Dermot Kennedy: "The music is all that matters. Hopefully, it will outlast me"

Forgive me for tooting the Hot Press trumpet but we’re still buzzing after our History In The Making 50th birthday gig in the 3Arena, a night full of magical musical moments.

Among them were Dermot Kennedy and Mike and Noel Hogan performing three Cranberries classics and Dermot’s emotional roller coaster ride of a new single, ‘Funeral’.

They were introduced by a rather over-excited MC – namely: me – who emitted the highest-pitched ‘Der-mot Ken-er-deee!’ ever.

“Thanks for that, it was brilliant, wasn’t it?” enthuses Dermot as we catch up close to his home in deepest, darkest Rathcoole. “It was an incredible thing to be part of. I was with Noel and Mike most of the time. It’s always interesting because backstage the lads are always very, very relaxed and then right before you go on… I’m not sure if it’s nerves but they take it incredibly seriously.”

Dermot’s stood there, eyes half-closed singing, “I’m just a fool for you…’ What’s going through his mind?

“When I’m doing my own songs, I don’t think about it too much and give myself a certain leeway,” he reflects. “You might switch off a bit but with the Cranberries songs, which obviously I had no hand in creating – I’m just an admirer and an appreciator – I was very determined not to do that.

“The register they’re in is high for me, so truthfully I’m quite in my body and just trying to do a good job. For fans of the band, you don’t want them to be disappointed by it.”

Dermot Kennedy at History In The Making Concert on February 6th, 2026. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

Did he perform any Cranberries songs during his busking days?

“Yeah, ‘Dreams’, which is my favourite one to do with the guys because it’s more laid back and I can sing it quite comfortably,” he reminisces. “Also, despite being quite gentle vocally, it’s a ripper of a song. I can just watch the crowd and feel their excitement.”

More about Dermot’s street performing days anon.

Noel told me that ‘Funeral’ is the first new song him and Mike have had to learn in the last ten years.

“Oh man, it’s funny,” Dermot chuckles. “Forgetting that ‘Funeral’ was coming out as a single, I initially said we’d do ‘Outnumbered’. Mike was on to Noel going, ‘Grand, I’ve been out to the shed and learned it’ and Noel had to tell him, ‘Sorry, wrong song!’ So it was all a bit last minute!”

Nevertheless, they rocked the 3Arena to its very foundations. While you sense that Dermot would happily talk about the Cranberries all afternoon – one of his biggest regrets in life is that he never got to see Dolores and the boys live – our focus today is firmly on The Weight Of The Woods, album #3 from Mr. Kennedy, released earlier this month.

Introducing it last month to fans, he declared, “To me, this is a beautiful homegrown thing with Irish instruments and an Irish story. There’s a forest behind my house, which is a haven for my sense of wonder. It’s a peaceful place where I can escape."

“I feel liberated. The music is all that matters. Hopefully, it will outlast me. I know I’ve done my best on this record. It will take me wherever it’s meant to. I’m excited for the future.”

Recorded in Norway, Nashville, Rathcoole and Kilbride, its 14 tracks are mostly co-written with, and entirely produced by, Gabe Simon who’s previously worked with the likes of Lana Del Rey, Noah Kahan, Dua Lipa, Halsey and Maroon 5.

“Having previously gigged there a good bit, I went to Nashville in the summer of ’24 to write for the first time,” Dermot recalls. “The very first day was with Gabe. Straight away we clicked and wrote a song called ‘Let Me In’. Even though we’re very different people, there was this lovely dynamic. It was supposed to be a three-week merry-go-round of working with different writers but I kept returning to Gabe’s house because it felt like the most productive use of my time. It felt special and we were excited about the music we were making.

“Being the third album, I felt like I’d done my due diligence in terms of finding collaborative partners,” he continues. “I’m delighted it was the first day because, if it had been two weeks into the trip, my enthusiasm could have been way down. Oftentimes you block the special thing from happening yourself. Thoughts about that always bring me back to busking…”

Credit: Silken Weinberg

Ah yes, I promised you we’d be hearing more about Dermot working his favourite Grafton Street pitch when his debut Without Fear album was still a twinkle in his eye.

“My own enthusiasm absolutely dictated how much money I made,” he recalls. “You radiate a certain energy. I feel like I had two chapters of busking – one of them was I’d just sit there in a chair with CDs I’d burned on my Dad’s computer and which had no artwork on them. There was zero effort involved, my thinking then being that, if you’re good, people will pay you, and that’s the way the world should work.

