Amano, Lucy June, Simple Things and Tanya O have been selected as local finalists in the A New Local Hero national talent search - a key part of Irish Music Month which is set to kick off on 21 stations across Ireland on September 1st.

As one of the central features of Irish Music Month, A New Local Hero is a major call to arms for Irish musicians and bands – with all 21 participating radio stations having reached out for submissions in recent months. The excitement is rising, with a slew of announcements arriving over the next few days. Each of the acts selected by the stations will perform and be interviewed on their local station, with one act from each station going forward onto the long-list of contenders for the national A New Local Hero award.

Launched in 2021, Irish Music Month is an initiative of Hot Press and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, and is funded by Coimisiún na Meán.

What Irish Music Month means, across participating independent stations, is:

– More Irish music song plays

– More Irish music features

– More Irish artist gig pushes

– More Irish artist interviews

And – what's more – we'll be putting over €100,000 into the hands of music makers and their crews across the country too.

Without further ado, let's have a look at Radio Kerry's shortlisted artists...

Lucy June

Hailing from the pretty holiday town of Killarney, this singer was raised in a trad-mad family and began working on her own material during lockdown. Since then, the 27-year-old has taken her confident brand of '60s-laced alternative pop to the live setting with her band in Galway. Debut project Self Harm Sex: The EP arrived in August, showcasing an enviable songwriting range - with dancey bops, MoTown-style grooves and stripped back piano ballads among the EP's five tracks.

Lucy June (Photo: artist's website).

Simple Things

Dylan O'Sullivan, Shane Kennedy and Kaelan Cahill make up this uplifting folk-pop trio. Very much in the Kingfishr mould, the band wear their trad music backgrounds on their sleeves, often combining traditional Irish instrumentation with radio-ready hooks. It's been a busy year for the group too, with their very own Irish tour, as well as a flurry of support gigs for big hitters like Amble, The Tumbling Paddies, Pa Sheehy and Picture This. These are tunes made for singing along to.

Simple things (Photo: Facebook).

Tanya O

A singer-songwriter and pianist from Tralee with vast experience in the industry, this artist has a serious C.V, having opened for bands like Walking on Cars, JLS and The Riptide movement. With a powerful, haunting voice and a flair for pop composition, she's spent the last year writing and recording with Kingdom favourite Pa Sheehy, resulting in a number of top notch, Local Hero-worthy singles.

Tanya O

Amano

Full name Amano Miura returned to the music scene in 2024 after a seven-and-a-half year hiatus, showcasing her eclecticism and artistry alongside Kalabanx on the pair's slickly-produced Thread EP. Comfortable performing in both English and as Gaeilge, her influences ebb between alt-folk, R&B and traditional sean-nós singing. An idiosyncratic talent, it's refreshingly hard to pinpoint this Japan-born, Killarney-bred songwriter's style.

Amano Miura. Ghrianghraf le Miguel Ruiz.

Irish Music Month is also supported by IMRO, RAAP, Live Nation, Rubyworks and Camden Recording Studios.

See the full list of participating radio stations below:

Clare FM
Classic Hits
Cork's 96FM
East Coast FM
FM104
Galway Bay Fm
Highland Radio
KCLR
KFM
Limerick Live 95FM
LMFM
Midlands 103
MidWest Radio
Northern Sound
Ocean FM
Radio Kerry
Radio Nova
Shannonside
South-East Radio
Tipp FM
WLR FM

• Irish Music Month - Irish Radio Supporting Artists - in association with IBI, Hot Press & Coimisiún na Meán's Sound & Vision Scheme, funded by the Television License Fee.

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