Colleen Shanley has been performing throughout the DC/Baltimore area in various musical groups for at least twenty five years. She's honed her skills while exploring the various genres of music such as bluegrass, folk, country, blues, swing, rock and some jazz. She's also taken much of what she has learned and incorporated it into her own expressive songwriting, which is evident on the two CDs she's released during the past ten years. During the '80s, she got her first taste of radio airplay while working with a now defunct, small Nashville based indie label that was owned and operated by Julie Richmond and Kenneth Lovelace, Jerry Lee Lewis' longtime band leader. During that same period of time, the infamous Twist & Shout became one of the regular venues she and her band, Grand Junction, were performing. For a few years during the late 90's, both Colleen and her husband, Casey O'Neal, were invited to be part of the band, Cleve Francis and Friends, backing former Capital Records/Nashville artist, Cleve Francis, which was led by keyboardist, Arthur Lisi, who has also composed music for Bill Cosby Productions. Her debut CD, "Let's Go For That Ride", which was produced by Colleen, Casey and Michael Fath, was released in 1998 to much critical acclaim and received airplay both in the USA and overseas. Two of the songs on the CD won honorable mentions in the 12th Annual Mid-Atlantic Song Contest and a few of the other songs were placed on several CD compilations including, the OASISBLUES Sampler, the 1998 Philadelphia Music Conference compilation, and the 1998 WAMA/DC101 compilation disc. Colleen had the honor of being one of the twenty finalists competing at the 9:30 Club for a spot to perform at the last concert tour of the Lilith Fair in 1999, which was held in Columbia, MD. In 2002, Colleen released her second and well received CD, "This Time", which was recorded at Bias Studios and produced by Jim Robeson, Casey O'Neal and Colleen. Not only did Colleen include several of her originals, but she also included some of her favorite cover tunes that had been a part of her repertoire for most of her performing years. Over the years, she has had the honor of sharing many stages with such notorieties as The Sun Studio Rhythm Section, Holly Cole, Wayne Toups and Kelley Willis.

Casey O'Neal, whose steel playing has been a driving force behind Colleen's music, is not only her partner in music but is also her partner in life, as well. He's been playing music in the DC/Baltimore area for over thirty years. He's performed in a wide range of bands from bluegrass to country, to rock, blues and jazz, all the while dazzling the audiences with his stellar playing on pedal steel, Dobro and lap steel. From 1998 to the early part of the 2000's Casey and Michael Fath collaborated on some original compositions that led to Michael's endeavor in forming a nine piece jazz/blues/fusion ensemble. The group called Michael Fath's Le Jazz had a fairly short life span, although it did manage to produce a recording, "The Chase is On", which gained it's own notice in the jazz world, and performed at two of DC's most prestigious venues, Blues Alley and The Kennedy Center. Being a highly regarded studio musician, you can hear Casey's first rate licks on a variety of numerous recording projects by local artists such as Lisa Taylor, Brian Fox, Kevin Kline & Eric Scott, and Donal Leace and many more. Up until two years ago, you could find both Colleen and Casey with The Colleen Shanley Band, performing at many of the area's premier venues, such as: Birchmere - Colleen & Casey with Cleve Francis & Friends, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Iota, Kennedy Center's Annual Open House, Delaplane Strawberry Festival, Baltimore's Artscape, Glen Echo Folk Festival, MD's Annual Seafood Festival, Annual VA Wine Festival, Vintage VA Wine Festival, Alexandria's First Night, WRNR sponsored Mid-Atlantic Wine Festival, Damian Einstein's WRNR afternoon & evening programs, Columbia Pike Blues Festival, Celebrate Fairfax, Downs Park, Quiet Waters Park and numerous other festivals & park concert series both in VA and MD. Both Colleen and Casey have been nominated for assorted Wammie awards, which include: 1998 - CD 'Let's Go For That Ride' in Roots/Rock under Debut Recordings, and New Artist as duo; Casey was nominated as instrumentalist under both Blues and Roots/Rock categories. Colleen was nominated in 1999 - Female Blues Vocalist; 2000 + 2001 - Female Roots/Rock Vocalist; 2002 - CD "This Time" for Recording under the Blues, Roots/Rock and Country categories, Song of Year for 'Endless Circle' & Record Design for Lawrence Marie Inc.

After a two year hiatus, Colleen and Casey will be back to performing in the autumn of '06. This past spring they joined forces with a newly formed Maryland based band called, Shamrock Rooster, which will be blending Celtic, bluegrass and country music, and will also include some of Colleen's originals. Colleen will be sharing the lead vocals with Paul Gannon, who is currently performing as part of Shannon's Tide. Casey's steel playing will be enhanced with the sounds of fiddle as supplied by Neil Foley who is also currently performing with Shannon's Tide. The band also consists of Pete Miller on bass, Jamie Wilson on drums and Ralph Reinoldi on lead guitar. Not only do the three currently perform with other bands, but they also come from the now defunct band, O'Malley's March. Shamrock Rooster will be making their debut performance September 16th at the Lauraville Fair in Baltimore. Check out the performance schedule for exact time and information, and watch for more dates to come.

Contact Colleen & Casey at caseyoneal@aol.com

Photos used for this web site were taken by
John Railey (good friend and superb photographer).