Jim Sharkey

Antiwar songs by Jim Sharkey
United States of America United States of America

Jim SharkeySinger-songwriter Jim Sharkey is an Irish and Americana folk musician. Jim grew up in County Roscommon, Ireland, and came to the US in 1982 when he joined the US Navy in London, England. He spent five years as a photographer on the USS Dixon in San Diego, California, and ten years working in television and video production in North Carolina and Maine. Later he taught children with special needs but decided to pursue music full-time in 2014. He plays around Virginia, North and South Carolina, Maryland, and Washington DC, accompanying himself on guitar, harmonica, and bodhran. Jim's original songs blend Celtic traditional ballad influences with contemporary issues that are often set in the area he resides. The title track of his second CD “Sweet Anne's Road” deals with the effects of the war in Afghanistan on a young couple from the rural area of Copper Hill, Virginia. “The Campaign Song” also included on that CD was written after Neil Young asked Donald Trump to stop using his song “Rockin' in the Free World” for Trump's campaign. The Christy Moore influence is clear in the song with a nod to Christy's "Welcome to the Cabaret". “Bought and Sold” is a song to raise awareness of the plight of the Yazidis in Iraq who were mercilessly hunted down by Isis in 2014. Jim has just released his third CD, “Misty Morning Rain” in May, 2017.