Dermot Kennedy

Dermot Kennedy is an Irish singer and songwriter who combines the folk music of his native Ireland with hip-hop. He started playing the guitar around age 10 and wrote his first songs a few years later. It took a while for Dermot Kennedy to truly embrace music, despite his parents' enthusiastic encouragement. Football is his other great passion. Ultimately, he chose the guitar. Artists who inspire him include Ray LaMontagne, David Gray, Ed Sheeran, Damien Rice, and Glen Hansard.

Dermot Kennedy initially developed primarily as a live performer. He performed in every club and bar that would take him, but also played on the streets – both in Europe and the US. Dermot Kennedy also released a series of digital singles and EPs, including 2018's "Mike Dean Presents: Dermot Kennedy." These earned him so much recognition that he was even booked for major American festivals like Lollapalooza, Coachella, and South By Southwest.

It's all the perfect lead-up to his proper debut album, released in 2019: Without Fear. It partly contains material he released in previous years. That same year, Dermot Kennedy made an impressive contribution to the musical tribute The Metallica Blacklist with "Nothing Else Matters." His second album, Sonder, was released in 2022. It was preceded by the single "Better Days." The song was conceived during the COVID-19 epidemic and, as the title suggests, is a hopeful track. Sonder again features a mix of hip-hop, folk, and pop. The tone of many other songs on the album is also optimistic. Dermot Kennedy is an artist who loves to make his audience feel good.