Susan McCann

One of the biggest Country stars ever from Northern Ireland, Susan always sang and loved the stories and rhythms of Country music. Her first band was a trio which also featured her husband, manager and mentor, Dennis Heaney on keyboards (a position he still holds over 40 years later). The band played all the clubs, pubs and dancehalls in a 60 mile radius of her home in Newry, Co Down, Northern Ireland. It was a Christmas single that first introduced her to a wider audience, then, in 1977, a song, Big Tom Is Still The King, saw her sitting on top of the Irish charts. This meant many more bookings and the formation of a five-piece band, The Storytellers. She was soon playing the clubs and theatres in England, Scotland and Wales. In 1979 she performed for the first time at the Royal Albert Hall to a 4,000 people audience. 1980 saw her making the first of many visits to Nashville, this time to record an album at Porter Wagoner’s studio and as a result he invited her to perform on The Grand Ole Opry in the Ryman theatre. These appearances led to the first invite to appear at the International Wembley Festival where she would go on to appear in 1981, 1985, 1989 and again in 1991. Astute fans would see her performing pre show in the large outdoor market on the Sundays when she would sell an amazing amount of her albums. Susan McCann has toured in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, South Africa, USA and even at the Festival of Lights in Russia. She has appeared regularly at the Florida Strawberry Festival, once singing to and meeting President George Bush Jr.