It is hard to believe that we are fast approaching festival season yet again. With our thoughts turning to summer, it is the job of festival organisers to entice us with stellar line-ups and other features to get us to…
On Saturday evening at Foundry in Belfast our Kickstart competition came to a close for yet another year. We were treated to brilliant sets from our finalists SX-70, Pale Lanterns, Gemma Bradley and Paper/Boy with each doing their best to impress…
The Harmony Live festival is returning for another year, looking to combine big names with local acts in the Co Down town. Previously known as Holywood Harmony, the festival will kick off on Friday 1 June. Taking place across three…
Our esteemed panel of judges have had a busy week narrowing down the ten shortlisted artists for this years Kickstart competition. As we alluded to before the quality of the entries this year was exceptional but after much deliberation, we…
With over eighty entries to the 2018 edition of our Kickstart competition, it was always going to be mightily difficult to narrow them down to just ten. Our team of contributors spent hours this week listening to a myriad of…
We are announcing a little later than normal but we are delighted to confirm the return of our Kickstart competition for 2018. As ever our focus is on giving bands and musicians from across Northern Ireland a platform by which…
The Oh Yeah Music Centre has revealed the programme illustration and dates for Women’s Work 2018. The festival, which is confidently entering its third term, is doing so in acknowledgement of the centenary year of the Representation of The People…
The ambition for many musicians is to sign a record deal with a major label and one of our own has managed to accomplish that this week. Naomi Hamilton and her manager Declan Legge flew to New York to sign…
The ever growing Girls Rock School NI are hosting an Easter Rock camp for girls aged between 11 and 14. The camp will run between Wednesday 4th and Friday 6th April in the Oh Yeah Music Centre. The cost to…
2018 is currently shaping up to be a tantalising year for heavy metal festival-goers across the U.K. With line-ups for Download Festival and Bloodstock Open Air gradually taking shape, those from across the heavier side of the musical spectrum have…
Belfast and to a lesser extent Derry tend to be the main focus when it comes to the music scene here in Northern Ireland. It is always therefore a delight to see other towns pushing their own local talent to…
One of the worrying trends across not just Northern Ireland but the whole of the UK and Ireland is the closure of music venues. Without these small grass roots venues many bands and musicians wouldn’t have been able to develop…
The Output music conference and industry showcase event has become a permanent fixture of the music calendar in Northern Ireland. Output 2018 will take place on Thursday 8 February and the conference will feature a wide range of talks and…
In 2016 the Music and Depression campaign revealed their recent study showed that people working in the music industry are three times more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and other mental health related problems. Music charity Help Musicians are…
The 2017 iteration of the Northern Ireland Music Prize offered up some quality albums and at a ceremony in the Mandela Hall on Saturday night the winner was announced. Walking away with the prize was EPHRATA, the debut album from…