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Emerging artist Jack Devlin from Newry has been awarded the winning title of this year’s Translink Sessions – Sounds of Summer music competition, at the grand final held at Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre
Following over 40 entries from local music talent from across Northern Ireland, who had been tasked with submitting an original song based on the theme of ‘connections’, six shortlisted acts were chosen to perform at a series of busking sessions in Translink stations to bolster public votes. Those six finalists then took to the stage at Belfast music hub, the Oh Yeah Music Centre, to perform to a crowd of fans and panel of judges.
Following performances of his entry song ‘Dialogue’ and second original track, ‘Lies’, singer/songwriter Jack Devlin was announced as the winning Translink Sessions – Sounds of Summer act.
Jack has been an unstoppable feature in the Northern Ireland new music scene. When the pandemic hit and venues closed their doors, he realised that a caravan battery could power a busking session, so in the summer of 2020, Jack, his guitar and caravan battery took to the road, –busking and writing music.
As the winner Jack has won the coveted title of ‘Translink Sessions Winner’ as well as a prize package of £1,000, valuable airtime on Q radio, as well as industry mentoring and recording studio time at Oh Yeah Music Centre.
Speaking about his win Jack said “I am absolutely delighted to have won the Translink Sessions competition! I have really enjoyed the whole process and meeting so many fantastic local artists along the way. Thank you to Translink and Oh Yeah Music Centre.
“My song ‘Dialogue’ is about mental health and reaching out to your friends or talking to someone when all else feels helpless, the benefits of connection between people and expressing how you feel without feeling shame or fear”.
Finalists included Armagh/Tyrone based indie-emo band Birches, 15 year old Cora Harkin from Derry~Londonderry, indie folk artists Max Sloan from Newtownards and Niall McDowell from North Belfast, and NI/ Ghanaian musician Winnie Ama from Belfast.
Commenting on the impressive final event performances, Charlotte Richardson, from Translink said “Northern Ireland is home to a host of talented local musicians and we were keen to support emerging and developing acts, whilst also discovering new music which conveys the message of life better connected. The entries were amazing and the judges had a tough job both shortlisting and choosing the overall winner. Jack Devlin and his band delivered an outstanding performance, demonstrating great song-writing and showmanship and we’re delighted to announce him as the Translink Sessions – Sounds of Summer winner.”
Caoimhe O’Connell from Oh Yeah Music Centre Belfast added “We were blown away by the level of talent that emerged through this competition. We had entries from all sorts of artists, from different genres and walks of life and choosing the winner was hard.”
Translink Sessions host and Q Radio presenter, Declan Wilson said “Translink Sessions was a great example of the fantastic local talent here in Northern Ireland. All six finalists gave amazing performances, with stand-out vocals and emotive song-writing, delivered with incredible stage presence that the crowd absolutely loved. Huge congratulations to our winner Jack Devlin, I’ve no doubt our listeners will really enjoy his music and I look forward to following his career in the industry as he builds on this success.”
