Damien Dempsey

Welcome to the wonderful world of Damien Dempsey.

                                                           

“Hold Your Joy” is a snapshot of how I view the world. It’s about the things I’ve learned by listening to wise people, that you can do good for the world and for those around you and yourself, if you try and stay grateful and joyful within, as much as possible.”

                                                           

Born and raised in the mid-1970s in Donaghmede, a Northside suburb of Dublin, Damien trained as a boxer with his older brothers, competing for Dublin before committing himself to music. Releasing his debut album, They Don’t Teach This Shit In School, in 2000, Damien soon formed a long-term working relationship with producer/musician John Reynolds, subsequently touring with Sinead O’Connor in 2002 and 2003 and releasing his second album, Seize The Day in May 2003. Further albums included Shots (2005), To Hell or Barbados (2007), The Rocky Road (2008) and Almighty Love (2012), before a best-of album entitled It’s All Good, in 2014, summarised Damien’s career to date with customary aplomb. After that No Force On Earth, featuring the traditional song, James Connolly - which Damien had become known for singing at protests against water charges introduced by the Irish government - surfaced in 2016 to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Rising, whilst Soulsun (2017) - an album that paired Damien with a selection of celebrated female vocalists, including Dido, Imelda May - and Union (2018) – an unusual twist on the Christmas duets album, featuring Sinead O’Connor, Kate Tempest and John Grant – showed just how far this unique Irish singer-songwriter had progressed in history’s blink of an eye.