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Seán Cannon

Biographical

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Seán Cannon
Born: November 29, 1940
Dubliners' member: 1982-2012

Seán was born in Galway but has spent a good deal of his adult life in England. His wanderings began in the early 60's when he moved to Germany for a year with a view to developing his linguistic ability. During his time there he became interested in folk music. His next move was to Switzerland where he appeared on several radio and television stations as well as acquiring an excellent command of the French language.

With rucksack and guitar in tow, Seán then moved to Spain where he taught both German and French, acquiring in the process fluent Spanish to add to his already established multilingual repertoire. Eventually, he was to settle in England in the late 60s and went on to become a renowned solo artiste, playing the many folk clubs that had mushroomed during these folk revival years.

Seán had been a dose friend of The Dubliners for many years and appeared with them as a guest artist on a number of occasions before accepting an invitation to join them in the Autumn of 1982.

As a solo artist, Seán has toured extensively with Planxty and Moving Hearts throughout Britain and Europe and has appeared at almost every folk club and festival between John O'Groats and Lands End.

These days, because of his commitments with the band, his folk club appearances are a rarity, though his popular " One Man Show " concerts are to be seen at quite a number of Arts Centres and theatres throughout the country.

Seán is an experienced cook, specialising in Indian cuisine. He once did the entire catering for a Moving Hearts' tour, providing a change of menu each day in addition to catering for the vegetarian needs of some of the road crew. His " Cannon Catering Trailer " was also a popular site at many festivals during this period where he, and his wife Pam, provided a healthy and balanced alternative to fast food catering.

His main hobby, however, is languages and, as a result of his travels and natural ability in this area, he now speaks German, French and Spanish fluently and, of course his native Gaelic. He can also manage some Russian and has surprised many an audience (and indeed the group) in Iceland, Hungary and Yugoslavia by introducing songs in their respective languages. On tour he's usually to be found with his head buried in a dictionary. Sometimes he catches the rest of the group by surprise when he lapses into English.


source: 30 Years - A Greying sleeve notes

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