Our Story

Mike Shannon and The Nights Dogs

Mr. Shingles was formed in 2015 by Brian O’Mahony, Dara Luskin and Xavi Tomàs. Brian O’Mahony (Cork, Ireland) had been a folk blues singer in Dublin, Ireland and moved to Barcelona in 2002. Following some attempts to form British Blues combos with local musicians and many trips to Barcelona’s blues jams he met long-term Barcelona resident and music veteran, Dara Luskin (Dublin, Ireland) in 2005. Playing together in various projects over the years they formed the Blues Rock group, The Night Dogs, with the well known harmonica player Mike Shannon (Sarasota, FL, USA) in 2012. Mike and Dara had been playing together on and off since the early 2000’s in the project Soul Dan. Mike introduced Brian and Dara to Xavi Tomàs (Barcelona, Spain). Xavi had played with several well known local blues musicians over the years and fit right in.

Xavi Tomàs (drums) with Johnny Big Stone

The Night Dogs went their separate ways in 2015 and Brian, Dara and Xavi continued as Mr. Shingles. Brian had always wanted to return to playing the Chicago and British blues styles and so Mr. Shingles to took a more classical approach playing songs by  such artists as B.B. King, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Magic Sam, Them, The Yardbirds and John Mayall. They began playing the blues circuit of the most popular clubs in Barcelona, including El Paraigua, Harlem Jazz Club, Sala Monasterio and others. Soon they were working regularly and started hosting jam sessions.

In the following two years Mr. Shingles began to expand its repertoire and started to have a more personal style, mixing swing and latin beats with jazz and gospel. They have still not forgotten their roots, and pepper their set with classics from early blues. In late 2017, the pianist Stephane Jaïs (Paris, France) joined and brought the band to another level by freeing up the other musicians, making for a fuller more soulful sound.

Mr. Shingles

In June of 2018, Mr. Shingles releasd their first studio album, Green in Blue. They define it as a coming together of afroamerican and irish cultures. It contains twelve songs in total, with three original compositions and arrangements of songs written or covered by other Irish artists. The album also involves the colaborations of two great musicians, Pedro Vera on saxophone and percusionist Lenin Jiménez. Recorded live in Cactus Studios, Barcelona, it is performed in the British Blues style of the early 60’s. The album was taken on tour in October 2019 with the band playing dates in Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic and Japan.

Brian O’Mahony met James Sedgwick at a somewhat debaucherous jam session in Barcelona in late 2018. They hit it off immediately, sharing a love of American roots music and began gigging locally. Originally from Canada, James has lived and worked as a professional musician in many countries around the world. He is an accomplished vocalist, harmonica player and guitarist, and studied music at Concordia University, Montreal. They decided to record an album and wrote a bunch of songs over the course of several months in 2019, finally recording them in a single acoustic live session in January of 2020. Sedgwick & Shingles is a reflection of their love of classic country blues and swing and their solid songwriting skills.

Xavi Tomas departed in 2021 and Bryan Curtis joined the group. Originally hailing from Cork,Ireland, Bryan has been on the music scene in Barcelona for sometime now. They are currently working on new material and play a residency at the Harlem Jazz Club almost every Thursday night.

Mr. Shingles is a band with long years of profesional experience.  They stand out for their versatility and the internationality of the line-up. This makes Mr. Shingles very original, while still being rooted in the respect for the tradition of the genre.

Pedro Vera –  saxophone