“Then I met a couple of career buskers who were like, ‘No, it’s essentially a shop front. You need to upgrade your equipment, lay out a rug and get some artwork.’ The first day I had a lovely sign and all the CDs neatly displayed with artwork, I made €800 in about two hours. I was 21/22 and it felt like magic: ‘Oh man, I don’t have to go down the road of ‘Feck, what am I going to do? Do I need to get this job or that job? Until my music career works out, this will feed me.’ Which was lovely!”

COULDN’T WAIT TO LEAVE

Returning to those Nashville sessions, did Dermot pump Gabe Simon for quality Lana Del Rey intel?

“I try not to do that because it feels like I’m snooping!” he resumes with a chuckle. “Gabe just said, ‘If you can get Lana focused in the room with you, she’s the best person in the world.’ Oftentimes she’ll write a song in her head and then present it without any sort of instrumentation. It’s on Gabe then to construct the music. I’m not sure if that’s her method all the time, but that’s what I’ve heard. Me and Lana actually have the same manager in Ed Millett.”

Millett being the co-CEO of TaP Music who at various times have also looked after Ray Davies, Ellie Goulding, Noah Cyrus and Caroline Polacheck.

Like Enya and Kate Bush, Del Ray has managed to maintain a marvellous aura of mystique, which given the pervasiveness of modern media is no mean feat.

“Yeah,” Dermot agrees. “Recently I saw some insane stat about Born To Die being the longest-charting album by a female artist on the Billboard 200 (it clocked up 624 weeks on the chart, S.C.), based entirely on making the music she wants to make.

“My favourite in that sense is Bon Iver. Again, it’s this very homegrown authentic thing, which has reached a lot of people. In terms of me having a fairly ambitious side as well, it’s that notion of success without compromise.”

The one time I went to Nashville – thank you, Jack Daniel’s! – I saw Little Richard being pushed through the airport in a wheelchair, Billy Bob Thornton feeding nickels into a payphone and Alison Strauss strolling along Broadway with nary a care in the world.

“What I love about Nashville is how informal everything is,” Dermot enthuses. “It seems like a group of friends and an actual musical community despite how huge it is. One time I was at a gig that the Red Clay Strays were doing in the Brooklyn Bowl Nashville. Zac Brown, who I’d never met before, was also there and said to me, ‘Do you want to come up on stage with me on Saturday and do a song?’ This was at Titans Stadium, which he’d sold-out. Without telling my managers, I just drove up in my little rental car and his team brought me backstage to sing his song, ‘Coldest Weather’, to 60,000 people. That’s the most surreal and hilarious moment I’ve had in Nashville.”

Dermot Kennedy at the 3Arena Dublin. Credit: Jason Doherty

Doing things back-to-front, The Weight Of The Woods kicks off with a celestial reprise of the title-track which features “nature sounds, birdsong recordings and the Maynooth University Chamber Choir.”

Dermot was happy to call on his alma mater despite his own Maynooth studies ending prematurely.

“I couldn’t wait to leave, honestly,” he shoots back. “My Mum filled out my CAO form for me to go to college because, again, I had zero interest. When she found a music degree, I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll give that a bash’ – but it was entirely classical. I think I’d appreciate it – and the calibre of musician I was around – now, but at that time I was frustrated and just wanted to go and play in Eamonn Doran’s or The Bankers. I felt like I was wasting my time.”

Kennedy’s lyrics have always cut close to the bone, but this time slice right through it with couplets like: “If you’re asking, I never liked the songs that sounded happy all the way through/ A life that never knew the dark seems a life less true” (‘Trepidation’) ; “Sustain me for a minute but I’m running out of time/ I’m worried about the losses and the love I left behind” (‘Often, Lately’); and “The devil’s got his teeth in me, it’s only happened lately/ There’s a time when I’ll have to make my peace with those who made me” (‘The Weight Of The Woods’).

How literally should we take those words?

“It’s all quite literal to me, ‘Trepidation’ being one of my favourites,” Dermot reveals. “I’m not saying that it’s something that necessarily happened to me, but what I’ve found to be of growing importance is the idea of different perspectives. I often think about my family and the other people I’m closest to. Especially in Ireland, we all have these feelings and stories and emotions, yet I’m the only one within my family and friend group who gets to write and sing about it and have this huge outlet. I find it useful to sometimes detach from my own story and connect to one of theirs.

“People go, ‘Is this line about your life?’ and it is, but oftentimes I can be singing from my Mam’s perspective or my friend’s perspective. It’s a very powerful thing and even more so on tour because I’m able to carry those people and relationships with me.”

