The Fearless Dermott Kennedy
Art by Madelyn Mulreany
He started his career busking in major cities like Dublin and Boston. Many compare him to Ed Sheeran, though he lacks the English accent. Dermot Kennedy has come a long way from singing on Grafton Street. The 27-year-old rising star from Rathcoole, Ireland is now selling out venues on both sides of the pond.
Kennedy’s passion for music began early; he started playing the guitar at age 10 and started writing songs at age 14. His first performances were in the streets singing covers of other artists like Sam Smith, Kanye West, and Glen Hansard. Shortly after, Kennedy’s father brought him to open mic nights in Dublin to perform in bars that Kennedy was too young to get into. He was one of the first new artists to really take advantage of Spotify when it initially launched, further jumpstarting his career.
Kennedy released multiple singles ranking in the UK Top 10, including his two most-listened-to songs on Spotify, “Power Over Me” and “Outnumbered.” While releasing these songs, Kennedy was also working on his debut album Without Fear, released in October 2019.
Many of Kennedy’s fans discovered him by listening to his top hits on the radio and hearing a song of his pop up on their Spotify shuffle.
“What I really like about him is he is completely unique. There is definitely no one else who sounds like him… and he just stays true to who he is with his music,” says 23-year-old fan Alexandra Charnigo, a Pennsylvania native who saw Kennedy in concert on October 24th in Philadelphia. She runs an Instagram fan account dedicated to Kennedy and even knitted a sweater for him, which she gave to him at the concert.
Miami resident, Samantha Patino, says her favorite song on the 13-track debut album is “Lost” because of how relatable Kennedy is in the piece, and that it will always hold a special place in her heart. An opening lyric that resonates with her is, “When everything was broken / The devil hit his second stride.” It made her feel like she finally had the words to explain her experience of going through breakup after breakup. “[‘Lost’] came out during a time when I was going through something really hard, and it kind of explained exactly how I was feeling. It gave me a hope to get out of that time,” Patino said.
Kennedy doesn’t write his songs in a selfish way but instead does so in broad aspects, which allows his audience to experience the same feelings of love and loss he does.
“You feel understood by him; he really is great at portraying emotions and feelings. He’s so relatable to everyone and I love that,” Charnigo said. She mentioned how Kennedy’s song “After Rain” is a perfect example of that and it’s been the song she always goes to when she’s feeling down.
Kennedy makes his audience care and immediately grabs their attention from the beginning of his songs. His style is unique compared to other artists in the music industry in that he walks a fine line between both acoustic and hip hop.
“I like the sound of a lot of his music. I like how heavy it is,” said Madison Mccormack, a freshman at Champlain College. Mccormack added she likes how complex his music is, and that it is both sad but also “really aggressive” in some ways.
The budding Irish singer has been hurtling full speed at this newfound stardom, and his popularity has continued to grow since the start of his current tour. He has this way of resonating with people and making them feel understood. Each of his songs is so different from the one before, and they’re so versatile that they connect with so many people.
Kennedy’s rise in popularity caused many of his current shows to sell out, including his concert at the House of Blues in Boston on October 23. He posted on Instagram after the Boston show about how beautiful it was to be in this city again, and from a fan’s standpoint, you can see him come full circle as an artist.