February 28, 2023 – Music From Ireland is pleased to announce a number of Irish artists showcasing at this year’s SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX. These artists span a wide array of genres and are some of the country’s most exciting up and coming acts.

The Music From Ireland Showcase will take place on Thursday, March 14 at 8PM at The Velveeta Room, with Full Irish Breakfast to follow on Friday, March 15 at 12pm, hosted with Flamingo Cantina at 515 E 6th Street. Performers across both days will include:

Soda Blonde: Since 2019, Soda Blonde took off with their music and wanted to create something special for those who enjoy the fun flow of alt-pop music. From four friends forming a band, the group has found a rhythm of creating the perfect carefree sound to share with the rest of the world.

Mick Flannery: With awards, tours, and album success under his belt, Mich Flannery understands how to capture the essence of folk with Irish traditions all wrapped up in a song. From early in his teens, Flannery has been writing music inspired by Bob Dylan and Nirvana. With his latest album out, Goodtime Charlie, we get a taste of just how versatile Ireland’s top songwriter is with incorporating new styles.

NewDad: Alternately fuzzy, shimmery, and rumbling, NewDad put a weary, intimate spin on 1980s and ’90s alt rock inspirations. Led by the airy, tepid vocals of Julie Dawson, the group released their debut EP, Waves, in 2021 to much acclaim in their native Ireland. As their popularity grew, they followed their second EP, 2022’s Banshee, with their full-length debut MADRA (“dog in Irish”) in 2024. In November of 2020, the Galway natives accepted an invitation to record a live session for BBC 6 Music. Since then, they have seen viral success of singles such as “Blue” and “I Don’t Recognise You” and earned a spot in BBC Radio 1’s rotation. In February 2022. That year, the band toured in support of Dope Lemon, Paolo Nutini, and sold out a U.K. headlining tour, in addition to appearances at festivals including Paris’ Rock en Seine.

Gurriers: Formed on the cusp of a global pandemic, Dublin’s newest alternative addition, Gurriers, embody the emerging Irish genres of post-punk, noise rock and shoegaze. Made up of five best friends, roommates and co-workers Dan Hoff, Emmet White, Ben O’Neill, Mark MacCormack and Pierce Callaghan, each louder than the last. Individually, playing music while growing up is the common factor that gives Gurriers their edge. For two years Gurriers have been developing their addictive and dangerous sound which has so far culminated in two singles, a headline slot at The Workmans and opening slots Goat Girl and Enola Gay. Gurriers’ live shows are an experience, although rolling lockdowns have stunted live performances, it has only made them a hungrier, vicious live force, as they spent those lockdowns in constant rehearsal.

Kneecap: Since they emerged from a squat in West Belfast, Kneecap have created their own genre of Irish punk rap, melding the Irish and English language with electrifying energy, and spearheading a cultural revival. With shows and tracks flip between satirical performance art and rampageous raves, meet Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Provaí. Heralded by the New York Times, the LA Times, Dazed, Vice, i-D, the Guardian, and others, Kneecap’s irreverent, complex, and potent lyrics speak to a time of political upheaval, youthful rebellion and discontent, and a renewed urge to party. Kneecap is a movement, one about upending preconceptions about language and place, and reimagining what rap can be as a creative and cultural force, rooted in community, craic, and defiance.

Cardinals: Cardinals started as a joke between two sixteen-year-olds in a sleepy fishing town on the southern coast of Ireland. A whole joke-taken-to-heart later and their difference is marked by an early immersion in Cork’s live music scene, ‘we wanted to juxtapose ourselves,’ says frontman Euan Manning, ‘we have pop-leaning influences and didn’t want to shy away from that.’ Now barely twenty, Cardinals are next in an Irish line changing the sound of alternative music. Blending Ireland’s musical beating heart with a swell of contemporary frisson, the six-piece are tied to making music they enjoy whilst being perpetually kept outside of their comfort zone. The result is an eclectic gothic amalgam of shoegaze, Irish trad folk, and rock which incorporates 60s Wall of Sound elements for a punk-inflected noise that ‘wants to be warm pop.’

Conchúr White: Conchúr White navigates the dreamlike and the grounded with blissful fluency on his beautifully lambent debut album. Swirling Violets is allusive and intimate, unearthly yet instantly accessible: touching on fully felt themes with grace and lightness, it’s a richly imagined album of multitudes from an instinctive talent. A music graduate who has also worked alongside young people with mental health issues, White’s story began in bands. He played in atmospheric indie-rockers Silences before their split allowed Conchúr to develop his solo voice at his own pace. That sense of freedom colours Conchúr’s music. With praise from Mojo, Uncut, Record Collector, Under the Radar, Steve Lamacq, Radio 6 and others under his belt, he has also notched up touring slots with The Magnetic Fields, Villagers, Billie Marten, Richard Hawley & John Grant.

