The live final of the 2012 IMRO Christie Hennessy Song Competition takes place this Saturday, 17th November at The Brandon Hotel, Tralee. Ten finalists selected from over 200 entries will compete for this prestigious prize and a cheque for €1,000 courtesy of Tralee Chamber Alliance.
To celebrate the final, IMRO will be featuring two finalists in our Member News section each day this week. Today’s artists are co-writers Enda Reilly and Christine Deady, and singer-songwriter Dermot Kelly.
Christine Deady & Enda Reilly
Song: “Follow the Water”
Christine Deady is a songwriter from Skibbereen, West Cork. She comes from a large musical family and has spent some time earning her badges gigging the Irish music scene. Already in her short career she has been shortlisted Most Promising New Act 2010 by the Meteor Awards, Shortlisted by Vodafone as one of Irelands up and coming “Bright New Sounds”, and shortlisted in the Best Irish Female category for the Balcony TV awards, that’s a lot of shortlisting! Christine has spent the last number of 
years working on honing her craft as a songwriter and is currently in the midst of recording her debut album.
Dublin singer-songwriter Enda Reilly writes in both English and Irish and his Irish songs can be heard regularly on RTÉ Raidio na Gaeltachta and RTÉ 1. In 2012 Enda has also had appearances on TG4 and BBC2 NI. He has represented Ireland in Inverness at Nós Úr a minority language song competition and his song Dónal Ná Fág sung by Aoife Scott represented Ireland in Liet 2012 in Italy. 2012 has seen Enda perform in Paris and at the London Irish Olympic House with the poet Stephen James Smith with their Arise and Go! spoken word and song collaboration project. He also reaches out to younger generations through his Climate Change Songs Workshops initiative, bringing fun songs and environmental issues into schools and other groups, through Irish and English. He also plays regularly with the fun-loving collective, The Lazy Band in Dublin. His next project after Arise and Go will be in the Irish language, which he’s currently recording and mixing.
Christine and Enda met on a weekend of songwriting in Carlingford where a number of writers got together, rented a house and shared songwriting ideas, tips and woes and so ‘Follow the water’ was born..
Dermot Kelly
Song: “The Moon on His Back”
Dermot Kelly has been involved in the music business his entire life. Having grown up and played with his band, Manna South in Templemore, Tipperary, he then ventured further a field and spent many years touring America, Germany and Scandinavia working independently and for Scandinavia’s most established music agency, Blackwater Music.
His dream was to one day open a great traditional music venue where quality musicians and bands could display their talent. He turned his dream into a reality in recent years in the Canary Islands with his traditional Irish bar, Macgowans. Performing here nightly, he perfected his humorous interaction with audiences, while accompanying many great musicians who visited, including Matt Molloy from the chieftains on several occasions.
Now back in Ireland, Dermot performs regularly and is well known as a fantastic guitarist and singer, and by also incorporating comedy into his act is making quite a name for himself. With 25 years experience in entertainment, from playing at small private parties to performing on stage at major festivals, Dermot is well able to keep any type of audience more than satisfied.
Entry to the live final is free of charge, but due to limited capacity, booking is advised. To reserve a place in the audience, email IMRO at membership@nullimro.ie or phone 01 661 4844. Doors open at 8:30pm.
The IMRO Christie Hennessy Song Competition is supported by Tralee Chamber Alliance, Radio Kerry, Tralee Town Council, Kerry’s Eye, Tralee Advertiser, The Troubadour Club & Brandon Hotel.
