nancy in Oliver.
In 2011 Jacqui took the leap and recorded her debut studio album 'A New Dawn'. In the year following, she opened for music legend Billy Ocean at the National Concert Hall in Dublin where she received a standing ovation from a packed audience.
Over the years, Jacqui’s voice has been compared to that of Canadian star Anne Murray who was famed for the 1978 hit You Needed Me. It was these comparisons, as well as a chance introduction to the singer, that led Jacqui to perform and produce her own headline show at the National Concert Hall in 2012. On this visit to the venue, Jacqui headlined her own sold-out celebration show of the life and music of Anne Murray.
It’s those deep, rich tones in Jacqui’s voice that makes her a versatile artist straddling the genres of Folk, Americana, Pop and Jazz. As a result of her ability to cross-over, Jacqui has been invited to perform and jam with, as well as support, some of the biggest names in Irish music including Moya Brennan, Altan, Paul Brady, Manus Lunny, Tommy Fleming, The Fureys and Goats Don’t Shave. Jacqui’s own writing, both lyrically and musically, reflects not only her multi- instrumentalism, but also her varied influences from Folk, Celtic, Rock and New Country to a little Jazz and Pop.
As her popularity on the Irish and Northern Irish music scene grew, Jacqui quickly followed up her debut album with 'Love And Other Things' in 2014. 'Love And Other Things' was produced by well-known musician Manus Lunny who also features on the tracks alongside some of the country’s best known musicians.
At the end of 2015, Jacqui released 'Shine', which included her hugely popular single, 'Take Me To Paris', however, in 2017 she embarked on a change of direction, musically, and released a contemporary version of Mike Scott’s 'The Whole Of The Moon', made famous in 1985 by Scottish folk rock band The Waterboys. The popular cover attracted significant television and radio airplay and the video almost 120,000 views on Facebook. as well as a significant amount on YouTube.
Since then, Jacqui has been taking some time out to write and record new songs with a fresh sound and style. Aside from a few live appearances here and there, she has continued to attract attention meanwhile.
In 2018, she was one of the guests on the Contemporary Country episode of popular TV Show 'Opry Le Daniel' which aired on TG4 and BBC Alba, with Northern Irish based singers Donna Taggart and Niamh McGlinchey, and she was also invited to take part in the critically acclaimed landmark series Ceol Chogadh Na Saoirse, which aired on TG4 late in 2019, alongside artists such as Brian Kennedy, Sean Keane and Eddi Reader. Jacqui arranged and performed a fresh take on Ashtown Road on the show, a ballad based on an original poem about Martin Savage from County Sligo, who lost his life in 1919 in the Irish War of Independence.
After a brief hiatus from recording, she has released her latest single, 'Home' – a song written by American Singer/Songwriter Karla Bonoff. It was produced by Donegal Singer/ Songwriter Pat Gallagher of well-known Celtic Rock Band, 'Goats Don't Shave', and engineered by Country Music Artist Seamus McGee in Gweedore in West Donegal. Jacqui has more singles to come in the coming months, which include more of her own original music, so stay tuned!
