Last night I was at a concert by a US singer-songer called Shannon Wright www.myspace.com/shannonwright. I reckon she has a low profile in Ireland but a sizeable cult following here in 'ooh-la-la'-land. I hadn't heard much from her: friends of mine rave about her so out of curiosity I went along.

Her songs are dark folk-rock with a hint of blues, where the tunes are quite subtle and must be caught attentively. She sings loud and deep and clear, with lots of emotion but never showboating. She plays an electric guitar that's also loud and violent and cracking with distortion. She was like a mix of Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Neil Young. Yann Tiersen came on to add some very basic violin swoops to a couple of songs. (Before that, he had been standing in front of me most of the night: like most famous musicians, he's quite short.)

I'm still not sure if I liked the concert or not, but it has affected me somehow: it was quite an intense experience. It felt like watching a couple arguing. I can't straighten my thoughts and impressions into review shape for the moment...

However, the very last song, she got a bit self-indulgent with the wailing and emoting and guitar-thrashing: to say goodbye she made a kind of heart gesture with her hands that felt trite in a Dr Phil 'you complete me' way. She almost blew the whole concert with that one moment.

Anyone else here know her or seen her in concert? Here she is live with a song called 'Portray':