ANNA HOUSTON: Cello, Mandolin, Vocals

Anna Houston studied Cello at the Conservatory in her home town, Bern, Switzerland from age 9. All through her teens she played in different orchestras, classical Trios and Quartets, and also did recording work on Cello and Bass with several Singer-Songwriters.

In her late teens she became very interested in Irish Traditional Music and moved to Ireland in 1991. Although classically trained on the Cello, she is also an accomplished Banjo and Mandolin player.

In 1993 she met harpist and singer Deirdre Byron-Smith, and they started performing as a Harp and Cello Duo. The Duo are the core members of well known Sligo band “Cadenza” who recorded 2 albums of original songs and instrumental compositions, “Making Waves” in 2000, and “Attic Notes” in 2004. Both albums received critical acclaim from the press, and the band toured extensively at home and abroad.

Anna has performed with various acts including Mike Scott and Steve Wickham (The Waterboys), Dervish, The Sligo Early Music Ensemble, with whom she has made several solo cellist appearances, and shows with the Sligo Musical Society. She has arranged and recorded material with Sligo bands including Those Nervous Animals, Cathy Jordan, James Blennerhassett, Steve Wickham and many others. Anna also teaches the Cello and Banjo at Sligo Academy of Music and holds numerous music workshops for kids.

STEVE WICKHAM: Fiddle, Vocals

Steve Wickham started to play violin at the age of three. Later, he studied at the Royal College of Music in Dublin. In 1982 Steve met ‘The Edge’ at a bus-stop, and went on to record “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and tour with U2.

Around the same time Steve and a couple of mates started ‘In Tua Nua” which featured Sinead O Connor as one of the vocalists. In 1985, following some recording sessions in London, Steve got asked to join ‘The Waterboys’ and he then went on to make many records with them, including the seminal “This is the Sea” and “Fisherman’s Blues”.

Steve is a much respected session fiddler and has recorded with Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Sinead O Connor, World Party, and more recently with Declan O’Rourke.

He continues to be an integral part of “The Waterboys” and has recently released his first solo album ‘Geronimo’. Many Sligo musicians feature on Geronimo, including bodhran maestro Junior Davey, cellist Anna Houston, guitarist / flautist Tommy Scanlon, and harper Deirdre Byron Smith. Other guests include Waterboys keyboardist Richard Naiff and Steve’s guitarist brother Henry.

Geronimo, named after his beloved long-serving violin, also marks Steve’s first venture into production. The result is a lush, rich interweaving of rock and folk textures, shot through with the warmth of Steve’s personality

FELIP CARBONELL: Guitar, Vocals

Felip Carbonell was born into a musical family. As a child, Felip was always exposed to music of all kinds but it was not until his father brought him and his older brother to see a concert by the Valencian political singer/songwriter Raimon that Felip found his calling. He was 9 years of age and at this early stage he became conscious of the political situation of his country. Shortly after that he got his first guitar and started learning music, playing, singing, and following musical and political movements against the dictatorship of General Franco. Three years later he started writing songs in his native Catalan language, influenced mainly by songwriters such as Raimon, Lluís Llach and Quico Pi de la Serra from Catalonia, or Victor Jara from Chile.

At the age of 19, Felip made his debut as a solo performer in Bar Terra in Palma, an alternative music venue in the city. He also formed his first band, Camamil.la, along with percussionist Toni Amengual and vocalist Cati Llull with whom he would work in several projects in the future. In 1990 one of his most successful bands, Tumbet, released Felip’s song Fer Cantó, an urban poem about drugs and prostitution that received several awards as well as extensive airplay all across Spain. Another of his songs Païs de la Felicitat was also included in a Spanish compilation album and released by AZ Records.

In 1998 Felip left Mallorca and moved to Sligo where he started working as manager of traditional band Dervish. Since 2004 he has delivered a series of concerts based on his project Els Ritmes de la Mar (The Rhythms of the Sea), with a group of international musicians based in Sligo and in Mallorca.

Apart from NoCrows, Felip performs in a number of jazz and latin ensembles and performs regularly among others with Mike Nielsen, Ray Coen, JazzTam, The Vendetta Orchestra and Rumbatism. He has recorded as session musician with Yvonne Cunningham, The Vendetta Orchestra and the Mallorcan based jazz group Katau.

