STRABANE singer/songwriter Brian Hassan played the biggest gig of his career earlier this month, providing support for eight-time Grammy Award winner Jose Feliciano.
Born permanently blind in Puerto Rico in 1945, Feliciano has regularly been described as "the greatest guitarist in the world".
His illustrious CV reads almost twenty Grammy award nominations and eight Grammys, not to mention The Billboard Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, The Helen Keller Achievement Award and his very own star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame.
How, you may ask, did a Strabane man get involved with such illustrious company then?
commanding form
Brian Hasson supporting Jose Felciano should not be that much of a shock, given that throughout his own career, the Strabane musician has worked closely with artists such as 10CC, The Fureys, Frances Black, Kieran Goss and former Planxty member Donal Lunny.
So being star struck, even in the company of Feliciano, never came into the equation when the pair took to the stage of Dublin's National Concert Hall on November 2.
Brian was in commanding form and playing to a full house, he received rave reviews for a programme of original material.
Brian took to the stage shortly after 8pm and performed for 30 minutes before the main act took the stage.
During the interval and after the show many of the audience praised Brian for his choice of music and even Feliciano himself heaped praise on the support act.
Brian has now performed in many high profile venues including The Waterfront Hall, The Millennium Forum, The Royal Theatre, Castlebar, The Tripod, Dublin and the Dun Mhuire Theatre, Wexford.
As a result he has had the opportunity to record some great live material and with this in his possession, he is plannig to release a 'Live' album.
The album will feature a selection of the songs preformed and recorded live at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, the Waterfront, Belfast and the Empire, Belfast.
A studio album of original material with full studio production and backing band is also in the pipeline.
But for now Brian still has the memory of supporting Jose Feliciano, the man famous for his rendition of Light My Fire.
Brian added: "To date it was my best gig and listening to, watching and being on the same stage as the legendary Jose Feliciano was an inspiration."
More details can be obtained from on Brian's work can be accessed via www.brianhassan.com.
