Zoé Basha is a musician, composer and carpenter based in Dublin, Ireland. Her much-awaited forthcoming debut album Gamble is a riveting collection of songs blending folk, blues, americana, jazz, and Irish influences. Zoé’s debut promises to be an intimate exploration of identity, grief, the deconstructing of societal norms, and the complexities of human connection, all delivered with a mesmerising voice that echoes the vulnerability and depth of her diverse influences. Inspired by the greats of times passed, such as Billie Holiday, The Mills Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, Joni Mitchell, Texas Gladden, Edith Piaf and The Steve Miller Band– as well as her peers in the contemporary Irish folk music scene, Zoé Basha savours the sounds of golden eras with contemporary nuance and shameless honesty. For the album release tour, Zoé Basha will be accompanied by musicians Ultan Lavery on keys and organ (Trá Pháidín, Esther Ensemble) and James Christie on drums (Nudyboy Nature, The Bonk).
Traveling by thumb, freight trains, and taking the scenic route with rust-bucket vans, Zoé Basha played music in the streets for years to sustain the journey. Of French and American origins but with some pretty persistent traveling shoes, she was pulled between Ireland and the traveling life for the last decade. For a while, she had a persistent feeling that music wasn't the most useful endeavour for the world, so Zoé turned to working in traditional French timber framing. With her passion for music revived through trio Rufous Nightjar starting in 2020, Zoé moved all her tools, her own rust-bucket van, and her dreams back to Ireland.
Now having recorded her first solo album with songs that tell the stories of these roamings - through adventures and musings of intimacy, sorrow, identity, celebrating the fleeting, and questioning the whole lot - she’ll be touring it throughout 2025, returning to the towns and cities of her travels.
Gamble is a collection that reflects Zoé’s distinctive style blending the rich storytelling traditions of Appalachian Mountain songs, the solemn ornamentation of Irish traditional music, and the rhythmic fervor of American blues and ragtime. The album was produced by Zoé Basha, with mixing and mastering by Grammy Award-winning engineer Ben Rawlins. With a combination of guitar, fiddle, organ, upright bass, and a voice that’s often been compared to the sounds of old jazz records, the album is expected to cause a mighty stir in the world of contemporary folk music.