NO TRUCK WITH AI

Gary Lightbody told me about the mad burst of ringing-around he had to do, the night before a particularly autobiographical Snow Patrol album was released. Will Dermot be calling people and warning them that they’re all over The Weight Of The Woods?

“I find that often backfires massively and the person is like, ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about!’” he grins. “I don’t know if it’s the same with Gary – I assume it is – but as songwriters you think, ‘God, they’re going to hear this lyric or that lyric’, but it turns out no one pays that sort of attention.”

Is ’Blue Eyes’, another album standout which strays into Michael McDonald territory, the highest he’s ever sung?

“Yeah, it’s rare I lean on a falsetto as a lead vocal. A while back I watched the movie Cinderella Man again, which I love, and at the end of it picked up the guitar. The fire was still lit in the sitting room and that song just kind of happened. I was singing it in a way to not be loud at night and it felt like the nicest way to get the song across.”

Along with the work done in Nashville and at Ocean Sounds, a residential studio located on the remote Norwegian island of Giske, Dermot and his team recorded closer to home in June Blake’s Garden and The Barn Of Music.

“We were determined to make the bulk of the record in Ireland and I was looking around different studios,” he reflects. “There were all these places where I’d have to drive for an hour in and out of town or forty minutes off into the country somewhere. I felt like I’d neglected the one closest to where I live, which is the Barn, run by the fabulous Kevin Frieden. It was the most beautiful process. I feel nostalgic for that time because I was so happy to walk in the door every day, which is not always the case.

“June Blake’s was towards the end of the record. We got the Maynooth choir and spent a day there. It was snowing outside and we got the main thing we were trying to tick off the list, which is the reprise. We were blown away by how it sounded. That’s my fondest memory of making the record. We just had one mic in the room and it all felt very magical. ”

The Weight Of The Woods is one of the most inherently human records you’re likely to hear this year. Boy George might be embracing it, but Kennedy holds no truck with AI in music.

“It’ll never be part of my process,” he insists. “You’ll be in writing sessions and see people take out their phones and they have the rhyming websites – even that breaks my heart a bit.

“I hate it but at the same time, I’m not on this crusade against AI. I just won’t be part of it and there’s enough artists who feel that way. Take someone like Zach Bryan, who releases the acoustic version of his album, which is just him singing in a room, no edits. At some point I think there’ll be this massive return to the human side of things.”

WRITTEN OFF AT SPURS

Forget Grammys, Ivor Novellos and Choice Music Prizes, there’s no greater accolade than being named Man of the Match after starring in the World XI’s 5-4 defeat of England at Soccer Aid ‘25.

“The best part being that it was presented to me by Bryan Robson,” Dermot enthuses. “I’m lucky enough to be at a point where I’m playing big rooms and stadiums but, as a United fan, nothing compares to walking out onto the pitch at Old Trafford. It’s monstrous, in a way that no music venue could ever be.”

Should Michael Carrick keep his job?

“I pretty much never disagree with anything Roy Keane says because I adore him. You never know with United, they’re still at the point where the whole thing could fall apart, but it’s the best it’s been in a long time. It’ll be amazing if the likes of Ancelotti come looking, but I think Michael Carrick is doing a good job and want him to be thought of as an option.”

Noel Gallagher told Hot Press that rock stars want to be footballers – and footballers want to be rock stars.

“Oh, 100%!” Kennedy agrees. “I’m very reluctant to say, ‘If I could click my fingers and play for United, I would’ – but jeez, I’d love to see what it’s like! I’ve encountered footballers who are prospects but at the age of eighteen are sick of it because they’ve been in this incredibly regimented environment since they were eight years old. I’d say it’s exhausting but also an incredible way to live. There’s this competitive side to me, which I sometimes almost have to shut down because in music it doesn’t always have much of a place.”

After pausing for a moment, Dermot adds: “Football was massive for me growing up. It might sound silly but in terms of character development, I think sports is very important.”

With a little over a week to go, what is his Czechia vs Ireland prediction?

“Having beaten Hungary, I was like, ‘Oh man, I wish it wasn’t that many months till the next game’ because I felt like we had this momentum going. Denmark is a different thing entirely, but against Czechia I’ll be optimistic and go 2-0 Ireland.”

How serious a player does he think Troy Parrott is?

“He’s brilliant,” Dermot responds. “To see him having this moment, after sort of being written off at Spurs, is amazing. He’s flying it and still so young. I’m sure there are clubs sniffing around, so I wonder what he’d like to do next.”

