Ailbhe Reddy

Wearing her heart on her sleeve, singer-songwriter Reddy has fast become a major player at home and is already making waves in the UK.

What was your first experience making music?

I’ve been writing songs since I first started playing guitar when I was 12. Those songs stayed mostly locked up in my room until I was 21 and played my first gig.

Is it hard to make your vision become a reality?

I think that once I surrounded myself with the right musicians and the right producer I was able to fulfil my visions easily. Now I find it really easy to make my songs sound exactly how I imagine them in my head. Making music with other people is always a much richer experience, in my opinion.

Do you feel there’s enough support for homegrown artists here?

I think Ireland is an amazing place to start your career, the music community in Dublin is so inviting and it’s really easy to find your feet once you start off. The quality of Irish music at the moment is also so high that I feel like I’m inspired to do better every time I go to a gig.  However, I got a lot of my first bits of exposure from TXFM (formerly known as Phantom), so it’s pretty heartbreaking that they are no longer going. It will leave a huge hole in the landscape of Irish music.

What was the highlight of 2016?

I loved my sets at Body & Soul as well as HWCH last year. [They were the] biggest crowds I’ve ever played to and really receptive as an audience.  Playing Other Voices’ Other Room will probably go down as one of the highlights of my career and a real turning point for me.

What are you looking forward to in 2017?

I have some exciting plans for 2017 that I’m really looking forward to announcing. State.ie will be the first to know! I have loads of new material to release and some exciting gigs in the pipeline so keep an eye and an ear out for me!

“She is so calming and honest in her music….” (Farah Elle)

“A beautiful voice with a lot of soul….” (Ilenkus)