'The banjo jokes end here. While we all have a laugh at the banjos expense, take the time to hear one played properly. Exceptional articulation and musicality are Damiens hallmarks fast and fluid playing with tremendous assurance. If there are many more players like him they'll soon be telling stories about guitarists'! - Chris Newman
Damien was the only Northern Irish musician to be nominated for an award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2007.
See albums featuring Damien: PURE CHANCE 2003 (Shona Kipling + Damien O'Kane); MELODEON CRIMES 2005 (on Julian Sutton's solo album); MOMENTUM 2005 (CrossCurrent, a band in which i used to play in up to last year); BOX ON 2006 (Shona Kipling + Damien O'Kane); HAVEN 2006 (Flook - features a composition of mine on it); SWEET BELLS 2008 (Kate Rusby).
Damien, 30, hails from Coleraine in Co. Derry, Northern Ireland moved to Newcastle Upon Tyne in 2001 to become a student on Newcastle Universitys Folk and Traditional Music Degree course which was then in its first year. He comes from an extremely talented family where his mum and dad, Colette and Joe, introduced him to Irish traditional music at an early age. By the time he was eight he was turning heads with his whistle playing and became Ulster champion when he was ten. It was at the Ulster Fleadh in Ballyshannon, 1988, when Damien was first taken by the tenor banjo having met two fantastic players and future friends, Marinie Toman and Glen Creaney (RIP). Damien got his first banjo that Christmas and has been self taught until he joined the folk degree in 2001, in which he graduated with a higher class 2:1 in 2005. A few years later Damien began to teach himself guitar. He went on to reach three All-Ireland tenor banjo finals and began gigging and touring Europe with his family band (mum Colette, sisters Sorcha and Briege and brothers Peter and Aidan with dad Joe on the sound) in Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. Now residing in the heart of Yorkshire, Damien continues to play in several different guises as well as embarking on his own solo career this year.
Best known for his work with Shona Kipling and Flook, he was recently hailed as 'one of the finest singers around' on the scene today and along with his fret skills, he will be recording a new record in 2009 which is already well under way, working with musicians such as Aaron Jones, Ian Carr, Dave Kosky and Brian Finnegan. The album will be songs from Northern Ireland and further afield as well as self composed instrumentals. Damien will be embarking on a solo career in 2009 so watch this space. Plans are also being made to record a new record with duo partner in crime Shona Kipling after the success of their second album Box On. This one has been too long coming but it will be well worth the wait.
It all started after meeting piano accordionist, Shona Kipling in Sweden 2002, when they both attended Falun Ethno, a youth summer school run in parallel with Falun Folk Festival. They began playing together, as Shona Kipling & Damien OKane soon after meeting. In 2003 the duo recorded their first album 'pure chance'. 2004 saw their career take off, gigging extensively at many of the major folk festivals and clubs and receiving rave reviews for the album and their live performance (see myspace/shonakiplinganddamienokane). Some of the festivals include Cambridge Folk Festival, Warwick Folk Festival, Celtic Connections and Whitby Folk Week to name but a few. Shona received horrific news in Spring 2004 that her father and the duo's manager at the time, Dr David Kipling had been diagnosed with lung cancer. For such a healthy, full-of-life person, this was hard for everyone to believe. David passed away in February 2005 and is dearly missed. Shona spent every minute with her father up until that moment. David's last wish to Shona was that we keep playing and that we don't make another album until we 'really have something to say.' The duo began gigging again late 2005 and released their second album 'Box On' in 2006 to great public and critical acclaim. Shona and Damien appeared on the recent BBC 2 'Blas Ceoil' program, November 2008, where Damien was representing County Derry in the 11 series programme. WATCH OUT FOR NEW ALBUM IN 2009
Damien also played with CrossCurrent (see www.myspace/crosscurrent), a fantastic quintet which included 'cello, fiddle, tenor banjo, flute, bouzouki, guitar and vocals. CrossCurrent too, had been receiving tremendous reviews in the folk press about their debut album 'momentum' and of their exciting and rousing live performance. CrossCurrent disganded in June 2007 due to band members' commitments of which all five members are doing very well.
Damiens musical career has earned him credit as a creative and exciting player and singer and as an excellent teacher of folk and traditional music. His banjo playing has given him a reputation as one of the finest Irish players on the scene today. At present, Damien continues to play with Shona Kipling and had a year as a member with the fantastic Anglo/Irish supergroup Flook. Unfortunately, Flook is no longer as of December 2008 but Damien along with Brian Finnegan, Ed Boyd and John-Joe Kelly will continue under a different name which is not yet decided. Damien is also doing some session work with Kate Rusby in 2009 on stage and in the studio. Please also watch out for an album Damien is recording with Dave Kosky, banjo and guitar and lots of exciting studio noises. I hope to see you around somewhere. Slainte
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