As a diehard football fan, what are Dermot’s thoughts on Ireland having to play Israel in the Aviva?

“I would love to see that game not go ahead, or even if it does, for there to be no one in the stands,” he proffers. “I think that’s the consensus of Irish people. So, yeah, I’d rather see that game not played.”

While he wouldn’t be known for his politicking, Dermot in October 2023 posted on Facebook: “I am devastated about the situation in Gaza. I’m still learning so much about the conflict and trying to understand and educate myself. It feels hard to get your head around what’s going on. But I also feel it’s important to raise your voice in the world, even when none of it makes sense. Even though I don’t have the words, when there’s so much pain and suffering.”

It’s obviously something that Kennedy felt he needed to say…

“It was important to me, yeah,” he nods before adding: “When I see what’s happening over there it horrifies me, truly. Of course. I must admit I have a strange relationship with posting about it sometimes, because even with that statement, I remember vividly where I was in a restaurant in Denver. I felt like a fool posting about it a little, when my own situation and life is so easy. And I can be quite cynical about how I see myself, and the true impact of just posting words on an app, compared to actually making a change in the real world. I hate the thought of doing it just so people know you feel sadness, or for some sense of validation.”

PROUD TO BE IRISH

More broadly, Dermot believes that Ireland has responded well to the major geopolitical issues of the day.

“Absolutely, I’m very proud to be Irish and take that across the world with me all the time. It’s lovely to see us stand on the right side of things. Proud of that, definitely.”

Dermot seems to have found a way of keeping sane in what can be a profoundly crazy industry.

“The long road has helped,” he says. “If I think about my career, I get to play the Ryman Auditorium and the Aviva and all that stuff, but I’ve never had a ‘Take Me To Church’ moment. Maybe within Ireland I’ve had songs that are omnipresent, but I’ve never had that massive all over the world smash hit. It’s been built on this lovely foundation that feels hard-earned. When you think about Nashville, we’ve gone from 150 capacity to 600, 800, all the way up to 5,000. We’ve done that in every town, so you’re able to acclimatise. In terms of my own sanity, it’s taken long enough that I’ve been humbled along the way.

“I like to think it’s just how I am as a person. I’m very conscious of the fact that it’s not my real life. If everything went away, I’d still be happy and care about my family and the people I love. It doesn’t mean that the music or the touring means any less to me, but I’m very conscious of that separation.”

There was a wonderful full circle moment last year when, having been spotted age fourteen at the Dublin Busk by Glen Hansard, Dermot invited The Frames to be part of his Misneach festival in Sydney.

The Frames. Copyright Abigail Ring- hotpress.com

“Being side of stage for The Frames was a proud moment,” he notes. “Glen did it with The Frames in Sydney and then went straight to Boston for the Misneach there with The Swell Season. It was very surreal.

“My favourite thing about that was chatting to Amble and The Scratch and them both saying, ‘We’re doing five or six dates around Australia and we wouldn’t have been able to put that together if it weren’t for the festival.’ That felt really cool.”

Asked whether also having Kneecap on the Misneach bill was an act of solidarity, Dermot says, “Not necessarily, I’m just a fan of everything they do. I met them side of stage for five minutes and really appreciated them togging out, because they had to leave immediately and fly to Perth.”

What’s his Gaeilge like?

“I went to an Irish speaking primary school, so I’d say I could chat with the lads but I’d be nervous. I feel like my Irish has suffered quite a bit since I was eleven years old but it’s in there somewhere.”

As well as singing his heart out on ‘Honest’, Dermot also takes care of bodhrán bashing duties. Did he go to seisiúns as a kid and does he have a party piece?

“That’s probably my party piece now!” he smiles. “I went to Kilteel when I was younger and the bodhrán was the traditional instrument I warmed to. When I play it in the studio, my face goes dead because every ounce of energy and all my attention is focused on getting it right. Someone said, ‘You should play bodhrán on ‘Honest’ when you do the Aviva’ and I was like, ‘There’s not a hope I could do that in front of 50,000 people!’”

Finally, what are the ‘pinch me’ moments in his career so far that Dermot wouldn’t swap for anything?

“I have a photo of me and my family onstage just after soundcheck at Madison Square Garden, which is an amazing thing to have shared with them,” he concludes. “The festival in Australia feels like a big deal, and doing first the Electric Picnic and then the 3Arena with Mike and Noel. Those are the top three.”

• The Weight Of The Woods is out now on Island Records. Dermot plays the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on July 11 & 12.