Robert Grace: Robert Grace is an Irish singer-songwriter from County Kilkenny, signed to Sony Records. Born in Kilkenny, Grace was raised in a musical household where his father played traditional Irish music with local bands Drop the Penny and the Keltic Kats Pp. He had released the singles “Boomerang“, “Golden“ and “Wanna love“, which gained airplay across Irish radio. In August 2020 his single “Fake Fine“ entered the Irish charts, peaking at number 20 on the singles chart and 1 on the Irish Homegrown Top 20. Since then, he has seen viral success with his track “Casper” gaining attention on TikTok amassing over 25 million views in less than a week and allowing him to gain attention in the US music market. Since then, Grace has gained a following of over 3.2 million on Tik Tok and was ranked #1 on Tik Tok’s “Year on TikTok 2022” list in Ireland.

Gavin James: Few singer-songwriters are so able to capture the stuff of our intimate lives – love, heartache, loss, joy – like Gavin James. Honing his performing and song writing gifts as a busker and pub performer in Dublin, James has built a community of fans that have seen his music streamed three billion times across the globe and earn diamond and platinum records in multiple countries. He has also sold more than 250 000 tickets (and counting) worldwide with a live show that is as transporting as it is uplifting. In Fall 2023, James returned with a new single, “White Noise” that sees him expanding his creativity (his vocal is in a deeper signature, adding a magnetic resonance to the lyrics) and is a precursor to a new album of original material that he’s recording in a studio on a mountain outside his home city of Dublin.

Chalk: Combining pulsating dance music blended with edgy chordal guitar noise, Belfast act Chalk also sit on the cusp of traditional guttural guitar act and vibrant, visual club performers. The three-piece released their first single, ‘Them’ in March 2022, winning Steve Lamacq’s career-launching RoundTable on cult BBC music station 6Music. This led to very early shows taking place to packed rooms at events like Brighton’s showcase The Great Escape, something of a marker of industry potential. Chalk’s debut EP,‘Conditions’, is simultaneously cinematic and jarring, with vocals raw and emotional against a juggernaut of a morphing backdrop that carries a depth that’s staggering for a band of just three people. If this is what an early exercise in self-exploration and understanding sounds like, we can only hope Chalk has an inner world as expansive as these early forays suggest: the potential here is massive.

SPRINTS: Formed in 2019 in Dublin, SPRINTS have steadily grown in stature, releasing two acclaimed EPs and building a fearsome live reputation.Their debut album, Letter To Self is the sound of Sprints co leveling up once again, revisiting their most vulnerable moments and imbuing their visceral garage-punk with a palpable sense of catharsis that we can all benefit from. Now, more confident in their opinions and identities than ever, SPRINTS have signed to the iconic label, City Slang and racked up sold-out shows across Ireland, the UK, and Europe. SPRINTS have received a wealth of press support including The Guardian, Dork, DIY, NME, Loud & Quiet, Clash, Gigwise, Radio 1 and BBC 6Music.

Date: Thursday, March 14

Location: The Velveeta Room | 521 E 6th St

Artist Lineup and Set Times:

8pm – Soda Blonde

9pm – Mick Flannery

10pm – NewDad

11pm – Gurriers

12am – Kneecap

1am – Cardinals

Full Irish Breakfast at SXSW:

Date: Friday, March 15

Location: Flamingo Cantina | 515 E 6th Street

Artist Lineup and Set Times:

12pm – Conchúr White

12:35pm – Robert Grace

1:10pm – Mick Flannery

1:45pm – Gavin James

2:20pm – Soda Blonde

2:55pm – Cardinals

3:30pm – Chalk

4:05pm – Gurriers

4:40pm – NewDad

5:15pm – Sprints

Speaking about the significant investment Culture Ireland make in MFI at SXSW, Sharon Barry, it’s Director notes: ” SXSW is a key moment in the global music industry talent development pipeline and we are thrilled to be supporting Music From Ireland and the showcasing acts this year to make their impact and grow their careers on the global stage. We have an incredibly rich history of success for Irish artists at SXSW and we expect 2024 to be no different.”

​​More on Music From Ireland:

Music From Ireland, the Irish Music Export Office run by First Music Contact and funded by Culture Ireland, fund and co-ordinate the Irish presence and promote the Irish acts to international delegates across 10 international showcases annually. For more information, please visit: www.musicfromireland.org