Kentucky based singer-songwriter Joan Shelley is set for a Folk and Americana inspired performance in Hall One, with support from Dublin-based guitarist Cian Nugent.

Joan Shelley is a songwriter and singer who lives near Louisville, Kentucky, not far from where she grew up. She draws inspiration from traditional and traditionally-minded performers from her native state, as well as those from Ireland, Scotland, and England, but she’s not a folksinger. Her disposition aligns more closely with that of, say, Roger Miller, Dolly Parton, or her fellow Kentuckian Tom T. Hall, who once explained—simply, succinctly, in a song—I Witness Life

She’s not so much a confessional songwriter, and she sings less of her life and more of her place: of landscapes and watercourses; of flora and fauna; of seasons changing and years departing and the ineluctable attempt of humans to make some small sense of all—or, at best, some—of it. Her perspective and performances both have been described, apparently positively, as “pure,” but there’s no trace of the Pollyanna and there’s little of the pastoral, either: her work instead wrestles with the possibility of reconciling, if only for a moment, the perceived “natural” world with its reflection—sometimes, relatively speaking, clear; other times hopelessly distorted—in the human heart, mind, and footprint.

Shelley has crossed the United States and toured Europe several times as a headlining artist. She has opened for Wilco, Patty Griffin, Andrew Bird and Richard Thompson and has appeared as a guest on WTF with Marc Maron, Fresh Air and Later… with Jools Holland.

Her latest album The Spur was released in June 2022 and was an album of the year in MOJO and Uncut.

Cian Nugent is a Dublin-based guitarist. She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living is his first new album in 7 years and merges the previously explored styles across Night Fiction (2016), the expansive Born With The Caul (2014) and his enigmatic debut Doubles (2011). Extensive touring across North America and Europe, including work as a guitarist with Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker and Nap Eyes, provided Nugent with a greater understanding of his musicianship and a clarity of purpose – all of which contributed to the making of his finest album to date.

The performance will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.