EDDIE LEE: Double Bass, Flute, Vocals

Eddie grew up in Sligo and is steeped in its music scene. A self-taught musician with a career spanning 30 years as bassist, producer, composer and recording artist, Eddie has toured internationally and/or recorded with many of Ireland’s top artists. In the rock and pop world Eddie has worked with The Pale, Juliet Turner, Buck Taylor, Those Nervous Animals, Brian Kennedy, Auto da Fé, Katell Keineg, Nine Wassies from Bainne; in folk/world territory with Stockton’s Wing, Maura O’ Connell, Dolores Keane, Kieran Goss, John Faulkner, Frances Black, Gary O’ Briain, Colm O’Donnell, Seamie O’ Dowd, Speranza, Dervish and Café Orchestra. Eddie has also collaborated on projects with Enya, Bill Whelan, Donal Lunny and co-produced many recordings in a wide range of genres over the years. In 2013 Eddie appeared as a member of Dublin Gospel Choir with Ennio Morricone and his Orchestra a their Dublin concerts, and also received his first commission, co-writing The Barinthus Suite with David Lyttle, which premiered at Sligo Jazz Festival 2013.

Eddie has played an important part in the development of the Irish jazz scene in recent years, as artistic director of Sligo Jazz Project’s annual summer school and festival. Throughout the years Eddie has performed with Irish jazz artists such as Andreas Varady, David Lyttle, Michael Buckley, Richie Buckley, Justin Carroll, Sean Hession, Michael Nielsen, Louis Stewart and international jazz artists such as Kenny Werner (USA), Jean Toussaint (UK), Sandro Gibellini (Italy), Cleveland Watkiss (UK), John Goldsby (USA), Michael Manring and Paul Clarvis. Eddie has been teaching bass and music theory in Sligo since 1999 and was co-founder of Sligo Contemporary Music School/Sligo School of Rock and Sligo Jazz project. He currently performs as bassist with NoCrows & Anything Goes for whom he has written original music and has also co-written the musical theatre show “Shut Up and Listen – A Brief History of Popular Music” with his band Anything Goes.

OLEG PONOMAREV: Violin

Born in Khabarovsk, Russia, Oleg Ponomarev is a violinist, bassist, pianist, guitarist, composer, arranger, producer, singer, teacher, biker and co-founder of the “DOGGYBAG PRODUCTIONS”.

He moved to Moscow at a very early age to study music with his grandparents and started touring with members of his family very shortly after that. Meeting Yehudi Menuin on stage in Paris must be one of the most memorable moments of his career as an artist. After touring with the Russian/Gypsy Band LOYKO for 10 years, recording more than twenty albums, writing off two motorbikes and getting five stars at the Edinborough festival, Oleg finally settled down in Ireland.

He is currently working with so many projects, it’s nearly impossible to name them all. These are some of the more relevant: Yurodny, Koshka, Cafe Orchestra, Caroline Moreau, The Hot Club of Dublin and NoCrows.

In the context of NoCrows, Oleg’s gypsy style is the perfect complement to the band’s sound. The fire and electricity discharged on stage is something extremely special and unique that needs to be experienced at least once in a lifetime.

RAY COEN: Guitar, Fiddle, Vocals

Ray Coen hails from Drumiskabole, Ballisadare, County Sligo. The first thing he remembers is singing and dancing in the family kitchen. He got his first guitar at age 11, but didn’t tune it until he was 13. Into his teens, he turned to electric guitar, playing Rock’n’Roll and Heavy Metal with his first bands Bad Taste and China Red. Eventually the Sligo traditional music scene started calling to him, and he started playing mandola, banjo and fiddle.

In 2000 with Rodney Lancashire he recorded an album of traditional songs called Mactire. In 2002 he joined Deirde Byron-Smith, Anna Houston and Tommy Scanlon for the Cadenza album Attic Notes where he contributed original songs and tunes. 2009 saw his solo album Out of Sight released. Since then he has performed all over Ireland, England, Europe and Japan playing and recording original, traditional and World music. He is currently a member of The Craic Addicts, The Atlantic Orchestra and NoCrows“.