Celebrating the best of up-and-coming talent in Ireland, A New Local Hero continues – with Shannonside/Northern Sound having now announced their four finalists.

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 25 participating radio stations having reached out for submissions as part of the talent search.

So, let's meet Shannonside/Northern Sound's shortlist...

Laura Jo:

Laura has already had a celebrated musical career, performing as part of collaborative projects and as a solo artist, most notably her latest release ‘Places’ and ‘Downstream’ with Billow Wood.

Castle Arcade:

The Dublin indie-pop outfit, consisting of Colin Mulligan, Ryan Hunt and Evin O'Connor, released excellent new single ‘Flowers’ this year.

Highstool Prophets:

The five-piece ballad/folk group from Cavan just shared a new single, ‘This Is The Life’, earlier this year following two 2020 tracks.

Post Party:

The Dublin-based indie-rockers kicked off 2023 with their latest release, 'Kimbo'. Amassing over one million combined Spotify streams to date, the rising outfit teamed up with renowned Irish producer Philip Magee for their debut EP.

Each of the selected artists at this stage in the campaign will get a chance to play live on their station, and all of those artists – thanks to the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, under its Sound & Vision scheme – will be paid for their performance.

From there, the four finalists representing the station will be whittled down to one ‘Local Hero’ from each  – a major honour in itself, which will serve as a huge milestone in the careers of the selected 25 artists.

All of this leads to the national stage of the journey. From the 25 artists selected locally, an industry judging panel will choose just five acts to go forward to play at a special showcase event in Dublin.

The A New Local Hero campaign will ultimately see over  €100,000 paid directly to Irish artists – and one worthy winning act selected, who will get to record a single at the prestigious Camden Recording Studios in Dublin, and release the single on the famed Irish independent record label Rubyworks.

As announced by Hot Press and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI), Irish Music Month will run from Monday, March 12, to Friday, April 13 – and will see significantly increased radio play for Irish music across 25 independent radio stations.

Irish Music Month is supported by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, under its Sound & Vision scheme.

The event is also supported by IMRO, RAAP, MCD Productions, Live Nation, Ticketmaster, Camden Recording Studios and the Rubyworks label.

Read more about Irish Music Month here.