DAVID KEENAN
DAVID KEENAN
plusSTEPHEN JAMES SMITH
plusLEMONCELLO
^ Upstairs ^
David Keenan is a 23 year old Irish Songwriter
An absolute obsession with words and melody took hold of David at a very early age
Exposed to the writings of Behan, Yeats and Wilde with the soundtrack of Dylan, Buckley and The Dubliners illuminating his formative year’s.
Inspired by the storytelling and character creations of his grandfather he took the boat over the water and gathered tales and tunes of his own, learning his craft and expressing his love of Language.
His first album, under the guidance of legendary producer John Reynolds is due for release in 2017 and having already been asked to play alongside the likes of Mick Flannery, Hothouse Flowers, Damien Dempsey and Glen Hansard David is fast becoming one of Ireland’s most talked about young Artist’s.
STEPHEN JAMES SMITH Stephen James Smith is a Dublin poet and playwright central to the rise of the vibrant spoken word genre in Ireland today. Stephen is a co-founder of LINGO Festival (inaugural festival in 2014), Ireland’s only spoken word festival, and poetry curator of the annual First Fortnight Festival. The recent video for his poem Dublin You Are which was commissioned by DCC went viral receiving 250,000 views in 3 days. His ABSOLUTE Dublin Fringe play Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About (2011), co-written with Colm Keegan and Kalle Ryan, was shortlisted for the Bewley’s Little Gem Award. Arise and Go!, his debut album with musician Enda Reilly, was selected by Hot Press as one of the best albums of 2011. His awards include Winner of the Cúirt International Literary Festival Poetry Grand Slam (2010). Stephen founded The Glór Sessions in 2009. This weekly poetry and music event ran for three years and is considered instrumental in establishing Ireland’s spoken word movement. Stephen has performed at Irish festivals including Dublin Writers’ Festival, Cúirt International Literary Festival, The Electric Picnic, Dublin Fringe Festival, Festival of World Cultures and Spirit of Folk; and across the globe in New York, Chicago, Iowa, Montreal, Ottawa, Paris, Glastonbury, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Utrecht, Ljubljana and Warsaw. He was invited to perform for the Irish Olympic team in London 2012. His work has been translated into Irish, Spanish, Slovenian, Polish, Dutch and Italian. His poetry videos have also been screened at film festivals at home and around the world, and he has featured in programmes and documentaries for television such as RTÉ’s IFTA Award Winning documentary WB Yeats: No Country for Old Men; The Works (RTÉ); News Today (RTÉ); and Like A Virgin (RTÉ). Stephen’s poetry is included on the syllabus at Western Connecticut State University and he conducts poetry workshops in secondary schools around Ireland. LEMONCELLO Laura Quirke (guitar, vocals) and Claire Kinsella (cello, vocals) started playing music together while studying music and languages in Maynooth University. Their voices in harmony combined with cello and guitar instrumentation create a rooted original sound shaped by a wide range of influences including traditional and alternative folk music, jazz, pop, blues and classical music. Their musical adventure so far has consisted of notably, playing a sold out show at the beautiful Musée de La Piscine in Roubaix, France, support slots for the likes of Damien Dempsey, and appearances at several Irish music festivals. In September 2015, LemonCello helped to start the Common Grounds Collective, a group dedicated to building a network of artists of all mediums and giving them a platform to share their original work. The pair spent much of 2016 writing in both France and Ireland and are now preparing for the release of their debut EP, set to be launched in 2017.