Walking on Cars announced as 2017's EBBA winners

It's going to be one of those weekend for Walking on Cars. Straight from accepting the award, the band are now getting ready to perform on tonight's Late Late Show. Then just 24 hours on from that, they'll be headlining their biggest show to date at the 3Arena tomorrow night. "They're gonna switch all the lights off in Dingle," Paul joked, referring to the fact that the show has sold out and that the Kerry town is migrating to Dublin for the night.

Walking on Cars are the fourth act to be announced as winners of an EBBA award, joining Norway’s Alan Walker, Finland’s Jaakko Eino Kalevi and Germany’s Namika. A total of ten EBBA winners will be announced in the coming weeks. The winners will receive their awards at a ceremony hosted by Jools Holland in the Netherlands, on 11 January 2017. The ceremony, which is part of the wider Eurosonic Festival, will feature performances by the winning acts and will be broadcast on RTÉ 2fm (radio) and RTÉ 2 (television).

Speaking to Tracy Clifford on 2fm earlier today, Walking on Cars said: “We’ve basically been on the road since January going all over the Europe, the UK, Ireland... It’s pretty amazing. We just wanted to get out and get to Europe and build an audience outside of Ireland, and we’re just really happy because it’s come to the point where we’ve won an EBBA Award and we’re doing a 3Arena show - It’s been a mad year!”

Originating from Dingle in Kerry, five-piece Walking on Cars have made a name for themselves through their passionate folk-influenced rock music. With yearning vocals, powerful choruses and energetic piano-driven hooks, the band saw their first two singles land high in the Irish charts, followed by their debut album in January 2016. Third single Speeding Cars brought them an international breakthrough, with chart entries in the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and the UK.

Ian Wilson, 2fm producer and founder-member of Eurosonic and EBBA, says: “2fm has supported EBBA from the start. We have helped James Vincent McMorrow, Kodaline, Hozier, Soak and now Walking on Cars onto the bill over the years and for Ireland to have one of only 10 emerging acts from a continent of nearly 800 million people is no mean feat. The EBBA awards are a natural follow-on for acts from the Eurosonic festival and another way for new talent from Ireland to reach a wider audience."

At the EBBA ceremony, one of the winners will receive a Public Choice Award based on votes cast on the EBBA website from 5th December 2016.