Zoé Basha Album Launch

Doors at 7:30pm
Music at 8pm

Zoé Basha's much-awaited forthcoming debut album Gamble is a riveting collection blending folk, blues, americana, jazz, and Irish influences. Zoé’s debut promises to be an intimate exploration of identity, grief, the deconstructing of societal norms, and the complexities of human connection, all delivered with a mesmerising voice that echoes the vulnerability and depth of her diverse influences. Inspired by the greats of times passed, such as Billie Holiday, The Mills Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, Joni Mitchell, Texas Gladden, Edith Piaf and The Steve Miller Band– as well as her peers in the contemporary Irish folk music scene, Zoé Basha savours the sounds of golden eras with contemporary nuance and shameless honesty.

Zoé Basha's album launch at The Sugar Club will be the only gig of the Irish tour sporting the sweet magic of the full band, including highly esteemed musicians Ultan Lavery on keys and organ (Trá Pháidín, Esther Ensemble), James Christie on drums (Nudyboy Nature, The Bonk), Anthony Mannion on dobro and lap steel (Old Hannah, Jawbone Collective), Emily Donoghue on fiddle (Billow Wood) and more.

Traveling by thumb, freight trains, and taking the scenic route with rust-bucket vans, Zoé Basha played music in the streets for years to sustain the journey. Of French and American origins, but with some pretty persistent traveling shoes, she was pulled between Ireland and the traveling life for the last decade. For a while, she had a persistent feeling that music wasn't the most useful endeavour for the world, so Zoé turned to working in traditional French timber framing.

With her passion for music revived through trio Rufous Nightjar starting in 2020, Zoé moved all her tools, her own rust-bucket van, and her dreams back to Ireland.

Now having recorded her first solo album with songs that tell the stories of these roamings - through adventures and musings of intimacy, sorrow, identity, celebrating the fleeting, and questioning the whole lot - she’ll be touring it throughout 2025, returning to the towns and cities of her travels. This evening at the Sugar Club is her hometown gig and the first night of the album release tour.

Gamble is a collection that reflects Zoé’s distinctive style blending the rich storytelling traditions of Appalachian Mountain songs, the solemn ornamentation of Irish traditional music, and the rhythmic fervor of American blues and ragtime. The album was produced by Zoé Basha, with mixing and mastering by Grammy Award-winning engineer Ben Rawlins. With a combination of guitar, fiddle, organ, upright bass, and a voice that’s often been compared to the sounds of old jazz records, the album is expected to cause a mighty stir in the world of contemporary folk music.
For more tour dates, check out the website:
https://www.zoebasha.net/upcoming-gigs

Kevin Fowley will be supporting, beginning at 8pm.
Growing up, Kevin Fowley split his time between living in France and Ireland. He listened to French lullabies sung by his mother in one room, while his father would be playing Donegal tunes on the fiddle in another. His upbringing is apparent in his upcoming record À Feu Doux. Seamlessly gliding across folk, jazz, and a rich yet shimmering in between sound.

Real night time music.
https://kevinfowley.bandcamp.com/album/feu-doux

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