Dermot Kennedy

Dermot Kennedy is from Rathcoole in County Dublin, Ireland. After learning to play the guitar at the age of 10, he began writing songs at 14-years-old, but he’s said he didn’t begin to take it seriously until he was 17. Dermot has praised his parents for their support of his initial steps into music, and said that his dad used to often drive him into Dublin to perform at open mic nights, and he studied classical music at university for three years.

He then busked for many years around Dublin, and won first place at The South County Song contest which is attended by music industry workers. He once performed with Irish singer Glen Hansard on stage, and after being spotlighted on Spotify Discover Weekly when it was launched in 2016. He was also in a band Shadows and Dust at that time.

He took to the stage at many dates throughout the US, Australia and Europe, performing at Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2017, as well as Lollapalooza and South by Southwest Festival in 2018 and Coachella in 2019.