Steve Wickham (The Waterboys)

We are delighted to welcome back Steve Wickham and Ray Coen, who played to an ecstatic sold out audience at Grayshott in November 2022.

Steve Wickham is an Irish musician best known for his work as a violinist with The Waterboys but he has also played alongside Bob Dylan, U2 and many other top musicians.

He has been sought after by many prominent bands and artists and has had a considerable input into contemporary music.

Steve was born in 1960 in Dublin and began playing the violin at a young age. His early Classical training, laid the groundwork for his later accomplishments. His unique use of the violin, creates distinctive rock soundscapes, which he calls "fuzz Violin". They have been seen as groundbreaking and he has been described as: "the Jimi Hendrix of the violin."

Steve recorded and toured with Irish rockers, U2 and played on "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and on the "War" album in 1982/83.
But his music career really took off in 1984 when he joined The Waterboys. He brought his Celtic influences to the band and his playing skills breathed a fresh life into the ensemble's music that helped shape their unique sound.

As a result of Wickham's contribution to the band's seminal 1985 album, "This Is The Sea," (the album being particularly noted for Steve's soaring violin on the track "The Pan Within"), Mike Scott invited Steve to join The Waterboys on a full-time basis. His influence on the Waterboys ever-evolving sound was more apparent on the subsequent "Fisherman’s Blues" and "Room to Roam" albums.

Arguably Steve's finest hour with The Waterboys was when he co-wrote and played his distinctive Fiddle solo on the title track of Fisherman's Blues. Listen to it here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4UQJwd3awQ

He and Ray Coen played a superb acoustic version of this for us on their last visit to us.

Steve has toured and recorded with Sinead O'Connor and ‘In Tua Nua’, displaying versatility across different musical genres and nowadays, he regularly performs throughout Europe with Sligo-based group, NoCrows.

Steve has also enjoyed a successful solo career.
His debut album, "Geronimo," was released in 2004, showcasing his multitude of musical abilities. It was a critical success that firmly established him as a capable solo artist.
He followed this up with "Beekeeper" in 2017.
That is a beautiful and varied album.
Here is "The Band Played On" from it:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc9vgfHKoA4

As of 2023, Steve Wickham continues to inspire with his music, acting as a key figure in Irish Folk/Rock and influencing budding artists around the world with his unique blends of Rock and Classical Violin.

In November 2022, Steve previewed his beautiful song "All Will Be Well" for us at Grayshott. This was his response to the Covid pandemic.
You can hear it here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvKyxcMNn-k

Ray Coen
Ray Coen hails from County Sligo.
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 first 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.

Together, Steve Wickham and Ray Coen make very fine acoustic music.
Don't miss 'em

Tickets £18

Available from Grayshott Post Office (from Monday 1st April 2024)
By phone from Des O'Byrne on 01428 607096
Or online from ENTS 24