THE IRISH POST AWARDS return next week on Thursday, November 27. A sparkling evening of entertainment will see every sector of our community feted and honoured. This year’s event will be anchored by Ryan Tubridy, formerly the host of The Late Late Show on RTÉ, and now with Virgin Radio.
The Kildare band Picture This are to receive the Outstanding Contribution to Live Music Award.
The band started out by two young lads from Athy, County Kildare, who were writing songs in a bedroom. These turned out to be exceptionally fine creations.
Fast forward a few short years, and Picture This are now one of Ireland’s biggest pop rock exports, topping charts, selling out arenas, and flying the flag for Irish music far beyond the midlands.
Formed in 2015 by Ryan Hennessy and Jimmy Rainsford, the duo struck an immediate chord with Irish audiences. Hennessy uploaded a rough iPhone demo of Take My Hand to social media; the song went viral overnight, clocking up millions of views across Facebook and YouTube. Their debut gig was set for Dublin’s Grand Social, but demand was so great that it had to be moved to The Academy, where they became the first band ever to sell out the 850-capacity venue for a debut performance.
By 2016, the pair had recruited Owen Cardiff on guitar and Cliff Deane on bass, completing the four-piece line-up that would go on to dominate Irish pop. That summer, Picture This launched a twenty-date tour of Ireland that ended with three sold-out nights at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre. Their first EP, featuring Take My Hand, went straight to number one on the Irish Albums Chart, setting the tone for what would follow.
A year later, the band released Never Change, a tender, radio-friendly anthem inspired, as Rainsford told Billboard, by “the feeling of loving somebody exactly how they are and never wanting them to change a thing.” Their self-titled debut album arrived in August 2017 and promptly topped the Irish charts, cementing Picture This as one of the country’s most successful new acts.
From there, their rise was rapid. In 2018 they released a string of singles including This Morning and When We Were Young, before announcing their second album, Mdrn Lv. The record was launched in February 2019 with a memorable live performance atop the Empire State Building in New York City – a striking image of how far the Athy lads had come. The album brought further hits such as One Drink and Everything or Nothing, and the band soon graduated to arena tours across Ireland, Britain, and beyond.
Their third album, Life in Colour, released in June 2021, revealed a brighter, more polished sound, with the single LA House Party becoming a fan favourite. The album debuted at number two on the Irish Albums Chart and confirmed the band’s status as international contenders rather than local heroes.
In April 2024, Picture This released their fourth studio album, Parked Car Conversations, a mature, reflective record that looks back on a decade of fame and friendship. For a band that began in a small Kildare town, the journey from uploading an iPhone demo to performing on top of the Empire State Building has been a remarkable one — proof, perhaps, that sometimes the most ordinary beginnings can lead to extraordinary things.
The Irish Post Awards - Thursday, November 27
Venue: The Great Room, JW Marriott Grosvenor House, London
More details: The Irish Post Awards
See More: Irish Post Awards, Kildare, Rock Music
