South East Radio are proud to be a part of Irish Music Month 2024 this September! 
The finalists
My name is Will Troy! I am a proud Tomhaggard man, and despite being based between Wexford and London, I am forever a home-bird.
After marking my 17th birthday by saving up for a local studio visit in Gorey, I was so blessed to have a couple of demos I was working on at the time find their way across the water to London. I was contacted by a management company over there and everything began to snowball from there.
Music was something I always dreamed of pursuing but never fully believed I would ever have the guts to chase. I am so fortunate to have been offered the opportunities I have so far on what has been a relatively short journey.
I was so fortunate to play two sold-out nights in the National Opera House at the start of this year and have since gone on to share stages with childhood heroes of mine, like The Coronas, Ryan Hennessy of Picture This and Bressie, and was very recently rewarded for my efforts with an invite from our President Michael D. Higgins. It’s been a bit of a mad few years – and although I am a little afraid of jinxing things – what is to come is looking incredibly exciting!
I’m Ayda and I wrote a song called High School Crush performed while supporting Wallis Bird at Wexford Arts Centre in March 2024 when I was 15.
I am 16 now… My musical influences are Lizzy McAlpine and Wexford artist Rachel Grace.
I have recently supported Wallis Bird, Larry Kirwan, Sarah McQuaid and Pixi Ink and appeared at Fuddlefest. I also took part in Today Fm’s Big Busk for homelessness and most recently Picnic in the Park in Wexford for Amnesty International against Apartheid and also was interviewed by Alan Corcoran on South East radio where my single Home was first played. I started out writing and performing my own songs at 13 as part of Music Generation Summer Sessions Young Voices at Wexford Arts Centre. I attend Loreto Wexford.
My name is Andrew Berry, I am a 27year old singer/songwriter from Wexford Town, when I was 18 and just finished doing my leaving cert, I got a call from the Voice of Ireland asking me if I would come up to Dublin for an audition for their upcoming show , I was shocked …but later that evening I found out that my Dad had secretly sent in a video of me performing and they really liked it , so that took up a lot of time between travelling up on several different occasions and it was a great experience and I got all the way to the knockout stages, then I went on to music college in Dublin (Bimm) where I spent 4 years and I started gigging at the weekends to help subsidise my rent in Dublin which was very expensive, but it started at the odd few gigs here and there , but ended up where I was booked out solid and this was a great help with getting me through college, I have written a lot of songs over the past few years and now I think it’s time for me to start releasing them, I love playing live and every gig is different, you get to meet so many people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world.
My name is Dakota Venn-Keane. I am a 19-year-old singer/songwriter from New Ross, Co. Wexford. I’ve been playing guitar since I was around 14 and I’ve been writing songs since I was 16.
I grew up in a household filled with music as my dad has been involved in songwriting and rock bands for years. I have a broad range of influences ranging from rock bands like AC/DC, Blackberry Smoke and Black Sabbath to 21 Pilots and Catfish and the Bottlemen.
I play live solo and also with my dad and his friend doing both original songs and sometimes covers but original songwriting is what I’ve always been interested in.
I regularly use Instagram to get my songs out there and I hope to get into a studio soon to record a full length studio album of my own songs.
I’m going into second year in SETU, Waterford, where I am studying a degree course in music production and technology.
Irish Music Month this September is funded by Coimisiún na Meán and proudly supported by Hot Press, the IBI, and South East Radio 