The Austin 100: David Keenan

By Stephen Thompson

Published March 5, 2019 at 5:01 AM EST

Hometown: Dundalk, Ireland

Genre: Folk

Why We're Excited: Irish singer-songwriter David Keenan plays majestic folk music that unfolds with a kind of weary gentility, conjuring the string-swept gentle grace of a Damien Rice, a Glen Hansard or, before them, a Van Morrison. A former busker (no surprise there), Keenan possesses the lung power necessary to seize attention and the dedication to dramatic pacing necessary to hold it. In "Two Kids," he pairs up with another terrific singer (Laura Quirke) to embark on a nearly seven-minute journey of poetic longing.

Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

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