Music
13 Sep 19

David Keenan signs with Irish label, Rubyworks and drops a new single

Dundalk-born David Keenan has developed a loyal, ever-growing following over the last couple of years with a series of acclaimed self-released EPs, building his own sound-world of songs and characters, while mapping out and shaping his debut album. He also had a show-stopping set a few weeks ago on the Main Stage at Electric Picnic. Now, with his much-anticipated debut album in the works, Keenan has officially signed with Rubyworks, an independent Irish record label.

“I've always trusted my gut, listening to whispered advice stirred up from the subconscious. The songs are the self, the soil of the soul," he says, "and the decision to allow them more time to breathe as an album came first with the decision to collaborate with Rubyworks coming shortly after.”

Initially scheduled for a summer release, David Keenan’s first album, A Beginners Guide To Bravery, will be released on Rubyworks on Friday, 10 January 2020. The first taste of the record came out today, with the release of ‘Tin Pan Alley’, accompanied with a video shot live in Hellfire studios in the Dublin mountains.

“‘Tin Pan Alley’ came to me many moons ago in a foreign flat, the thoughts of my daily reprieves flooding my head," says Keenan. "Namely, walking the streets of London in the pissings of rain, absorbed by the narrow cobbled streets whose only purpose it seemed to me was to lead a man to another point of bewildered fascination. The atmosphere thickened at night and from the cigarette smoke and fog came wordsmiths and melody men whose names had long since been lost, save for a yellowed newspaper article I’d found in a drawer of my digs, interminably waiting for a God or a Godot or a lost lover to dance that last slow dance before the sun woke up. That’s what I was seeing as the song revealed itself. That’s what I see now, except the faces have changed. I was alone in reality, but in the song I was not.”

David Keenan will be touring throughout Ireland, the UK, US, and Europe in the coming months. For the full slate of tour dates, check below.

Watch the video for 'Tin Pan Alley' here:

Tour Dates:

2019

15th September - Symphony Hall, Birmingham*
16th September - De Montford Hall, Leicester*
17th September - St. David’s Hall, Cardiff*
19th September - Apollo Theatre, Manchester*
20th September - City Hall, Sheffield*
22nd September - City Hall, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne*
24th September - Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow*
25th September - Usher Hall, Edinburgh*
27th September - Corn Exchange, Cambridge*
28th September - Guildhall, Southampton*
30th September, 1st, 3rd, 4th & 5th October - The Palladium Theatre, London*
*supporting Hozier

7th October - The Islington, London (headline show)
17th October - The Bowery Electric, New York City
22nd, 23rd, 24th & 25th October - Irish Arts Centre, New York City

1st November - Puca Festival - Drogheda, IE
2nd Nov - Crossing Borders Festival - The Hague, NL
30th Nov - Skylite Room, Warrenpoint, NI

7th December - Ruby Room, Castlebar, IE
14th December - Roisin Dubh, Galway, IE
15th December - Dolans Warehouse, Limerick, IE
19th December - INEC, Killarney, IE
20th December - Live at St Luke’s, Cork, IE
22nd & 23rd December - Spirit Store, Dundalk, IE

2020

11th January -The Empire, Belfast, NI 13th January - The Olympia, Dublin, NI

5th March - Edinburgh, Mash House, Edinburgh, UK
6th March - Glasgow, King Tut's
7th March - Surf Cafe, Newcastle, UK
8th March - Yes, Manchester, UK
10th March - The Cookie Jar, Leicester, UK
11th March - Cafe Totem, Sheffield, UK
12th March - Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, UK
13th March - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, UK
15th March - Portland Arms, Cambridge, UK
16th March - The Joiners, Southampton, UK
17th March - Moth Club, London, UK
19th March - Le Pop-Up du Label, Paris, FR
21st March - Paradiso (upstairs), Amsterdam, NL
22nd March - Brotfabrik, Frankfurt, DE
25th March - Papiersaal, Zurich, CH
26th March - Ampere, Munich, DE
27th March - Chelsea, Vienna, AU
28th March - Chapeau Rouge, Prague, CZ
30th March - Poglos, Warsaw, PL