Roscrea songwriter makes Electric Picnic debut this weekend

Roscrea singer/songwriter Jack Keeshan will make his debut at the Electric Picnic this weekend performing in the Global Green Village Hall on Saturday.

The young Roscrea troubadour is fresh from a string of concerts over the summer where he performed alongside Mundy and Emma Langford and he just recently released an EP titled 'Internal Dialogue'. 

A proud Roscrea native, Jack Keeshan is not just some other young fellow with a guitar strung round his shoulder - this becomes evident when you see the young man perform and he told the Midland Tribune he is very excited ahead of his first performance at such an internationally renowned festival.

Heavily inspired by Bob Dylan and tin pan alley, with echoes of Bob Marely flowing through his music, Jack listens to artists beyond his generation like Tom Waits and The Doors and as a result has a different message to his contemporaries.

Much of his music is recorded in Music Time Studios in Roscrea and he has received airplay on national radio during the last year and although has taken to the stage, is currently suffering like many musicians waiting for the eventual easing of nightlife restrictions and not playing to live audiences as much as he normally would.

"In today’s world music can be very formulated and constructed in many diverse forms and because of this type of manufactured process, having an artist who can stand by their authentic self is important", Jack told the Tribune.

"On one hand it’s key that these beliefs and morals be there and on the other there must be awareness so they don’t compromise their work, they need to strike a balance".

Jack’s "morals and visions stem from his passion", he said. "When the songwriter plays he oozes passion and dedication and it is truly infectious while also having the ability to inspire passion in other people".

Jack has already built a reputation for resonating with people through song and spoken word. He believes it does not matter "who someone is or whether they are rich or poor, young or old, the thing to keep at the front of our minds is that everyone has something to teach even down to someone we may believe has nothing to teach, they always do if you just listen".

Jack's positive philosophy is explored in his lyrics. Mental health is an important issue for him and he has done a lot of work through busking and working as a mental health officer during his years at college.

Catch him at Electric Picnic on The Global Green Stage at 9pm on Saturday night.