Lisa Hannigan has been confirmed for the third in the Windmill Live series of gigs, organised by Hot Press. The free shows – tickets are available through hotpress.com – are part of a special initiative to celebrate the enduring musical legacy of the Windmill Lane location.

Lisa Hannigan is set to grace the stage on Thursday, December 12. The gig will take place in the Town Hall, One Windmill Lane, an iconic new structure at the heart of the Windmill Quarter. Support on the night will be provided by John Smith – the acclaimed English singer-songwriter.

Hothouse Flowers (with special guest Moya Brennan), and Gavin James have previously headlined shows in this series of free, intimate concerts, curated by Hot Press – with Erica Cody and Saarloos among the support acts. The gigs have proven to be very special indeed.

As everyone with an interest in rock ’n’ roll will know, Windmill Lane has a fascinating place in Irish musical history.

The original Windmill Lane Studio building was opened in 1978. Windmill Lane Recording Studios is widely regarded as being central to the development of an internationally successful music culture in Ireland. The place where U2’s crucial first three albums – Boy, October and War – were recorded in full, the recording studio located in Windmill Lane became synonymous with top Irish artists. It was also the recording location for albums by a string of international best-selling artists, including Clannad, Van Morrison, The Waterboys, Def Leppard, Howard Jones and Kate Bush, among many more.

Later, Windmill Lane Recording Studios moved to a new location, in a famous Art Deco building on Ringsend Road, where it remains at the heart of the industry in Ireland. Windmill Lane Recording Studios continues to attract major international and Irish recording artists, including the likes of Kylie Minogue, Hozier, Ed Sheeran, The Script, Lady Gaga, Kodaline and U2.

• Lisa Hannigan is one of Ireland’s finest, and most widely loved, musical talents. Having emerged originally as a member of Damien Rice’s band, she has subsequently gone on to release three superb solo albums, beginning with Sea Sew (2008), which won both Best Irish Album and Best Debut Album in the Hot Press Readers Poll that year. That superb opening salvo was followed by Passenger (2011) and At Swim (2016) – the latter a collaboration with Aaron Dessner of The National.

Lisa's music has been widely used in films, and she has recorded special tracks for numerous movies and TV series, including the likes of Fury, Fargo (TV series), Legion (TV series) and The Hole In The Ground. She has also voiced characters in the award-winning Irish animation Song of the Sea and in the equally successful US TV series, Steven Universe.

A fine guitar-player, singer and songwriter, John Smith has toured Britain, Europe and America extensively, both solo and with artists such as Iron and Wine, James Yorkston, John Martyn, David Gray, Jools Holland, Gil Scott-Heron and Lisa Hannigan. He has released five acclaimed albums.

He most recent long-player, Hummingbird, was released worldwide in 2019 via Commoner Records/Thirty Tigers. ‘Headlong’, from the album, reached No.15 in the Indie Breakers chart, No.1 on iTunes Singer-Songwriter Chart and amassed over 10 million Spotify streams – and rising! John Smith is interviewed in the next issue of Hot Press, out Thursday November 14.

• To be in with a chance of securing a pair of tickets for this exclusive, intimate Hot Press event, which takes place on Thursday, December 12, in One Windmill Lane, in the heart of the Windmill Quarter, apply below. We will be in contact in due course to let you know if your application for a ticket has been successful.