Supporting Irish Musicians and Artists

A final shortlist of five artists has been announced in A New Local Hero – the unique music award, which has been created as part of Irish Music Month. Irish Music Month is an initiative of Hot Press and Independent Broadcasters of Ireland and is funded by the BAI, under its Sound & Vision scheme and supported by XL Retail, MCD Productions, IMRO, RAAP and XMusic.

The artists, listed here in alphabetical order, with the radio stations they represent, will play a special showcase at the Academy in Dublin on Thursday November 18th:

• Carrie Baxter (WLR)
• Chameleon (98FM)
• Fintan McKahey (96FM)
• Leah Moran (Spin 1038)
• Mia Yermeche (FM104)

The five artists, who are among the country’s brightest young music hopes, were selected from a long list of 25 – each of whom was selected as a Local Hero by twenty-five independent stations all over Ireland, covering every blade of grass in the country.

The A New Local Hero award caries an extraordinary prize for the final recipient, which includes:

• €5,000 in cash
• €5,000 worth of gear from XMusic
• The release of a single via the Rubyworks label (home of Hozier)
• A guaranteed 30 plays on all 25 stations, adding up to a minimum of 750 in total
• National exposure via an interview in Hot Press
• A full PR campaign around the release of the single

“This is the really hard part of a process like this,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. “There is such an extraordinary wave of brilliant artists active now in Ireland, across all genres of music. That much was clear from the superb quality of all 25 of the artists who came though in their local areas. Ireland’s independent radio stations uncovered a rich wealth of talent – and all 25 local heroes were, and are, just that.

“Selecting five from that 25 was a very tough challenge for the judges. But that is in the nature of a project like this. The value of the A New Local Hero award to the recipient is immense – but there can be only one winner. The tension is mounting, now that we are down to the final and, I have to say uniformly brilliant, five. The gig in the Academy is going to be more than a bit special. I’d urge anyone who has an interest in great Irish music, and marvellous Irish talent, to be there.”

“Independent Broadcasters of Ireland are delighted to be able to announce the final five in the New Local Hero campaign as part of Irish Music Month,” John Purcell, Chair of IBI said. "The 25 radio stations who took part have succeeded in uncovering amazing talent across the country and it was a really tough process to narrow it down to just 5. We’re really delighted with the calibre of artists and musicians and are really looking forward to a cracking night in The Academy on the 18th of November.”

Also appearing on the night will be a special guest, to be announced soon.

Judges for the A New Local Hero award include representatives from IMRO, RAAP, Rubyworks, the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland and Hot Press, as well as musicians and songwriters, RuthAnne Cunningham and Róisín O.

Irish Music Month is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland from its Sound & Vision fund and by XL Retail, offering a great deal more at your local store. Irish Music Month is also supported by MCD Productions, IMRO, RAAP and XMusic.

For more information, listen to your favourite independent radio station, read Hot Press – and check out hotpress.com