From construction studies to taking the Galway stage, Dylan Jennings gives us an insight into how he went from being a budding Ballinrobe musician to nightly Galway gigs. Discover all about it right here…
Little did 15 year old Dylan know that during his secondary school musical he would stumble upon his musical gift! Dylan was cast as Frank Butler, the lead role, in his school musical ‘Annie Get Your Gun’. This experience ignited a spark of confidence within him to experiment with his new found musical talent. Reflecting on this moment Dylan recalls, “I think the main driving force then was when I got the lead and I was like maybe I can sing!”
Dylan’s grandad helped him find his love for music, he tells us “my grandad always played lots of gigs when I was growing up, he used to do a gig in the Ballinrobe Racecourse they’d play in the marquee”. Dylan reminisces on a time when he was a young child and his grandad “my grandad was my first ever gig would get me up (on stage) and he would have me doing the Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash and I would pretend to do the trumpet part”.
When Dylan finished his Leaving Cert, Dylan headed to Maynooth to study construction that equipped Dylan with the necessary skills he could carry with him into part of his everyday life as a musician. “It taught me a lot,” he reflects, “even just with work ethic, getting a job done, being on time, and taking pride in your work.” Then after that Dylan spent a year studying music in GTI!
After college, Dylan took a chance and moved to Galway determined to pursue music full-time. Dylan arrived in August with a deadline he gave himself: if he hadn’t landed any gigs by Christmas, he’d go back to construction, the career he was studying for in college. “I gave myself until Christmas,” he adds, “that if I hadn’t found gigs by then, I would go back on the tools doing construction.” But thankfully, as the months rolled by, everything fell into place. “Luckily, November/ early December came around, and I got my first gig in Tigín," he tells us. "Then I got a few more in The Dáil, and a few in M. Fitzgerald’s. I dropped right into it”.
After chatting to Dylan it’s clear that he was born to sing. From attending some of Dylan’s gigs it’s also evident the crowd immensely enjoy his music just as much as Dylan loves to perform. The energy and sense of belonging you get from Dylan’s gigs is truly indescribable, “I go out every evening to play a gig and I’m like ‘I get to play music for people and I get to make a livelihood off it’, I just love it!”, Dylan says.
Not only is Dylan doing a stellar job in his solo music journey he also plays in two bands! Dylan Jennings, Brendan Duong, Cillian Ryan and Tadhg Murphy are the names behind the new and upcoming rock and roll band- ‘Radiator’. Dylan explains; “the 3 of us thought, will we get a band going? So we started the band …especially over the past two months we’ve been really trying to pump a few gigs out and record tracks”.Dylan goes on to say, “we rehearse every week and even there at the weekend we were all out together”.
One of Dylan’s stand out moments so far is a memory from when Radiator “played a headline gig in the Róisín Dubh about a month ago”. It was from that gig that their music really started to blossom: “We’re putting a demo out soon- called ‘Jimmy Browne’ - hopefully coming out in the next month”.
If you would like to go see Radiator perform head to Loft on the 13th of November where they will be playing a gig in collaboration with the University of Galway’s Surf Club! Dylan is a part of another band called ‘Idle Idol’. “With Idle Idol, right now we’re just focused on writing tunes at the moment but we don’t have any gigs lined up yet”.
Dylan’s incredible voice paired with his stunning stage presence is an experience you must not miss! Dylan gigs in Galway most nights and we couldn’t recommend them enough. Keep an eye on his Instagram where he posts where he’s going to be playing each night! We are so excited to see what’s to come… ádh mór!
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