I first got to know Sharon through the 'Woman's Heart' tour around Ireland back in 1992, although I had heard her play, and had been an admirer of hers before that.

She was just beginning to come out of herself at that point, and was really developing her own musicality.

It was when we did the Woman's Heart tour in America that I really got to know her properly. We had all travelled separately during the Irish tours, but we all went together in America. I've been living in Nashville for years, and it was Sharon who helped me to get back into Irish music, and to understand and love it again, by introducing me to some amazing new songwriters.

When we were travelling on the tour bus, she played me CDs from people like Declan O'Rourke, for example, and I was as excited as she was. That's typical of Sharon though . . . she would never play her own stuff, just everyone else's, and she does so much for all the new singers and musicians coming up.

Sharon is the most humble star I've ever met. She grew up in Ruan, near Corofin in Co Clare, and she is definitely a product of where she's from, and that will never go away. She could be playing in the biggest hall in the world, and she'd still be exactly the same person. I know her mom and dad, and she comes from a very musical family . . . her brother Garry plays flute, her sister Mary plays banjo, while Majella plays the fiddle. Sharon also learned to play the fiddle, and she played with the band Arcady early on in her career, and has toured with the Waterboys.

Sharon is an amazing accordion player, and I love to listen to her play, for the different elements that she brings into the music. She never deviates from the very central point that she plays Irish music, and she makes no apologies for it, and it's then, because she's enjoying it so much, that she brings in other people and other instruments and keeps it all so fresh.

She has played and recorded with a hugely diverse range of people, including Adam Clayton, Mundy, Mike Scott, Jackson Browne, Damien Dempsey, Declan O'Rourke, and Roesy, but she never loses her credibility or integrity just for the sake of doing something different.

We've had some really fun nights out, and I've got to meet so many musicians through Sharon, and it has really excited me to discover new Irish songwriters and musicians. I didn't know many of them because I'm not here any more. She's a musical genius, and she reminds me a lot of the people I came over here to Nashville to be with, because she's so excited by the music, and is not daunted by anyone else's view of herself or what they think she should be doing.

People are always thrilled to be playing with Sharon, because of her energy and her musicianship. She's a brilliant, worldclass player, and if it was classical music she played, she'd be Yo-Yo Ma, or someone like that.

She's like a central hub, and she invites people in from every angle. There's an aura about her that draws people together, without any pressure to it. She's great for bringing in and encouraging young talent, like the Brennans from Letterfrack, and all of these amazing people, like Frankie Gavin, are just mad about her because of her innate brilliance and warm heart.

The joy Sharon has in the music and in sessions has really inspired me, even to go back into singing a song in a pub situation.

She is just as happy to be playing in a session in Galway, as she is to be playing in Carnegie Hall or the White House. And whereas I'd have been saying before, "Oh God, I'm going in here, and they're going to ask me to sing, " now that I've been inspired by Sharon, I'm getting over myself!

In terms of her personality, Sharon is a very strong person, and she's just charming and great fun. She lives in Galway with her partner Leo, and she's a great cook and a wonderful hostess. She loves dogs and horses, and was actually a very keen show-jumper when she was younger. One thing I can tell you about Sharon Shannon is that she loves to shop and buy shoes, and if ever we couldn't find her when we were on the road, we'd discover her in some shop or other.

There haven't really been too many hugely famous traditional musicians in the last 20 years, but Sharon is the one that's a true star. The sheer joy she exudes when she plays is a beautiful thing to see . . .

she's always smiling on stage and you can hear it in the music.

As a testament to her talents, a Late, Late Show special was dedicated to her in 1992, and she recently won the 2007 Meteor Award for Best Folk/Trad Act.

What's lovely about Sharon is that she has no airs and graces of any kind, and I can recognise them, because I'm a diva. I know where the diva lies, and it doesn't lie within Sharon Shannon.

Maura O'Connell, Christy Moore, Frances Black and Acabella will perform in the National Concert Hall next Saturday 23 June, in aid of Console, the charity that supports those bereaved through suicide. Tel: (01) 417 0000