Keywest is an Irish pop folk band formed in Dublin, comprised by Andrew Kavanagh (lead vocals, harmonica), Andrew Glover (acoustic guitar, piano, backing vocals), Luke Murphy (electric guitar, backing vocals), and Conor Ray (drums, percussion).[1][2] They are widely known for their rise from the street busking scene to the mainstream music industry. However, they have recently returned to street performing after leaving their record deal, publishing deal, management and agency deals behind.
History
Andrew Kavanagh and Andrew Glover are childhood friends who grew up in Artane, Dublin. Having started off playing pub gigs around Dublin in their late teens, they quickly switched to busking on the streets of Galway, Ireland, as it was a better way to cut their teeth singing cover songs in their own style while working hard to write their own material.
They soon had amassed enough original songs and enough street experience to start busking in Grafton Street, Dublin. This was where they forged their reputation in Ireland, gaining notable radio plays and selling out theatre shows, all while still performing on the street.
After breaking through the Irish mainstream media, Keywest began their show on the road, performing on streets around the UK, Europe, and America, quickly building a modest but enthusiastic fan base everywhere they went.
Having achieved over 100 million streams online, the band caught the attention of numerous record labels. They signed multiple contracts in the mainstream music industry (publishing, management, agency and record deals) but became disillusioned with the direction of their career and fought hard to get out of these deals.
They gained their full independence back in 2022 and decided to return to playing on the streets of Dublin in an effort to simplify their lives, take back control of their career, and build their fanbase by performing their original songs and asking people to support them by buying their music directly, thus funding Keywest to continue writing songs, releasing albums, and going on tour throughout the world to visit in concert the very people who supported them on the streets in the first place.
2012: The Message
The band released their debut album The Message through the Irish indie label Alphastar Records. The album peaked at No.15 on the Irish charts and No.2 on the iTunes chart. It was self-produced and engineered by Mark Needham, whose credits include The Killers, Katy Perry, Fleetwood Mac, Neon Trees, and Dan Frampton (The Script).
The album was a double CD debut release for the band, with CD1 being the main album and CD2 being the Undelivered EP, which showcases the band's acoustic side.
The Message featured the singles "Back Into Your Arms", "Feels So Cruel", "In the Fight for Love" and "Straight Through My Heart". The singles did very well on Irish radio and soon earned Keywest the title of Ireland's most played Irish independent artist of 2012.
The Message is now a triple-platinum selling album in Ireland.
In 2012 Keywest was Nominated for Best New Act at the Meteor Music Awards and The Message (Keywest's debut album) was nominated for Best Debut Album in the Hot Press Hotties Awards.
2012 also saw the band sign a worldwide publishing deal in Los Angeles with publishing giants Peermusic.
2013: Electric Love EP
The band followed up their debut album with the Electric Love EP, which featured the title track and single "Electric Love".
Electric Love went straight to number one in the Irish charts and was released independently through the band's own label "Sonic Realm" records.
2015: Joyland
Keywest released their second album Joyland on 25 September 2015 which went straight in at number 2 on the Official Irish Chart. It climbed to the top spot the following week, going to Number 1. This was the same week that they appeared on the front cover of Ireland's biggest music magazine, Hot Press.
Joyland was very popular in Ireland, containing the singles "All My Mistakes", "Carousel", "This Is Heartbreak" and "Apple Tree Hill".
2014 and 2015 saw the band win the 98 FM award for Dublin's best street artist and in 2015 the band won the Hot Press Hotties award for Ireland's most promising artist.
2018: True North
The band's third album, titled True North, was released on 30 March 2018. It entered the Irish charts as number 3, reaching number 1 on the Independent Music Chart.
Keywest earned three nominations at the 2018 Irish Post Music Awards for Best Song, Best Album, and Best Band.
2019: Ordinary Superhero
This album proved to be the band's most popular release in the UK, with the single "C'est La Vie" receiving good radio airplay and becoming a fan favourite.
The song "I'm Not Me Without You" featured Irish singer Una Healy and most notably the title track "Ordinary Superhero" was released at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic in conjunction with Irish and UK charities supplying PPE to frontline workers. The music video for the song depicts many of these frontline workers going to work during that turbulent time.
Current members
- Andrew Kavanagh – lead vocals
- Andrew Glover – rhythm guitar, piano, backing vocals
- Luke Murphy – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Conor Ray – drums, percussion
Awards and nominations
- Best New Act – Meteor Awards 2012 (Nominated)
- Best Debut Album – Hot Press Hotties Awards, 2012 (Nominated)
- Best Street Act – 98 FM Best Of Dublin Awards 2014 (Winner)
- Best Street Act – 98 FM Best Of Dublin Awards 2015 (Winner)
- Most Promising Artist – Hot Press Hotties Awards 2015 (Winner)
- Best Song – Irish Post Music Awards 2018 (Nominated)
- Best Album – Irish Post Music Awards 2018 (Nominated)
- Best Act – Irish Post Music Awards 2018 (Nominated)
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album Details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRL [3] |
UK | ||
| 2012 | The Message
|
15 | — |
| 2015 | Joyland
|
1 | — |
| 2018 | True North
|
3 [4] |
— |
| 2019 | Ordinary Superhero
|
8 [5] |
— |
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart. | |||
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRL [3] |
UK | |||
| 2009 | "Miss You Most" | 6 | — | |
| 2011 | "Back into Your Arms" | 25 | — | The Message |
| 2012 | "Feels So Cruel" | — | — | |
| "In The Fight For Love" | — | — | ||
| 2013 | "Electric Love" | 55 | — | |
| 2015 | "All My Mistakes" | — | — | Joyland |
| 84 | — | |||
| "This Is Heartbreak" | – | – | ||
| 2016 | "This Summer" | True North | ||
| 2017 | "The Little Things" | |||
| "Cold Hands" | ||||
| 2018 | "Something Beautiful" | |||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart. | ||||
See also
References
- ^ "KEYWEST". breakingtunes.com. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "Band | Keywestofficial". keywest-officialsite. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Discography Keywest". irishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 6 April 2018". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 6 April 2018". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
http://www.hotpress.com/Keywest/news/Keywest-grace-the-cover-of-new-Hot-Press/15382572.html
External links
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
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