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With the story of an entire people to tell and a set of vocals praised for its passion and many nuances, Dublin-born singer, songwriter and musician Damien Dempsey lends a voice to generations past and present in his fifth and latest studio album, The Rocky Road.
The Rocky Road features traditional and contemporary Irish folk songs, through which Dempsey conveys his country’s tumultuous history, his own family tradition and his personal emotion in a way that remains relevant and meaningful to the Irish and non-Irish listener alike.
Though music played a large part in Damien’s household while growing up, the former junior boxing champion didn’t embark on a musical career until enrolling at the Ballyfermot “Rock School,” where he was given the special opportunity to release his first EP, The Contender, on the school’s own album in 1995.
After that initial release, Damien started on a nonstop track of putting out meaningful music and impacting listeners. In 1997, he released his first commercial single, "Dublin Town," which reached No. 18 in the Irish charts. Ireland's Hot Press remarked that it was “an underground anthem for disaffected youth and closet balladeer alike.” A re-recorded version of the song appeared on Damien's debut full-length album, They Don't Teach This Shit in School, released in 2000.
The 2002 release, The Negative Vibes EP, featured Sinéad O'Connor on the title track and led to an invitation to support Sinéad on her 2002/2003 Irish, U.K. and European tour.
His career has been on the rise ever since, with the next five records earning spots in the top ten of the Irish album charts. Damien’s sophomore full-length, Seize the Day, entered the Irish album charts at No. 5 and has earned double-platinum sales since its initial 2003 release in Ireland. The follow-up, Shots, which came out in Ireland and the U.K. in March 2005 and in the U.S. in June 2006, entered the charts at No. 1, received platinum certification in December 2005 in Ireland and landed itself at #36 on Paste Magazine’s “Top 100 Albums of 2006.” 2007’s To Hell Or Barbados debuted at the No. 2 position in Ireland (just behind Bruce Springsteen’s Live In Dublin.) Now continuing that trend of chart-topping albums, The Rocky Road, which was released in the U.K. and Ireland in June, has already found its way to No. 8 on the charts.
Just as fans have fallen in love with Damien at first listen, so have notable names in music. While promoting Seize the Day in 2004, Damien opened for Bob Dylan on the Irish leg of his European tour. In the same year, Morrissey, an enthusiastic supporter, also invited Damien to support him on dates in the U.K. and Ireland as well as on his U.S. tour that fall. He then signed Damien to his label, Attack Records, which released Seize the Day in the U.S. in October 2004.
Damien gained household name status after taking home Meteor Music Awards for Best Folk/Traditional Act and Best Irish Country/Roots Artist in 2004, and Best Irish Male in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, he was once more nominated for Best Irish Male and won Best Folk/Traditional Act.
Throughout his career, Damien has never slowed down and 2008 is no different. In early 2008 Dempsey was invited to join other major Irish musicians in the recording of “The Ballad of Ronnie Drew,” a benefit single and video for Ronnie Drew, the cancer-stricken founder/former leader of The Dubliners and renowned Irish singer and folk musician. Damien spent two days at Dublin's Windmill Studios with Bono, The Edge, Christy Moore, Shane MacGowan, Andrea Corr, Sinead O'Connor and Moya Brennan among others, and the single was released in Ireland in February. Damien again joined forces with Sinéad O’Connor, opening for her on an Australian tour in March 2008 (she brought him to the U.S. the year before), and he also had the honor of supporting Oscar award-winning duo The Swell Season in the U.S. in May.
The Rocky Road is yet another accomplishment for Damien this year. Produced by John Reynolds (U2, Sinéad O’Connor, Peter Gabriel, Bjork), The Rocky Road, which includes collaborations with John Sheahan and Barney McKenna of The Dubliners and accordionist Sharon Shannon, shares a musical, cultural and personal experience that opens the door to the past with all the life and vibrancy of the present through stripped down instrumentation and a purity of sound.
Whether he’s performing in his native Ireland or venues around the world Damien Dempsey is not one to leave his roots behind, which couldn’t be more apparent than on this 11-track Irish traditional album. With The Rocky Road, Damien continues to show us that he is an artist that not only speaks directly to the hearts and minds of the everyman he represents; he also speaks for them.
The Rocky Road was released in Ireland on June 6. The album will be out in the U.S. on August 26 on United For Opportunity.
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